Who are you calling "Big Nose"?

Another trip out with Michel, this time to Grove Ferry and Stodmarsh. There were quite a few waders on view from the ramp, these are reported on the excellent Stour Valley pages of the KOS site.

This looks like a case of "show me yours and I'll show you mine"! Mallard beaks re quite small but compared to the Shoveler it is quite delicate. The Shoveler's large bill has a complex filter system to enable it to filter out small items of food.

A Grey Heron walked around the pool in front of the Turf Hide, but I think the ripples on the water made it difficult to catch any fish.

It seem ed to look into the water and a couple of times had a stab but didn't come up with any fish.

When a Little Egret flew in it wasn't long before the Grey Heron saw this as a diversion and tried chasing it round the pool, but soon gave up. We saw a couple of Marsh Harriers and one distant Hobby, but most passerines were in short supply, and we only heard Bearded Tits once and had one burst of song from a Cetti's warbler, at end of the Lampden wall. While walking back to the car park along the Lampden Wall I was treated to a prolonged view of a Bittern flying over the reeds, but I didn't manage to get Michel on to it. I see one was reported yesterday by Marc Heath.

It's a good job there are some experts in the moth world. I sent this picture of a moth I couldn't identify to Sean Clancy, with a note to say it was the same size as a Tree Lichen Beauty. The answer came back this evening,

It's a Tree Lichen Beauty. In my defence it is a slightly different form to any I have seen before. I am always amazed at the variability of moths, compared to most animals.