A heron sort of a day

Another free Wednesday, as the youth of Cardiff chose to squander their cash on parties and presents, rather than driving lessons, saw me heading to Gloucestershire again. Gill and Rosie were having a party at home with seven other babies and their mothers, so I decided cowardice was a good option. On arriving at Frampton, I was greeted with the news that the Cattle Egret had just been flushed by the farmer, but would return soon. A few of us decided that we'd try to find it nearby. We failed, and eventually returned to scan the original field, where the bird was now showing with Little Egrets and cattle! Slimbridge beckoned again, and from the Holden Tower, the Whitefront flock was much closer than last week, and the Tundra Bean Goose showed well briefly before resting in a dip with its back to us, so no photos. On to the Zeiss hide, where much rustling of reeds pointed to where the Bittern was. After a while, it showed well on and off , but always deep in the reedbed, and at an angle which made photos impossible with an angled scope (unless I had a box to stand on, which I didn't). After over an hour of watching it tiptoe through the reeds, I headed off, pausing only to admire the sunset from the bridge over the canal. PS I also saw a Grey Heron!