Marshside was basking in glorious golden sunshine although there was still a nip in the air. Skylarks were aloft, filling the air with song, and the Coots were getting noisy and frisky.

Things were otherwise quiet while I was at Sandgrounder’s hide, although I spotted a Merlin alighting on one of the fence posts to add bit of excitement. Word came in that the first two Avocets of the year had arrived and were in front of Nel’s hide, so I popped down that way and sure enough. There had also been rumours of a Mediterranean Gull, but I searched through the few dozen Black Headed Gulls in vain. As with the Golden Plovers, breeding plumage was definitely on the way in, and amongst the several Common Gulls there were both streaked and pristine heads in evidence.

On the way back to the car, I saw what I thought was two Great White Egrets at the back of Sutton’s Marsh, but was too lazy to put my scope up. A quick check on Facebook confermed that two such birds did drop into that location around that time, so I’m having them.