Lunch at thirty feet

Today we went to RSPB Minsmere.  We have been members of the RSPB for years.  This is the first time we have visited a site.  At Minsmere there are two main routes and five hides.  The first route we walked through, we saw almost no birds.  Someone said there was a Marsh Harrier, I think I saw it.  The image is from the RSPB website.  Something to do with it being a windy day, perhaps.  At the last hide, which was designed to let you watch birds in the tree tops, we ate lunch.  The trees were moving very noticeably in the wind, and even the hide moved a little.  Still no birds.  The other route went via the beach.  Before we got to the end of the beach, it began to rain heavily.  We hid in the next hide.  The rain seemed to bring the birds in.  There were quite a lot of different species.  There was even an Avocet.
Other birds we saw included Swan, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Woodpecker, Great Tit, Lapwing, Magpies and various ducks.
When we got back to the visitor centre, we bought Jo a new pair of binoculars.  Then went back to the last hide to see the difference -  quite remarkable.

On the way in, we had seen signs for the start of the Red Deer rut.  We went to Westleton Heath and walked along the path. Eventually we came to a small group of people, including some RSPB volunteers, who were full of useful information on the rut.  There were plenty of deer in the distance and at least three stags.  They were all very young.  As the season has only just started, there wasn't any action before we left.