Not a Kingfisher!

Today I headed to Blashford Lakes near Ringwood in Hampshire where I had been reliably informed of a good chance for seeing Kingfishers.  It was not to be - in fact birds were rather few and far between (it was rather breezy and the lakes somewhat choppy). 

Never the less, I had a pleasant day wandering around the hides. The woodland hide was particularly fruitful, and I saw my first Redpoll (apparently a fairly rare visitor - extra).

The highlight of the day though had to be an even rarer sight of a young Bittern. It was the same colour as the reed bed through which it was wading, occasionally sticking its head straight up in "camouflage" posture (and it was truely hard to spot!) To the delight of the watchers, at one point it waded across one of the water channels giving us a good sight, complete with reflections.