Lisa G Saw • April 22, 2026

March 26

WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS

At the end of February and early March, Bob and I were away in Norfolk for my birthday and had a wonderful trip. Plus, what a lovely birthday treat I had with both calendars produced by the Sussex Wildlife Trust showcasing two of my photos in the month of March! (Though rather disappointingly, they incorrectly attributed the one of the Common Seal to someone else). On the inside cover of the Rye Harbour calendar they also used my photo of mating Migrant Hawker dragonflies. This is a first for me, so I was thrilled they've used some of my photos.

This month we didn't get away for many wildlife outings, but the ones we had were fabulous!

We enjoyed a walk around RSPB Pulborough Brooks one morning, and whilst sitting in one of their hides, a Buzzard came and perched on a branch very near us. With my big 600mm lens, I've hardly cropped the first photo at all! I literally only had time to take a few photos, because it sensed we were near and quickly flew off again.

Nearer the middle of the month we had a weekend away at Elmley Nature Reserve on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. As 'Friends' of Elmley, this year we've tried to visit more times than we usually do, and we've not been disappointed. We always seem to have different highlights, because naturally, at different times of year we see different behaviour or different species altogether.

The Brown Hares are always a joy to see and are generally more visible at this time of year. However, they're still not very active during the daytime. We spotted one hunkered down not far from the track, which we were able to photograph from the car (you have to stay in the vehicle along the entrance track 'safari drive'). Funnily enough, it was there again in the same spot the next day too. Well, at least, I'm assuming it's the same hare - they're difficult to tell apart!

After parking the car in the car park, we started to explore the reserve on foot. Heading towards the hides on the east side of the reserve gave us two very lovely sightings of male Reed Buntings. I love these two photos for different reasons. You can more easily see the detail of the bird as it perches on a bare branch. The composition is simpler and more striking. However, I love the gorgeous white blossom of the Blackthorn in the second photo, which gives more sense of place and context.

There are several swathes of reedbeds that run alongside the walking track leading back towards the car park. Although we're always keeping a watchful eye open for anything of interest along this way, I've never before seen Bearded Tits there. It was mid afternoon, and the call of the birds was heard first. Then suddenly, a small group of them popped up near the top of the reeds and started catching insects, like you can see in this first photo of a male. They were so tricky to photograph because we were standing alongside the reeds, and the reeds in front of us often were in the way, blowing in the wind.

The group disappeared further into the reeds and so we started to walk away, back up on the path. But then one male was spotted flying alongside us, and once again started to look for insects at the top of the reeds. Only now, we were above the reeds and could more easily see and photograph him. What a handsome chap! Just look at those black markings - just like a moustache from the 70s!

I was so thrilled to see the Bearded Tits as they can be so elusive. That experience really made my day!

Overall, we spent quite a bit more time in the car on the safari drive over the whole weekend than we usually do. Later in the afternoon the hares became more active. We even had two crossing the track together. They stopped near the far side for a few moments. It all happened so quickly, I didn't have time to change from my 600mm lens and the hares filled the frame. Sometimes, I even couldn't fit all of the hare in the frame, so I ended up cropping the image for a close up! It was lovely having such a close encounter.

'This is my best side!'

The reason we spent so much time in the car was because the Marsh Harriers were very active flying around, showing lots of courtship displays as well as hunting. I probably took some of my best photos of this species over this weekend. The female is mostly brown with a creamy head. She was very impressive and larger than the male.

The male is equally impressive. They have more grey on the wings with black at the tips and a grey head rather than creamy. Although it's customary to show photos of birds so you can see their head, I do love the second photo of the male coming in to land, as it shows off its powerful wings and long tail.

One time the male returned to the nesting site with a Mallard duckling clasped in its talons! It landed and started to feed, but then the female flew in, and took over. The male flew off, circled around, and then returned to her. Evidently, this was a food offering before consumating their bond. He landed on her back and they proceeded to mate. It's a bit of a tricky balancing act and it was over fairly quickly. We were lucky enough to witness them mating three times over the course of the weekend.

I couldn't decide which photos to show, so I figured I'd share all of my favourite ones of the male.

At times it was a challenge photographing the Marsh Harriers from the back seat of the car through the smaller window. But, I had the advantage of being able to move around from one side to the other more easily than Bob, who was in the driver's seat. Sadly, he didn't really get to appreciate the hares that had crossed the road earlier, as they were on the left.

Overall, we were both so pleased with the encounters we'd experienced over the weekend across the mix of species we'd seen. With just 15 minutes until closing, we were ready to make a move and start the final 10 minute drive back to the exit gate. I was still in the back seat on the left side, as Bob slowly pulled away. My eyes were still scouring the ditch beside us for hares, on the off chance there was one final treat for us before leaving.

We'd barely driven 10 metres when I suddenly called out to Bob, 'Stop!' To my utter amazement, a Bittern was standing on the far side of the bank next to no distance away from us. I couldn't believe my eyes! I couldn't believe how lucky I was to even spot it. I've never seen one at this reserve before, though I'd looked many times before. They're so easy to miss, blending in to the reeds around them. This one hardly moved at all, as it remained virtually motionless with its head pointing upwards, but with its eyes staring forward at us. Its body was far more creamy and light coloured than I'd ever appreciated before.

With next to no time to spare, Bob had to carefully manoeuvre the car so we were alongside it in a position that we could both see and photograph it.

With the 600mm lens, I couldn't fit the whole bird into the frame. I quickly switched to my zoom lens (100-500mm) and managed to grab a few shots.

How crazy to have one of the best experiences in life and only have about 5 minutes. There was no time to savour it because we were in a rush to capture this spectacular moment. One of the wardens pulled up alongside us, explaining we had to leave. Thankfully, he gave us a few extra minutes when we said there was a bittern on the bank beside us. But, it wasn't long enough. How sad that we weren't able to sit quietly and watch it, see if it moved, fished, preened or didn't anything else of interest.

It was my highlight of the whole weekend. Amazing! I'm so grateful to have had those few precious minutes. Special wildlife moments like that can be so fleeting, but they can be so powerful they last a lifetime.

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Winter in Suffolk and Norfolk - Part 1

By Lisa G Saw • April 8, 2026

Winter is an excellent time to visit the north Norfolk coast, in terms of wildlife opportunities. It seemed the perfect area for my partner, Bob, and I to explore for our most recent holiday, which was for my birthday. It's a place we're both very fond of and yet we'd not been there together before, so it was lovely to return together and share some fabulous new wildlife experiences. We'd booked a lovely cottage in Morston for one week, but as usual, we made the journey there part of our adventure. We had an overnight stop in Lowestoft on our way north, which allowed us to visit RSPB Minsmere, Suffolk before heading to Norfolk. We had two great days before we'd even reached our accommodation for the week. In the weeks leading up to our trip, the weather was either wet, dull or windy, or all three! We didn't have high hopes for how many dry or sunny days we'd have for our trip, so I packed a few books, just in case! That also meant we'd packed all the necessary waterproofs and wellies, ready for anything. As it turned out, we had a really glorious week of lovely sunny, dry weather. What luck! Our previous visits to Minsmere have always been great and this was no different. We were really hoping to see some Woodcock, without spooking them and having the usual rear view as one rapidly flies away. I've only ever seen them a couple of time before, so I was eager for my first good view of one. Perhaps it was fitting, therefore, that I was the one that spotted one, at the precise moment Bob was saying, 'We probably won't find any!'

Books and Courses 1

By Lisa G Saw • March 11, 2026

THE FIRST SET OF BOOKS AND COURSES THAT HAVE HELPED ME ON MY JOURNEY I began this blog series, Living My The Best Life Possible , back in 2022 after a series of events, and a couple of chronic injuries, quite literally stopped me in my tracks. Having followed conventional approaches to try and turn things around, but to no avail, I felt compelled to seek out help from alternative approaches. I opened my mind to the possibility they could help me, taking a more holistic approach to my healing. Along my journey, I've done some serious soul searching, dug deep to uncover suppressed and hidden trauma, and held a mirror up to myself, realising there were things I needed to let go of and much I needed to change. It's been uncomfortable at times and emotional, but completely worthwhile, as I've worked through things and persevered. Awareness was key . From that I had the power to change my thought patterns and my view of the world. I know all my relationships are better for it, including the one I have with myself, and I wouldn't be where I am today without what I've learned. I've discovered there are many different ways to heal and I've been amazed by what I've learned. It's been surprising, uplifting and most of all, empowering. Along this journey I've been led from one book to another, then another, and on it goes. Sometimes the books have been recommended to me by family, friends or health practitioners, other times they've merely been mentioned in passing or in another book, and I've felt as though it was something that could help me further my knowledge and understanding. In many ways, they were like signs guiding me along at just the right moment when I needed them. My curiosity to learn more has led to a voracious appetite to read, which I've never experienced before. I love it! I feel like I'm on a fast train to somewhere, but the landscape out of the window isn't a blur as I whizz by, metaphorically speaking, but a glorious view of the world around me, simply seen from a new perspective. There is still much I wish to share in this blog series about my experience, in the hope it helps others and not just myself. But, it will take time to write it all whilst I'm still working. So, in the meantime, I decided to share some of the most significant books that have helped me along the way. It isn't the full list, by any means. For now, I'm only including a summary and snapshot of the significance to me, but hopefully this will be interesting and/or useful. Perhaps one of them will grab your attention and be something you might wish to read to help you on your own unique journey. You can see a list of all the books that will eventually be mentioned in this blog series by clicking on the button below. However, I'm going to split them over two or three posts, so each one doesn't get too long!

February 26

By Lisa G Saw • March 10, 2026

WILDLIFE HIGHLIGHTS Bob and I have visited West Rise Marsh a few times this month to look for Jack Snipe, but sadly without much success. We did see one, we think, on one visit, but it flew off before we set eyes on it. It's much the same with the Common Snipe, which as their name suggests, we see more of, but they're super skittish and fly off well before we're even close to where they're hiding, around the boggy wet marshes. With so many wet, windy and dull days, plus the fact I still have to go to work, I was starting to wonder if my February Highlights would be virtually non existent, so I was content with photographing and observing a Heron, standing in the water. They can stand motionless for ages, and move very slowly, stealth-like through the water to new areas. Unfortunately, I was just moving into a new position, when it actually caught a fish. I missed capturing that moment when its head quickly and unexpectedly darted downwards and snatched its prey from the water. But, you can see the Heron in mid-gulp (first photo).