Abbey Farm, Flitcham

After a 'Monday' at work I needed to escape!

Arrived at Abbey Farm Hide at Flitcham at 6.35pm.

Not too much about really, but I counted exactly 40 moorhens on site! The usual mallards, coots, egyptian geese, pheasant, robin, a few hirundines etc. Then things really started to hot up! A marsh harrier came into roost in the semi darkness and several bats appeared. I had the camera in my hand with the wide angle lens attached, messing about taking rubbish landscape shots, when suddenly a little owl landed on the big fat post no more than 20 yards in front of me!!! I froze. Wow - it was awesome to watch it this close! There I was with the bloody landscape lens on the camera and the 300mm sat neatly in the camera bag - hmmmm.... would I be lucky enough to swop it over?...... I moved soooo slowly - the owl then turned and fixed his eyes on mine and I just knew my luck was about to run out... the owl didn't even give me the chance to remove the lens, never mind attach the 300mm lens!!! The owl left the post! As Victor Meldrew says 'I don't believeeeeeee it!

Its so frustrating now the evenings are getting shorter and shorter but it was certainly worth leaving the house for, even though I only had an hour of light - to see that little owl land on the post was definately the most magical moment of the day!