A certain sense of deja vu this morning as I awoke to yet more fog, one thing which was clearer than the weather however was my head, a surprise given that I'd had more than a few beers whilst watching a Blondie tribute act last night. I shrugged off any lingering fuzziness and got a lift from my stepson over to Blatherwycke Lake. Conditions were challenging to begin with but the murk lifted much quicker than yesterday allowing me to thoroughly check the area.
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| Wigeon, Black Swan and Fieldfare |
The lake was obscured initially and I didn't really start birding until I got to the bridge where a Grey Wagtail and the resident Black Swan were present. Ravens were pretty vocal too, their gruff sounding croaks provided a contrast to the mellow whistles of unseen Wigeons. Redwings and Fieldfares joined a Mistle Thrush in dining on Yew berries near the churchyard, there was no sign of any Hawfinches. I followed the public footpath down to the south east corner of the lake. By now I could see all of the water and began checking my way through the assembled birds. Ten plus Pochards joined an increasing number of Tufted Ducks and were my first here of the autumn. A large gaggle of Greylags were not harbouring anything more interesting in their midst but I'll keep sorting through them on other visits just in case that situation changes.
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| Goldeneyes, Pintail and Wren |
Retracing my steps I went back to the King's Cliffe road to have a look at the larger part of the lake and I'm glad that I did. Two female Goldeneyes were a nice surprise following on from my first several weeks ago. Three drake Pintails were another welcome find and added to what was becoming a respectable duck list. It was getting towards the time when my lift was due to return and I headed back towards the village, a Water Rail squealed as I left. On my way past the bridge I noticed a Great White Egret fishing in the Willowbrook and that was my final sighting of the day.
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| A fish's nightmare! |
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