A Peregrine was perched over the road between Cross Houses and Atcham, a good omen if ever I saw one.....
The Egret was not obvious at the Mere, the usual haunt on the far bank was unproductive as was a scan of the southern end! So, a quick check of Wood Lane at least turned up trumps - a Ruff!! This was 2008 Shropshire bird no 160 for me and my year target reached! It's still August as well - could 170 be on?? I'll just keep going and see what turns up.....
A return to the Mere and realising that the jetty was the place to be, we got the desired result - Egret clearly visible amongst Mereside branches at the Southern end!
The day then got interesting, mainly cos I had the somewhat crazy idea of joining the Mere 'pelagic' and seeing if we could get closer?
Of course, we couldn't get a lot closer and once I'd sold the idea to the skipper to try, guess what - we ran aground!! No problem though, a few pushes - punt fashion and we were off. These images were the best I could do, at least the angle was different (only the left leg was clearly in view, confirming that obvious yellow ring).....
Once ashore, and another walk, it was so ironic when we realised an even closer view was possible from the bank!!! There were so many branches in the way, a clear shot seemed impossible, but now the colour rings were visible and the right leg sported not two but THREE rings - pale green, orange and a much smaller grey possibly metal ring??
Here's an enhanced close up view.....
Its not every day a birding trip includes a pleasure cruise and I guess it might be a very long time before another one - so, back to VP and ???.....
