Another Sunny Winter Morning 3rd February 2007

It was another glorious sunny morning and we decide that another visit to Oare was in order. When we arrived there was an excited buzz in the air and a large group of birdwatchers was congregating by the waterside. We quietly crept up to join in

And there down on the shore was a Twite. A very rare visitor to this part of the UK, the Twite normally resides in the North of Britain or Scandinavia, so this was a lovely treat to start to off our day.

We watched the Twite for quite a while, but an insistent twittering nearby finally caught our attention. It was a Reed Bunting that wanted to show off his nicely trimmed moustache and was getting quite agitated that we were not taking any notice. We apologised and took his photo to show you. If you click on the picture, you will see how neat his moustache is.

Whilst watching the young Bunting showing off, we heard a regular thrumming noise getting louder and louder. The sound came from the powerful wing beats of a Mute Swan that was flying serenely past. What a superb sight he made as well.

And it seemed like everyone was enjoying the mini summer sunshine. A pair of Pintail ducks flapped past us playing a game of chase, squawking with excitement, showing how easy they could fly in formation

Not to be outdone, a Shoveler Duck came rushing in low over the water, his little wings beating rapidly as he lowered his legs to show how a proper landing should be conducted

And what a perfect landing it was, with hardly a splash, he glided slowly across the water to a stop.

Nearby, a flock of lapwings were watching the show of antics of the ducks and were twittering together in hushed tones as they discussed how to outdo the Ducks. With a loud whooshing of wings, the flock took off.

And what a show they put on. Lapwings are very agile in the air and they took great delight in swooping in great loops and whirls, accompanied by high speed banks and turns with a perfect formation landing as a finale, Suitably satisfied, they settled down with smug expressions for some well earned preening.

The aerobatic shows over, we decided to go to a bushy area on the reserve away from the water where we had noticed some small birds on a previous trip. Mick Settled down to wait patiently to see what he could find.

And it was worth the wait. A little Stonechat landed nearby and presented the perfect picture to us. We hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.

And we hope that you will enjoy looking at our other pictures in our galleries at www.voinapics.co.uk

Steve & Mick