First Swallow sighting! Middleton Lakes RSPB.

We spent a lovely afternoon at Middleton Lakes RSPB Nature Reserve, not far from here.  
It was warm and sunny at 16C. 
Lots of bird song. There were carpets of our own indigenous bluebells beneath the trees in the woodlands.
Although I saw Nuthatches, Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Robins, Bluetits and Coal Tits, not to mention Black Headed Gulls noisily nesting in a colony on an island in one of the small lakes, I did not manage to see a Reed Warbler. 
I could hear them noisily in the sedge and reeds, but they are elusive little birds.
Pheasants and Wrens spotted too. The usual Canada geese, and some pairs of swans, We actually saw a pair of them mate! I could go on! 
I had been told by the volunteer who was at the entrance, that there were three Cattle Egrets in the field of sheep, but try as I might I did not spot them.   
There were people about with some serious looking camera equipment and I asked them if they had seen anything of note recently.
    One of them told me there was a Bittern in the reeds, but I would be lucky to spot him at all with the sort of binoculars I was using. (!) 
I had a smile to myself. 
We walked under an overarching sky of deep cerulean blue in the warm sunshine, alongside the reed beds and lakes which sparkled in the light. It didn't matter that I hadn't got the "serious equipment", and as we were returning to the car park, I spotted a Swallow on the telegraph wires. The same volunteer had told us at the beginning that it had only just arrived in the last couple of days.
    What a journey it must have made. 
Photo in extras.