Middleton Lakes.

Another great trip to Middleton Lakes RSPB Nature Reserve, on what started out as an early misty and foggy morning and blossomed to a sunny day with brilliant blue skies. A few different highlights of the day, so I'll do them in chronological order, first off was seeing a dozen or more Grey Heron flying back and forth from the Herony with twigs etc. building huge nests in readiness for this years new arrivals, you can't have enough Grey Heron that's what I say, the secondly was seeing four Tree Sparrow on the feeders by the Heronry, I never thought I'd ever see any, especially after they've suffered a decline in numbers of approximately ninety five per cent, but it was clearly the right habitat being close to a farm and plenty of hedgerows about, I didn't even think I would be able to distinguish them from their House Sparrow cousins but they were easy to make out with their brown heads and napes, thirdly was seeing a Rookery of two hundred or more Rook, with the noise they were making you would have thought there was double that number, last but not least was getting a very sociable Robin to eat some bird seed from our hands, it was even that friendly that I got some decent photos and videos from my £100 compact camera, it was a real privilege to have it eating out of the palms of our hands and treating us to some lovely bird song. Birds spotted today were, Tree Sparrow, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Bunting, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Redwing, Rook, Carrion Crow, Magpie, Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Pheasant (cock) Buzzard, Pied Wagtail, Little Egret, Shelduck, Shoveler, Wigeon, Gadwall, Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Tufted Duck, Coot, Mute Swan, Mallard, Grey Heron and Cormorant. All in all, another great days birding, but unless the great British weather intervenes, when do you not have a great days birding, out in the elements enjoying all that nature has to offer, I think I like the birds more and more as each day passes. Another thing worth a mention is the fact that I saw a couple of Hare's today, they look great with their big ears and boy can they run, didn't see any mad march Hare's though. It's also nice to see plenty of greenery and colour returning on the floor, Spring is definitely about to be Sprung, with snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses very evident as well as masses of bluebell shoots, so what with all the colour and the birds about to breed, there's going to be plenty to see and do.