Cattle Egret #87

A quick check of the new arrivals at the butterfly house before a lovely day out at Lunt Meadows and then RSPB Marshside.
Lunt was very quiet indeed, but we did see a Swan Goose amongst the Canada Geese which is a new addition to my annual list. 
A picnic lunch and then we spent a few hours in the Sandgrounders Hide at Marshside. It was much busier than we've ever seen it, but there was still enough space for everyone to sit and watch. There was plenty going on with ruff, godwits and sandpipers dabbling in the margins and loads of lapwings and starlings whirling about constantly. The arrival of the Pink-footed geese normally heralds the start of autumn and there were thousands of them on the back fields - a wonderful sight to see. 
Another new bird for the year was seen here too - a merlin - not something I've seen before. Sadly, it was way too far away for a decent shot, but we had fun watching it. My blip today is therefore a cattle egret hiding by one of the pools - this is really heavily cropped, but I think works OK on this occasion.