Birding in the fog

Woke up road weary to thick fog so not worth doing Draycote Water and decided to look at Napton Reservoir briefly before chilling out in the Skylark till it lifted. Managed 5 Snipe, 4 Teal, Grey Wagtail, Brown Rat and Water Vole in the gloom. The Skylark café had a Raven and Buzzard perched among the free range chickens with many Skylark going over and 2 Chiffchaff. Napton on the Hill was very birdy – probably the best it’s been all year with 50 Skylark, 17 Redwing and 6 Swallow over with many Blackbirds Pied Wagtails and Chaffinches in the hedgerows while the churchyard had 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Goldcrest, 20 Song Thrush and a large tit flock just in one hour of looking. Returned to Napton Reservoir where the visibility had improved slightly so added 7 Shoveler, 21 Tufted Duck and a Great-spotted Woodpecker to our previous visit.