He likes it here !

I managed a visit to Gayhurst Quarry this afternoon, having not managed to get there since I finally  connected with the Great White Egret there a couple of weeks ago                                                     .

It was quite windy so I didn't expect to see too many small birds and indeed this proved to be the case. A Chiffchaff in the local Long-tailed Tit flock being the highlight.                                             

A few ducks have arrived with a dozen or so Wigeon, an equal number of Teal, a couple of Gadwall, a Shoveler and a handful of Tufteds.

The Great-crested Grebes with the mobile nest have finally hatched out a youngster - seems very late in the year !

I had already seen a Heron and a couple of Little Egrets, when aproaching Reedy Pit I spotted a larger bird. It was the Great White ! He saw me and hopped over to Spinney Pit, where I watched him for a while until the Heron chased him over to Motorway Pit, where he seemed quite content to stay for a while. That's over a month now he's been in the area, I wonder if he'll overwinter.

Great White Egret

 I continued on around the river, seeing very little, other than a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Buzzards battling with the local crow flock.
 I always look under the motorway bridge for the local Crayfish and was happy to see one right in by the bank. I grabbed hold of it and took a few shots as they are quite impressive creatures. This one is posing beside a pound coin to give some sense of scale. This is by no means a big one as I have seen some twice this size.

Signal Crayfish