Sunday 17th February

Took another trip to the park today as my local patch is under water again!

It was a cold start with a hard frost but I was still quite surprised to see most of the main lake frozen over. It usually takes a few nights of freezing temperatures to get that much ice. It was very still last night so DK and myself speculated that no ripple on the water helped the ice form more easily than is usually the case.

I finally managed to get a decent picture of the Ferruginous Duck this morning with some lovely light early on, and patience on my part, I was able to get a little closer than usual. It helped that there were hardly any dog walkers about that early so the flock remained closer in

Ferruginous Duck

The Ferruginous Duck has been hanging around with the Pochards since its arrival and here we have a male Pochard on the right. There were about 60 Pochards, 7 females, by the dipping platform this morning and they were displaying, males vying for the attention of the few females. The FD was also trying to get in on the act, displaying and chasing female Pochards around.

I heard a Kingfisher close by on the north side of the main lake as I photographed the FD.

The Black-necked Grebe was still on site but out in the middle of the lake at the east end of the island so no photo opportunities.

DK arrived and we did the usual rounds. No sign of the Bittern this morning but DK did see it depart the previous evening. It did a couple of circuits before heading off north east, possibly to roost at Willington.

We had a Little Egret at the north end of the west Fingers again but the best sighting of the morning was 2 Green Sandpipers on the flood waters on Riverside. DK spotted them first as they seemed to be heading off but they came back again shortly after landing briefly close to our viewpoint by the New Cut. They were soon off again however and they landed on the north side of the flood water. A few minutes later they were off again, flying past us as they headed for the STW.

The Barnacle Geese were on 100 Acre again along with some Canada and Greylag Geese. The big lake was mostly frozen and there was no sign of the usual Wigeon but they may have been hidden in the grass somewhere.

As we walked back along the Navigation Channel the rattle of a Mistle Thrush had us looking skywards as a single bird flew east directly overhead.

Those were the highlights of a super morning in the park. The weather was fantastic for a change, cold and clear.

The next of the monthly guided bird walks is next Sunday the 24th, meet at 9am outside the visitor centre.

Saturday 16th February

Well we are certainly being blessed with some good birds of late. The Black-necked Grebe and Ferruginous Duck remain with the BNG showing a little closer to shore than it did when it first arrived a couple of weeks ago. JA arrived just after me this morning and we wandered along the main path and while scanning the Alders, at the Crescent, for Siskins and/or Redpolls a Bittern flew out of the reed bed behind us! We were quite surprised to say the least and watched as it flew across the lake to the main lake hide reed bed. By this time DK had arrived so we wandered back along the main path to see if he had seen it, which he hadn't, and no amount of scoping the reed bed was going to find it at that distance!

We continued our usual rounds and a Little Egret was a nice surprise at the north end of west Fingers. We'd passed the view point several times earlier with no sign and suddenly it was there when we got to the far end of the Spit. We also spotted a Water Rail in the Crescent.

The rest of the rounds was pretty normal stuff although there were a group of Barnacle Geese on 100 Acre, a regular occurrence this past week per DK. A couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were drumming in the Long Hedge/Woodland Walk and another was drumming over on Kings Mead.

A couple of Siskins were in the Alders across the Navigation Channel. Gadwalls, Tufted Ducks and Pochards were all present but no sign of any Shoveller or Teal. JA had a couple of Little Grebes on the main lake.

We checked out the main lake hide with the hope of seeing the Bittern again and were lucky when we flushed it from the reed bed. We witnessed a lovely fly past as it headed across to the island and dropped in at the west end.

Bittern

Ever the optimists we scanned the end of the island when we got to the south side fishing swims and were amazed to see the Bittern sat on a branch out in the open at the west end of the island! A quick text to the county recorder who was just driving out of the car park, as it turned out, and he managed to get back and on to the bird as well as putting the word out.

So that was it, another pretty good morning in the park and for once it wasn't raining and was relatively warm, wonders will never cease.

Saturday 9th February

Met up with DK and JA who were already on a Shelduck when I arrived and it was still on the main lake late morning. We quickly located the Ferruginous Duck (FD) and the Black-necked Grebe. The FD is still hanging around with the Pochard flock. They are very sensitive to people near the dipping platform, coming in close to feed but moving out whenever anybody approaches. You can get good views if you are prepared to stand quietly until the flock drifts back in again.

The BN Grebe is seldom coming close to shore preferring to stay out in the middle of the main lake most of the time so scopes and long lenses are the order of the day for that one.

The rest of the morning was pretty standard fare. The Teal at Kramer hide were getting a bit feisty which was fun to watch and later we had good views of a Lesser Redpoll along the east side of Fingers.

Lesser Redpoll

 DK led the Beds. Bird Club walk on Sunday morning and by all accounts it was a good morning despite the terrible weather. Following per DK:

"Ferruginous Duck and B-n grebe still present. Also 2 Kingfishers, nice

views of Water Rail, Siskins, Goldcrest and Mink. 44 Species."