Many hours were spent in the hides at Leighton Moss and although we were not, on this occasion, fortunate to get any  glimpse of the Bitterns, we were rewarded with a couple of brief, but really good, sightings of the small herd of  Red Deer that live on the reserve. They are often deep in the reeds but at times break into the open areas to graze.

I’ve been away for a few days up in Cumbria. My brother lives in Askam and is well placed for Walney Island and the Duddon Estuary. It was also a chance to visit Leighton Moss. one of the RSPB’s flagship reserves.

All of these photographs were taken on Druisdtone beach in West Wales and show what can be achieved when you really “work” your subject and strive to see things in new and unconventional ways.

Which memory card would you put in your camera out of the two above? It seems an obvious choice, the 4.0GB. Not always, think again.

It’s not the most comfortable hide I’ve ever been in but already it’s throwing up some interesting encounters. Finally this weekend the bridge hide on the river at Home Farm was finished and today I spent four pretty uncomfortable hours over looking the stretch of river that I hoped would fill in some of the gaps of the birds I have ,to date, managed to photograph at the farm.