I have always found magpies to be particularly difficult to photograph, so I was delighted when this very smart individual appeared in front of the North Hide this morning.
If you look carefully at the bird's belly towards the end of the sequence, you can see what looks like a brood patch, an area of exposed skin that will keep the eggs warm during incubation.
Crows do breed very early (note the egg found in Puddletown Woods last Monday) so it seems that this bird has already started breeding.
These teal were looking very smart as well.
Another co-operative bird just in front of the hide was this little grebe, bust catching tiny fish around the edge of the reeds.
Moving on to Newton's Cove I managed some very brief shots on one of the three black redstarts that are currently there.