Still Darting

 A fine and sunny day today though quite cool in the shade, I began my day by scrounging a lift over to Blatherwycke. Highlight was the several Mandarins in their usual spot but there was little else of note. One thing I did enjoy though were the whistling calls of the many Wigeon grazing on the grassy banks, it's a sound so evocative of winter birding. I popped into the churchyard to see if any Hawfinches might be around but didn't manage to strike lucky.

Dunnock and Robin.

The walk between here and Deene was a little on the quiet side with nothing out of the ordinary to report.  Deene Lake held a pair of Egyptian Geese and also saw the return of Shelducks as two were present. There followed another spell of not seeing much until I arrived at Priors Hall. Two Woodcocks were the best birds here and I also saw a single Snipe. Small numbers of Siskins and Redpolls were also seen while a Brown Hare was the only mammal of note.

Redpoll, Pied Wagtail and Wigeon.

With all of the sunshine I had hoped to see a Common Darter or two and was not to be disappointed. Having seen a couple of males around several of the ponds I made my way to one of the most productive pools where amongst other things I met fellow late darter devotee Alan Shorrock. We managed to find perhaps as many as ten flitting around of which five perched on me at one point or another! A search for Willow Emeralds drew a blank though it's not too surprising given the lateness of the date. If we can avoid any harsh frosts in the near future we may yet get an advent darter - fingers crossed!

Common Darters