Private birding

By 6am both Mark and Mike had beaten me to Broom. They'd already got a
Whimbrel on the deck, and two of the Barwits from yesterday were still
there. Another Greenshank flew around calling too. By 6:30 there were
about six of us all stood waiting expectantly.

Unfortunately I had to leave at 7, bound for an exclusive tour of a private
estate. Rob and I were there to add species to their bird list, and to
spread the good word of the Bird Club.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable few hours with some excellent birding thrown
in. We had Cetti's Warbler, Raven, two Shoveler, 14 Grey Heron nests, and 8
Cormorant nests - all excellent county records. Hopefully now more records
will be coming from this secret corner of Beds, thanks to Rob's hard work.

After a mid-afternoon snooze (its hard work birding in spring) I was out
again, this time with Carrie. We ended up back at Broom, and met Robin
there. The two Barwits were still there but had been joined by another
Whimbrel - making two. I also found a lovely adult Little Gull right in the
middle of the gull colony. They really are tiny, even when compared to a
Black-head. We also had a very dark-billed Common Tern. Over the last
week, several birds with very dark bills have been seen at Broom. I guess
they've still got some of their winter plumage going on with a dark bill?
Not sure really.