Ruddy difficult to ID

The weather was overcast with strong winds, so there was a chance everything would be hiding away. On entering the park I saw a single Greenfinch in a Goldfinch flock, and walked along the back of the Pit Tip seeing Blue Tit, Great Tit and a single Coal Tit. A Green Woodpecker was perched at the top of one of the small trees on the edge of the woodland, and I also saw a single Jay here. I followed the lane around the Pit Tip down to see plenty of Blackbird in the hedges and Rook in the fields. At Dawson's Corner were plenty of Redwing, a Song Thrush, and a flyover from a Cormorant.

I arrived at the Mill Lakes to see that a new fence had been put up by the Vehicle Bridge to prevent anyone walking down the river path which gives views over the Reedbed. On the near side the Reedbed Boardwalk had been cleared, but it doesn't give very good views. The single Greylag Goose was in its usual spot, and I decided to take the anti-clockwise path for once.

A pair of Bullfinch were in the trees/hedges, but the views weren't good. Whilst trying to get some better views I managed the best footage yet of a flock of Long-tailed Tit, which literally surrounded me at one point, coming as close as 2m away. I disturbed a couple of Cormorant around the next corner, and they flew off towards Tern Island. I also got some better footage of Teal here, but they didn't hang around for long. I counted five or more males and at least one female.

Heading up to the Leen Pastures didn't produce much today. Some kids on bikes were around, so that probably scared everything off before I got there. Another pair of Bullfinch were in the hedge that borders the meadow and a probable Goldfinch too. There were some birds calling on the railway siding, but they were well hidden from view.

Heading back down the east side of the lake showed the usual pair of Great Crested Grebe and whilst looking for other usual species, I came across the elusive Little Grebe south of the Peninsula. The group of Pochard was mostly male, but at least one female was visible. Mixed in with them was an odd looking cream-coloured duck, which proved difficult to identify as (or at least confirm my suspicions that it was) a winter male Ruddy Duck - a patch first, surprisingly.

On the way back to the bridge, a single male Chaffinch was around the small marsh pool and a Sparrowhawk was chasing some Woodpigeon around. This brought the day's total to 35 species, including a patch tick in the form of the Ruddy Duck.