A bold fox, a merlin and more life on the Axe

A few photos from this week all taken on Black Hole Marsh.  I missed Steves sabines gull and also the arctic tern but I did manage todays merlin all be it rather distant.  Most of these that follow are some of our common residents starting with a posing kestrel.

and the distant poor shot of the merlin just before it flew upstream

and Tim looking for it!

A great tit with a tasty meal

and one of our kingfishers

also with a meal

a blue tit

and a greenfinch

and a pied wagtail

Earlier this week a fox came running boldly up the estuary from Coronation Corner and disappeared into the readbeds further upstream

 A pair of stomechats have been a regular sight on the way to the tower hide the last few days

 and a few med gulls can be found on the river most of the time

and finally a common view of the kingfisher as it flashes by.

An Axe kingfisher and other stunners

Thought it about time I posted some recent photos as have been rather busy of late.  Earlier this week this beautiful kingfisher had been caught by the local ringers and I managed to time it perfectly.  Thanks to them for the chance to see such a beautiful creature up close.

This kestrel has been a regular sighting around Black Hole Marsh

and a spotted redshank seems to land regularly right in front of me on the river

while greenshank has also been present recently

 A close curlew on the river

and some deer opposite the tower hide have been nice to see again

And finally away from patch (unfortunately) the Swannery produced a distant hen harrier which flew over north last thursday

and this beautiful scaup was also present there earlier this week