I don't think that's meant for you...!

A wet and windy morning gave way to a brighter afternoon even if it was still fairly cold.
Decided to have a couple of hours at Pennington Flash, which has a handful of bird hides for people to watch the birds (or shelter from the wind!)
It was a rather successful half hour at the Bunting Hide until two huge Mute Swans found their way into the woods from the lake. They proceeded to munch up all the food in the mud below the feeders and even started hoovering it up from the bird tables!
This seemed to scare away all the bullfinches and robins, but not the tits or reed buntings who didn't seem to care.
But before they arrived, I'd seen the shy water rail, a marsh or willow tit (I never can tell the difference), a wren and had a real close encounter with some bullfinches, inches from my face (and too close for a photo - oh no!)
I decided to move on and went to the Tom Edmondson Hide further round and here I found some great crested grebes, a heron, shoveller ducks, long tailed tits and some other various ducks.
As my hands got colder and colder, I decided to call it a day when I could no longer feel my fingers, but not before a revisit to Bunting Hide to see if the swans were still there......they were, and I've never seen such dirty swans - they were covered in mud! Oh well, I guess they will enjoy their bath later this evening :)

Since I have seen nobody to do a portrait of today, it will have to be this cheeky greedy swan - I guess it can just about pass for a portrait?