It is not very often when it happens, but today was one of those days when I had a free morning to spend photographing at Fairburn Ings. Unfortunately the weather was a little disappointing, so it was winter clothing on today!  It was quite a contrast to yesterday.  I arrived at the visitors centre just after 9.00am. It was raining heavily, with a grey cloudy sky and very overcast, 9C, with a light North Westerly wind. I was reluctant to leave the warmth of the centre but needs must, so with coffee in hand I made my way to the ‘Pickup hide’. The Green Woodpecker was very vocal when I arrived, it was hiding somewhere in the undergrowth behind the hide, and no matter how hard I looked for it I never found it. On the water in front of the hide were several Common Terns, (posh seagulls) they looked quite elegant and have a lovely body line, they were diving into the water after hovering from a height of about 30ft, a few minutes later they would take a rest on one of the many fence posts along the water’s edge.  In the field with the Highland Cattle must have been a flock of well over a hundred Canada Geese, contently grazing and resting amongst the wild grasses. Newly arrived chicks were few and far between today, I only saw the same Coot I saw yesterday with its youngster in tow, I presume the other youngsters had anchored down in the safety of their nests until the weather improves and it stops raining. A small flock of Black headed gulls flew in and made a lot of noise at the far end of the lake. Over on the feeding station there were lots of little finches, Dunnocks were busily hoovering up the food spoils which the Grey Squirrel had spilt out of the feeders and onto the woodland floor, I love these little brown jobs, they have a wonderful vocal range when singing. Juvenile Blue Tits were out in numbers today, many still with their baby tufts and looking wet and bedraggled from the mornings rain. There were lots of Great Tits and Robins too. Both male and female Chaffinch were about, along with several Tree Sparrows hiding amongst the undergrowth. Everything soon disappeared though when a Jackdaw flew in and landed on one of the tree branches next to the feeders, they have a really menacing call and up close are a significant threat to the much smaller birds on the feeders. It stayed around for about a minute before flying off around the back of the hide, several moments later normal service resumed and it was  a hive of activity again on the feeders. A male Reed Bunting even popped by for a meal on the fatball feeder although it soon got short changed when a Greater Spotted Woodpecker decided that he was going to tackle the fatballs before they all disappeared. 

A pair of Grey Squirrels were a nuisance on and around the feeders all morning, they are so agile though even on some of the most flimsiest of branches, how they keep their grip and balance is quite remarkable.  

A great morning again, regardless of the weather.