Hard Work

After the previous evenings owl fest of four owls from three species with the most memorable being a Barn Owl against a backdrop of Jupiter and three of its moons near a very bright moon then our visit to Draycote Water this morning was nothing short of dire. Our walk to toft shallows only produced a single Little Egret and one of the dusky Canada Geese. Having failed to see anything from the broad walk our luck only changed when we chatted to Bob on toft bank who pointed out the distant male Smew among a group of Goldeneye and as we chatted the grey goose flock arrived with the Pink-footed and White-fronted in tow but despite nearly two hours of searching we failed to the Black-necked Grebe though it was found ten minutes after we left. Only other bird of note was 5 Raven, 50 Pochard, 40 Wigeon, 2 male Shoveler and 18 Gadwall. Napton Reservoir had many duck present but nothing new – just the usual 2 Pochard and 3 Gadwall.