This week I finally managed to get to Arlington to see what bird-life was around. I set my hide up at 04.30 am and sat in the peaceful darkness waiting for the sun. As the sky started to lighten (but still way too dark to get a good shot) I noticed an Egret stood in the water about 15ft from me. Unfortunately a couple of duck hunters scared him off when they started shooting at the other end of the lake! My frustration was short lived as I realized that if the Egret had not seen me there was little chance that the hunters had. I did not want to be at the working end of a shotgun cartridge so I whistled a couple of bars of 'The Adams Family' to let the hunters know where I was. Usually I carry an orange vest, which I can hang from a nearby tree or bush to make my presence known, but of course today I left it behind! The birds didn't return for the next 2 hours, largely because the hunters kept talking between themselves.
As I was driving home I spotted these guys sat in a tree. They were close enough for me to get these shots, but the image required some pretty heavy cropping. As I crept closer to the tree one of these took flight, but the other sat for the next 2-3 minutes allowing me took continue shooting.
I headed back to Buckeye after a this and made my way to the quarry to the south of the town. I didn't see a great deal of activity in the trees, but was able to fire off a couple of shots of this Osprey as it circled above me.
All in all a reasonably successful morning - even if I missed that first Egret!
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