I'd never been to the Bird Fair, but went this year & added on a long day of photography for Ospreys & with Tom Robinson just up the road near Bourne. Early start (only 5am this time of year) at HornMill. They seem pretty straight up & volunteer I think that they've had over 20 blank days this year. The Aviemore guys keep their cards close to their chests. The River Gwash is not as good as Aviemore. A bit higher position & unpredictable splash point, & I think all the birds are ringed. This was the very last day of the season & many birds had flown, preceded by two blank days, we only had one dive, but at least it came towards us!

                 

                 

So, all done by 8.30 & over to Tom Robinson's pond hide. Tom's got all sorts of ideas for pay & display, so it's a bit of a building site at the moment. The pond hide is fine - nice & low, near the action. There were  a few kingfishers for bird-on-a-stick portraits, but not really any good for diving. The light was a bit flat, but they were reasonably close with plenty of visits, but no photos to go on the wall! The herons were more obliging, stalking & fishing for quite a while. A couple of buzzards also came past.

                 

                 

Anyway, better than working for a living! Then after a quick curry in Bourne, off to Tom's night owl hide. He regularly gets Tawny & BaBarn. Not this time! Not a thing. Sat in the hide listening to Manchester City try to lose to Everton, I called it a day at  about 12.30 (call me a lightweight, but I had been up at 4am) for the drive home. This was the best (only) photo I got in the evening...

Maybe next time!