The rare sight of the sun tempted us out to Pulborough Brooks this afternoon. Pulborough is an RSPB wetland reserve about 25 miles from here. Easy walking when you're there, and always plenty to see, though our closest encounters with birds were while we were eating lunch just outside the coffee shop! The birds (mainly blue tits, great tits and chaffinches) had the same idea.
Great tit
Blue tit
There were of course plenty of wetland birds to see from the various hides and lookouts. You do need a long lens at Pulborough and the hardened birdwatchers lug huge scopes around with them. 
Lapwing
A pair of shelduck
I'm moderately confident that these are godwits, and I think it's probably the first time I've posted any photos of them.
These are definitely wigeon.
Another first for the blog (I think) are these shovelers, with their distinctively large bill.
Alongside the bird life, Pulborough has various herds of cattle and deer, mainly used for grazing the grassland. 
These are fallow deer.
More fallows, and a couple of lapwings…
And because you all but trip over them, a shot of one of the countless rabbits that run the grassland.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D EF and 400mm f/5.6L USM lens.
derWandersmann
20 Feb 2012A nice change of scene, Words … and the Great Tit was a nice treat. The wigeon were a surprise, indeed! They always confuse me by the variety of their colouring. It looks as though those male shovelers have something rather urgent on their minds … have they begun to mate yet?
SittingFox
20 Feb 2012Yes, Minsmere is much the same regarding the coffee shop being the best place for closeups! Looks like you had a good time though – I always enjoy seeing the fallow deer in Pulborough.
Those are definitely shovelers, and I think you're right about the godwits, but I cannot look at them too closely without seeing multivariate statistics :insane: 😥 (The data for that assignment was from a godwit biologist.)
gdare
20 Feb 2012Nice day with a lot great photos, especially the first one :up:
Words
21 Feb 2012dW, I think we're very much in mating season now, especially as it's warmed up slightly. There's always a good variety at Pulborough. It's a perfect habitat for waders, and great tits always enjoy tea rooms. 😉
Words
21 Feb 2012Darko, thanks! It was good to see some sunshine after all the cold weather.
Words
21 Feb 2012Adele, sorry to have brought the multivariate stats back to mind. I'm reasonably sure about the i.d. based on looking at them full size. I did make a mistake about not having previously posted a shoveler… there was one lurking in my Regent's Park shots from last year (though part of a collection, so it doesn't really count).