Winter Walk

After yesterday's awful weather it was nice to see blue skies and sun this morning as I began my day at Blatherwycke Lake. As I arrived a huge flock of geese landed filling the air with their calls, most were Greylags though there were a few Canadas in among them too. Nothing out of the ordinary on the lake though the usual Mandarins were present and the regular Egyptian Geese were seen as well.

Blatherwycke.

A check of the churchyard did not produce any sightings of Hawfinches but there was a good collection of the commoner species including a good number of thrushes. Between here and Deene there was little of note but something to enjoy with a smattering of the usual species on view. Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were feeding in some of the fields while many Red-legged Partridges  appear to have so far escaped the guns.

Plenty of Red Kites around today.

Deene Lake was quiet too with only a Shelduck of interest though the lake did have a good number of ducks. From here it was on to Priors Hall where the sunshine persuaded me to have a look for late darters. Given the ice on the surface on a couple of the ponds it was perhaps no surprise that there were none, probably safe to say that the season really is over this time but I'll miss them until the spring. Nothing much on the quarry lake though the Teal and Tufties have been joined by a family party of four Mute Swans.

Deene Lake Shelduck.

From here I walked over to Weldon and the Shoulder of Mutton where several pints of Zeppelin Marauder raided my taste buds and very nice it was too. Not my greatest ever day but still enjoyable all the same.

Priors Hall.