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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JWN Andrewes" data-source="post: 3674406" data-attributes="member: 7131">February 4th: part IBeen quiet of late, days off ambushed by bad weather for the most part, but have managed to pick up a few odds and sods, best of which probably Little Stint at Burton Mere Wetlands, as well as the boys picking up Blackcap in the garden while I was at work. Today, however, the weather was fine, we had a free pass, and so at a little after eight we pitched up in the car park at Holme Pierrepoint and began our search of the Slalom Course. We bumped into another birder, who mentioned the bird having been seen by a wooden bridge, so we headed over to the bridge and were instantly in luck, with the Spotted Sandpiper immediately on show beneath us as we crossed the span. We watched him as he pottered and bobbed up and down the fringes of the Slalom Course, as often feeding on the grass as the water’s edge, on at least one occasion extracting a fine specimen of a worm from the turf. A couple of canoeists provided a bit of slalom action which entertained the boys while I scanned the rowing lake for Long-tailed Duck, which I failed to locate. Still, main event under the belt, so after a bit we decamped, an hour or so down the road, to the reserve at Egleton on Rutland Water.Here, on the way to the visitor centre we stopped for a few minutes at the feeding station. Usual suspects, Greenfinch, Reed Bunting etc, but I also managed to get the attached photo (fifth of this batch). Perhaps not the most sought after of UK animals, but any double mammal pic is something to be pleased with!</blockquote>

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