A lot to live up to!

1/4/06 Minsmere RSPB Leaders: Simeon and Connor.
After the amazing Alpine Swift at Lowestoft, Minsmere had a lot to live up to. We got out of the car to hear a singing Chiffchaff. All was going well so far. Between the visitor and the East hide, we had 5 Chiffchaffs, 4 Cetti's Warblers, 12 Sand Martins, 1 Swallow and several Stonechats and Meadow Pipits! From the East hide we got 14 Med. Gulls and 30+ nesting Avocets. We then walked to Sizewell Power Station to try and get the other Alpine Swift that had been there the previous day. Unfortunately we didn't see it, but on the way there and back we got 3 Kestrels, 2 female Garganeys, plenty more Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks and a possible Woodlark. We were heading back to the visitor centre when Connor's dad spotted a Water Pipit in a field of chopped down reeds. That was a yearer for us all! We then decided to go for the male Ring Ouzel on the hill behind Island Mere Hide. We eventually got brilliant views of it when it hopped out of the Gorse bushes. Connor managed to get a couple of decent shots of the bird (see gallery). We also got a late Whooper Swan from Island Mere Hide. Finally we returned to the visitor centre and after having lunch Connor got some beautiful shots of the Black Redstart that came up to five metres away behind the centre in the Gorse bushes. The final Warbler counts were Chiffchaff - 15+ and Cetti's Warbler - 12+.
It had been a superb day in which I got five more yearers making my list a total of 133!