Garganey

I was up at 0600 hrs dealing with the after-effects of Gus's upset tummy. He must have picked something up when we were visiting the farming in-laws, he's been suffering for 24 hours with it, much worse than usual.

After that and a quick walk over the Knott, I headed for Leighton Moss. There have been reports of three garganeys the last few days, two drakes and a duck seen from the Causeway Hide. There was no sign of any of them for the first twenty minutes or so, then I heard a strange rattley call, and there was a drake in front of the hide. The males are unmistakeable, the size of a teal,  with a cinnamon coloured head and a white eye stripe that extends down the nape.

This is our summer visiting duck, which comes to the UK in small numbers to breed on freshwater marshes. It's often said to be quite secretive, and perhaps it is once the pair have established their nest, but the early season birds like this one can be very confiding.

The visit was rounded off with a sighting of three otters together on the far side of the Causeway Pool, and my first sedge warblers of the year.

Otherwise, the day was spent on the allotment, catching up after three days away.

Apologies for lack of comments this last few days. I have a few back-blips to do when there's time, with at least one Gus blip.

Fingers crossed that Gus won't need another midnight trip to the woods.