So we put wellies and raincoats on and go to Kingfisher Bridge. They love the wild horse and the noisy geese. I teach Laura to check if an electric fence is or or not with a piece of grass. A big Grey Heron chases a Little Egret over the reed beds right in front of us and a rabbit crosses our path.
We climb the 'mountain' and go into the hide. Scanning across the reeds I get a Bittern, almost immediately, right off to the far left, skulking in the edge of a reed patch with neck and head held vertically. The camouflage is very effective and if it were stood amongst the reeds I'd have no chance, but it's just at the very edge. I watch it for two or three minutes while Laura fills in the hide record and Alice falls off the bench. Outside a big, male Marsh Harrier generously flies right over us on the track back to the car. Grey Heron, Little Egret, Bittern, Marsh Harrier; for some people three of those four would be significant ticks. We were only there forty minutes. You do get some good birding round here.