No change locally

No change at Draycote Water with all the usual suspects in the same place apart from the male Smew that now likes to wander up to the valve tower. A juvenile Sparrowhawk just missed a Pied Wagtail in front of us then spent some time perched on the sewage farm fence eyeing up its next victim. Now that the ground has thawed slightly there were plenty of Lapwing, Fieldfare and Redwing just outside Napton on the Hill plus a single Raven while Napton Reservoir had 6 Great-crested Grebe, 6 Pochard, 2 Gadwall, Shoveler, Wigeon and 2 Raven over.

Back to normal

Couldn’t do no wrong today with 2 Yellow-legged Gull in the post roost, the male Smew landing in front of us off farborough spit before flying towards biggen bay, the Black-necked Grebe in toft shallows ending up at the spit. One dusky Canada Goose and one of an intermediate size with a darker mantle among the Canada’s while the Pink-footed and both White-fronted’s were with the Graylag flock. In toft shallows we were treated to good views of a Bank Vole and Weasel along with 10 Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest and Treecreeper.

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.

Black-necked and friends still

After a glorious sunrise and with only a light breeze it was a pleasant walk to toft shallows at Draycote Water this morning with Keith managing to see the Black-necked Grebe, male Smew, Pink-footed Goose and 2 White-fronted Geese with out to much effort. Long distant views of 2 Little Egrets and as we reached Toft there were 4 Ravens overhead, the Water Rail performing off the board walk and a Chiffchaff.at the end of toft bank Only other birds of note were 12 Gadwall, 126 Greylags, male and female Shoveler and 20 Pochard. All the usual suspects seen in the grandborough valley though Napton Reservoir was partially frozen. Luckily the Mute Swan davic ring No 4AUT managed to eventually free its self after falling through the ice and  becoming trapped for a while, best sighting was the 160 Golden Plover that came off the fields along Hill Rd Grandborough.

Crap record shots of rail and grebe, hands got too cold to be pissing about with a camera

Black-necked Grebe

Strong North West made viewing difficult at Draycote Water this morning but at last we managed to find something different for a change with a Black-necked Grebe off toft bank. Both the Pink-footed and the 2 White-fronted Geese were with the large Greylag flock below farborough spit. The Greylag flock was a record count for me here (156). Also noted were 40 Pochard, Little Egret and Raven. Napton on the Hill had 8 Raven while nearby Napton Reservoir had 6 along with 4 Gadwall, 2 Snipe and 2 male Pochard. Tour of the valley produced 16 Tree Sparrow at Millholm Parc and the Little Owl at Kites Hardwick. No sign of the 80+ Golden Plover we had last week.

Great Central Railway

The Great Central Railway held their winter gala over the weekend so popped over yesterday but with the cold wind and overcast conditions plus a large crowd I had problems getting any shots I was happy with. Took over a 100 but only kept 3 and those were of the two engines I had not seen before.

Great Western 7800 No 7820 Dinmore Manor & ClassGreat Western Class 1500 No 1501

Not much change of late

A damp start to the day with overnight drizzle just starting to lift on our arrival at Draycote Water with 2 adult Yellow-legged Gulls in the post roost which is not as big as it has been now that the nights are getting shorter and the long staying male Smew off farborough bank as we waited for it to stop from the shelter of the visitor centre awning. Once cleared we walked to the inlet with 2 female Pintail by the outlet, 24 Tree Sparrows on the feeders, Kingfisher by the inlet and the geese flock seen distantly towards toft bay, 50 Yellowhammers behind the inlet and 4 Little Egrets between inlet and valve tower. Best sighting was of a female Merlin perched between the inlet and Draycote village. Though distant good views were had in the scope. Not so many Goosander around. The Little Owl at Kites Hardwick was on show but no sign of yesterday’s second bird and all we could manage at Napton Reservoir was 4 Gadwall, male Pochard and a Snipe though over the last week it has had Teal and Wigeon.