My delivery did not arrive!

I whizzed over to Rush Hill Scrape this morning to see if the White Tailed Plover that I had ordered had been delivered.  Sadly it is obviously running late and has not arrived yet.  Maybe tomorrow?  Honestly you just cannot rely on delivery services  nowadays.

While waiting for it to drop in I kept myself amused by talking to a local birder.  Yes you did read that right, a LOCAL BIRDER!  It is true they do exist!  I was starting have serious concerns that they had become extinct, only appearing as the stuffed version for twitches.  Anyway this rare breed was happy to chat to me about local paths and access to reserves etc and generally share some local knowledge with me.  What a nice way to spend a morning.

There were some nice waders there too.  No megas (due to the delay) but several Ruff in various stages of moult, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Avocet and Greenshank.  Not to mention two lovely Little Gulls, one juvenile and one adult.  There was also a very young fluffy Black Headed Gull chick wandering about on the mud.  Surely he should not have left the nest yet?  There was no way he was going to get back in because the nest is on a platform 3 feet off the ground.  I fear the little fella will be gone by morning.

It was a lovely walk to and from the hide.  The path goes through several different types of habitat, starting with cornfields, then a wood, then the reeds fringing Hickling Broad.  I was amazed how much the vegetation had grown up since I was there last which was only a month ago.  Some of the paths were very overgrown, one was impassable.  Nature amazes me how fast it gets on with the cycle of renewal every year.  No matter what, you can always rely on it.  We all witness it every year and yet people still keep asking to see a miracle.  The true miracle is out there under our very noses and most people don't even see it.  What a criminal waste!