More or less anyway and certainly a good one for visitors and birds. In fact the reserve was as busy as I have seen it in a long time, with over fifty cars in the car parks for most of the day, which probably means there were over 150 visitors.
The birds did not disappoint either with the Slavonian and black-necked grebe showing on Ibsley Water and two of the later reported. The ring-billed gull also put on a good show, sitting on the rails outside Goosander hide, posing for photographs and later in the roost from Tern hide. Elsewhere the great white egret was on Rockford and Ivy lakes, although the bittern remained out of sight.
At the Woodland hide numbers of siskin are rising fast along with smaller numbers of lesser redpoll and brambling.
I was in the office for a good part of the day, but got out later in the afternoon when the low light over Ivy lake was quiet attractive.
I think I can make out quite a few species in this shot, coot, shoveler, tufted duck, great crested grebe, cormorant, Canada goose, pochard and gadwall at least. I did get a couple of counts, 98 shoveler on Ibsley Water and at least 170 cormorant in the roost on Ivy Lake, a new record.
Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve 