A grey heron hunting in one of the wader scrapes. I don't usually consider non-standard crops - but I thought this one might make a bookmark. I love my 300mm f/4 lens, but it works best when the subject is reasonably close. Fortunately while I was photographing the black-headed gulls, a couple of interesting targets swam past the hide. A great crested grebe surfaced in just the right place. It gave up fishing and dried out a bit before swimming back again. There were plenty of ducks around (I saw 12 species in all) but the only ones which came close were a pair of pochard. The female was diving close to the hide and she obviously found something good in the mud. Two or three more dives washed her face clean again. The male stayed mostly in deeper water, but he gave me a few chances too. Alan
