See my first and second Rye Meads posts to get up to date with the action so far. It's thrilling, honestly.

This is the last set of birds, with butterflies still to come. A bumper crop today, starting with a female Pochard (at the top) and more excitingly, a Lapwing. It's not especially rare, though it was the only one I saw at Rye Meads, but it's clearly quite an exotic looking winged beast and I hadn't seen one before. Apologies for the poor photo – it was a long way away,

Next a pair of Gadwalls – male on the left, female on the right. It's really very similar to a Mallard in most respects, especially the female which is most easily recognised as a Gadwall by the nearby presence of the more obvious male! And it lacks the blue/green flash on the wing of a Mallard.

  

Here's a pair of Cormorants on a perch on a raft. If only I had something further to say about Cormorants.

Finally, what I believe to be a Kestrel – one of a pair that were soaring high above, perhaps as part of a courtship ritual. It's hard to be sure with these birds, especially if you're me and lack practical experience in the field, but I think that the single black bar on the tail makes it most likely to be a Kestrel, having studied the book long and hard. If you think different, please let me know in the comments!