That Friday feeling

The morning rush from my second Osprey of the week stayed with me all day.
The bird came through indecently low in the rain at about 0950 while I was in the Green Sefton depot at Ainsdale.
Those give-away angled wings were flapping straight at me lower than rooftop height about 100 metres away. Superb.
With my bins and camera safely locked away back at the office, I was reduced to smiling a lot and shouting “Osprey” repeatedly and rather unnecessarily as everyone around me could see the marvellous raptor I was pointing at as it moved through.
Tired I guess from battling north in the poor weather, the Osprey flapped over Starr Gate on the other side of the Ribble 25 minutes later on its way north – safe journey.
The smile stayed on my face all day and after work I whizzed down to Lunt Meadows to have a look at the pair of Black Necked Grebes that Phil Boardman had kindly told me about earlier in the week (comment on previous entry).
Both in full summer plumage, they were diving and scooting about on the Garganey Scrape in poor light, but were still gorgeous.

Occasionally they wandered into the clumps of sedges as if prospecting, but they may just have been taking the most direct line to the next patch of open water as they moved south down the reserve.
Whenever I tried to take a picture of them together though they generally gave me a 21 bum salute.
Charming.

With Avocets, Blackwits, Snipe and Lapwing on the lagoons, three Swallows meandering about in the cold air overhead and a singing Chiffy or two, this reserve looks better each time I visit – a tribute to all the volunteers who do so much work here with Lancs Wildlife Trust.
A pair of summer plumage Black Neckeds is the very least they deserve….