Four in a Row

Arrived at the Mill Lakes at first light this morning to pick out two Great Crested Grebe together at the southern end of the lake. I flushed a pair of Shoveler from right at the bank just south of the Peninsula and they flew off towards the far side of the lake. The group of Teal had risen in numbers to a dozen, and the males seemed to be past their eclipse plumage now, with five of the group being female or first winter males. I got a brief glipse of a Grey Wagtail on Mud Island whilst unsuccessfully search for Snipe, and the group of four Mute Swan signets posed for me, as I walked to the footbridge at the north end.


From the small peninsula on the far bank I caught up with the Shoveler again, and another female was with them. Several small flocks of Redwing flew over to the west around the Wild Flower Garden, and two Cormorant were now on Tern Island. At the Vehicle Bridge a Kingfisher was perched on a branch just downstream next to the Reedbed Boardwalk. It flew off downstream before I could get the scope on it. Back at Dawson's Corner, at least one Redwing was seen in a hedgerow - my first grounded bird one of the winter.