I scrounged a lift from someone in my household and made the short trip over the border to Eyebrook Reservoir. There I took a socially distanced stroll around the res hoping to catch up with the small number of Smew that are wintering here. Although there were a few showers to dodge it wasn't too bad weather wise and I enjoyed my walk.
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| Drake (top) and redhead Smews |
My Smew quest did not take long to fulfill as I found a grand total of seven within yards of leaving the carpark at Stoke Dry. A drake and two redheads were feeding just off the Leicestershire bank on the other side of the res to me and a further three drakes and a redhead were feeding in the middle. Although the poor light and distance made for some challenging conditions for photography I managed to get a record shot or two. Amongst the other wildfowl seen were a group of six Pintails as well as the commoner stuff.
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| Goosander and Dunlins |
From the bridge I saw two female Goosanders fishing in the Eye Brook itself and heard both Siskins and Redpolls. A little further on there were at least fifty three Dunlin feeding out on the mud in company with a lot of Lapwing. My first Raven of the year flew over causing far less disturbance than a passing Sparrowhawk. One of the redhead Smews showed a little closer from a gap in the hedge and I stopped to admire it for a few minutes, after all we don't get too many opportunities to admire these attractive ducks in Northants. One final highlight to mention were a small numbers of Tree Sparrows frequenting the hedges near the bottom of the hill.
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| Goldeneye and Teal |
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