counting coots

...watch the Wetland Centre - they've got 6 Bitterns.  That's right kids - six Bitterns.  Billy has done photos and stuff earlier on.  They were on the Radio 4 Today programme this morning (the Wetland Centre, not the Bitterns per se)  and now they (the staff) are talking about irruptions too!  Waxwings and the like.  Which will be nice.  Nice for us, obviously it's a bit stressful for the birds, having to fly across the North Sea for a bit of food and all that. 

With another week of harsh weather predicted this could be the time when the patch turns up trumps so I'll be heading out everyday to see if I can pull in a Smew or something even more exotic.  Yesterday I went out for the obligatory first day to see what was about and there was actually quite a bit of bird life.  At least 50 Tufties, 3 Pintail, a couple of Gadwall, at least a hundred gulls of various species.  I managed to get 3 types of crow but the best find (considering it was the first day in the patch) was a Kingfisher kicking about by the house boats.  But isn't a Kingfisher always good?