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A very gray miserable hour in the Rose Garden rice paddy this afternoon produced 3 Brown Shrikes and 1 Common Kingfisher. Terrible light so I am actually quite pleased with this distant Purple Heron, probably about 120 metres away. I have posted the kingfisher shot more as a record and an example of the difficulties with low light shooting. In the next few weeks I hope to get a much better capture of this beautiful bird and to really see the Common Kingfisher at its best you need to see its back which has a beautiful aquamarine colour to it.

In the next few weeks hawks will return, I hope, notably Pied Harriers but also Eastern Marsh and Black Kites. There was no sign of them this evening and I am not really expecting them until October.