Swan Light

We finally made it to Frampton Marshes this afternoon, and boy was it worth the wait!

I have said before that when visiting a nature reserve the first few minutes can sometimes set the tone. Sometimes you will see something that ends up being the start of something special, other times it's the highlight of the day.

The day started with a Yellowhammer singing in a tree and I must admit I wondered if that was going to be it for "special" birds, but it was a pretty good one to start with.

We wandered around the reserve watching the various winter wildfowl, and had some great views of a Little Egret in the setting sun.

We walked back to the 360 hide in the hope to see a few birds of prey as the sun continued to set. We didn't even make it. As we walking along the path a Barn Owl flew right over us and begun quartering the field looking for prey. I got this photo of it. Okay, it might not win the Barn Owl photo of the year competition, but it really makes up for the one that got away at Freiston last year.

We did make it to the 360 hide after a few magical minutes watching the owl hunt. And what a spectacle greeted us. A Merlin flew over and set everything off. The sky was filled with thousands upon thousands of lapwing, ducks and starlings. There was no where else on the planet to be for that moment. The sight and sound of it simply breathtaking.

There was one final bit of magic as we walked back to the car. A sparrowhawk flew down over the flock and set everything off again.

It really was one of those days.

I chose this photo as it sums up the magic of the golden hour at the end of each "photographic" day. I hope you like it.

I have shoved 13 photos up in a Flickr set if you care to look.