A Foggy and Frosty Morning

The morning started well, with a group of three Reed Bunting feeding along the path and hedgerow of the Pit Tip Top that borders the small conservation area alongside Front Line. The two females were quite showy, and the male more elusive. A single Green Woodpecker was on a fence post at the western side of Pit Tip Plantation, and an adult Pied Wagtail was feeding on the icy path there too.

At the Mill Lakes a single adult Mute Swan was with six juveniles on the Leen by the Reedbed and Vehicle Bridge. A vast amount of the lake was frozen and circa 170 Black-headed Gull were on the ice at the southern end, with another 60 at the north end (a personal site record). A Grey Heron was on Tern Island, and just two Pochard could be seen through the fog. A flock of ten Long-tailed Tit feeding in alder trees between Dipping Ponds and Peninsula contained at least one Siskin. The feeding station at Leen Pastures was empty, but produced brief views of a Water Rail along the railway embankment, which only stood out because there was nothing else moving in the area.

Highlight of the morning was a single Tree Sparrow in the hedgerow that runs alongside the farmer's field at the back of Broad Valley Stables' Horse Paddock, since there are no recent records of them in the park or near this location. The two other locations for nearby records are both over a kilometre away. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was also seen here, flying over in the direction of the Mill Lakes.

Before stopping by the rangers' station for a chat, I noted two Coal Tit on the feeders at Alexandra Lodge as well as the typical species. Heading home, I bumped into some friends from the park's "Friends of" group, and spoke briefly about Goldcrest calls, all of ten seconds before hearing and locating a single Goldcrest in a yew at Khalsa Wood! Two Nuthatch were together in the large trees directly above the path between the Three Ponds and the Triangle, loads of Chaffinch and ten Collared Dove were in trees around the back fence to Big Wood School Field, and a male Great Spotted Woodpecker at the back of Warren Hill finished off the morning.