All that way to see a duck. Good Friday adventure.

With birthdays and other family commitments, Easter was looking pretty busy, and sadly the weather looked pretty abysmal.
Good Friday was the one window of opportunity to get out with the camera. It was still cold, migration hadn't really kicked off, but the one sunny day of the long weekend (I had a week off actually) and that was the day I chose for some 'Chris Time'. A day out with the camera.

What was about? A couple more Spoonbill and a Long Tailed Duck at Keyhaven. The Penduline Tit have not been seen at Titchfield and everywhere else was pretty quiet too.
So, Keyhaven won.  Not seen a Long Tailed Duck before, cue a disappearing act like the Pendulines?

Setting off before 8.am, I got there at 9 and the car park was already chocka. Everyone had the same idea it seems. I was immediately reminded why I like working weekends. You get days off in the week (normal days) when everyone else is at work and everywhere is quiet.

After walking around for thirty minutes I actually started to think I had returned too soon. It had only been a couple of weeks since my last visit and little had changed. And of course, the spoonbill were still sleeping.
As nice as the day was, not much was happening.

A pair of Dartford Warblers were flitting around the gorse at the Hurst end of Keyhaven. Sadly a little way off.  A Curlew (and a few Grey Plover) on the mudflats - And the two Spoonbill were still sleeping.

In the distance I could see a good number of people with scopes, perched on the end of Pennington Lagoon. Gotta be the Long Tailed Duck?   It was about a mile away, but I headed over.
By the time I got there the duck was way out to sea, with a good number of Merganser. Very distant shots, in to the sun, by someone who cant work a camera. But, a 'lifer'. So I was happy.

Then back to Fishtail Lagoon as the Spoonbill, five now, had finally woken up!  The number of scopes trained on them indicated that at least.

Nice to finally get some semi decent shots of them. A bit closer would have been nice, but that was the theme of the day it seemed.

And then back home at midday to enjoy more of the wonderful sunshine in our wonderful new garden.

A good Friday.