Fog at the bog...

Thankfully, the day stayed bright and clear to allow me to squeeze a good 40 minutes out down at the estuary, before the dusk, and heavy mist, completely stopped play.
It was all quiet initially, with the exception of the multitude of garrulous gulls on the riverside.
I eventually spotted a juvenile northern harrier sat out on a post on the marsh. As I trudged along the long hedge, a pair of adult harriers passed low over me, calling and interacting with one another. Very nice.
Just after 6pm, as I turned to return to my fog-shrouded car I noticed a movement, which turned out to be, as I suspected, a short-eared owl. It flew onto a stranded log and sat looking around before flying off and vanishing into the blanket of mist lying over the marsh.

* in other news... a 'slate-coloured' junco has been hanging out with the regular dark-eyed juncos in our yard for the past couple of days. (This is the form that I've seen a couple of times as a vagrant in the UK, in Portland, Dorset, and in Cheshire.)