HARDLEY FLOOD

   Today was much cooler than recently and after the rain had ceased I walked from Chedgrave along to Hardley Flood hoping to see Kingfishers but to no avail. Instead looking across the flood I could see several Great Crested Grebes both singly and in pairs and it made me realise I should have come here a few weeks ago to witness the pairs of Grebes performing their spectacular dancing routines as a prelude to mating and nesting.
   Looking across the river to the marshes beyond I could see both Lapwings and Marsh Harriers displaying and there seemed to be a lot of Swallows and Sand Martins passing through on their way to their nesting sites.

   Gazing back across the flood I could see in the distance two Pintail ducks and a Merganser and as I walked back along the river I watched a Heron pluck a fish from the water whilst flying along and then stop on the bank to eat it. Finally I popped round to see Mum on my way home just in time to see a Sparrowhawk swoop onto the bird feeder and chase a small bird into a nearby conifer tree. They both disappeared and I went out into the garden to try and see them. There was no sign of them but while I stood between the feeder and the conifer with my back to the house I heard and then actually felt the Sparrowhawk brush my hair as it made a return visit to the feeder, I don't know who was more surprised, me, the hawk or mum who was watching from the kitchen window. All I know is that it is something I'm not going to forget in a hurry and I will try and get a picture of the hawk in mum's garden soon.