Little Bittern twitch

So another weekend passes and I've not been outside the M25. But for once, London and the Home Counties produced a decent bird that I was keen to see. The female Little Bittern on the River Colne near Rickmansworth was particularly obliging this morning, and it showed pretty much continually from 7.45am until I left the site at just gone 10am. Quite a pleasant site too with Kingfisher, Hobby and Garden Warblers all performing. Anyway, I've seen enough Little Bitterns in Mediterranean reedbeds to shake a stick at, as well as four previously in the UK (the last being in 2003) - but this bird was incredible for prolonged views and almost as close as the one I saw 10 years ago in Mr H's hand! Here are some shots from today...

When I'd had enough, as the mid-morning chumps were arriving in their masses, I busted a move back to the southeast side of London and by early afternoon I was back in solitude and on familiar territory. There was a new Mediterranean Gull, a 2nd summer, at the incinerator outfall at high tide along with the first juvenile Black-headed Gull too.

juvenile Black-headed Gull - first one of the year at Crossness where there are no local breeding colonies

Back in Rotherhithe at low tide this evening, one of yesterday's ringed gulls, a Great Black-backed from the NTGG project, was still present.

LK2T - on more than one occasion this winter, these avian dons drew quite a lot of blood when being ringed