It has almost become a daily ritual for us to spend the first hour of daylight watching the bird feeders, which are sited about 10 ft in front of the truck. Beyond the the feeding station is a narrow brook, then a small open field the far side of which is bordered by the river blythe. A couple of days ago, whilst watching a small raiding party of about 9 long tailed tits bashing the feeders something in the background caught our eyes. At first, I thought that it was a lapwing but when taking a closer look with the binoculars it turned out to be a snipe. In the past, I have only ever caught fleeting glimpses of these birds as they dodge low and swiftly over the fields, this chap however, sat for ten minutes or so allowing me to attempt a couple of photographs. A short while later a little egret that we had been watching for a day or two had now become a pair, smart little birds they are, in their pure white outfits. This it seems, did not please one of the local herons who slowly circled the air space above while calling out like a pterodactyl. The brook is a regular fishing beat for him where we have watched him take countless small fish and frogs and when the brook is not frozen he wades right in front of the truck and sometimes posing for the odd photograph. We have also recently seen a pair of bullfinches but they are not quite as obliging when it comes to modelling for me. We had a brief surprise inspection by a cock pheasant too, checking out the standard of the cuisine around the foot of the feeders and all of this being watched by a robin, who stands like a guardsman and occasionally chasing off interlopers of any size with great courage. Well it is almost 0750 hours, time for the next episode, catch you later.