Wanderer Returns

Just when we had given up all hope of seeing the Willow Tit this Winter it turned up on the twenty ninth of January for the fifth consecutive Winter. Perfect timing as it was the RSPB Garden Count day and it knocked our total up to twenty one different species in the hour slot. Not bad for a garden less that thirty foot by fifteen foot.

At long last we have had a week of superb Winter weather. I have visited Leighton Moss on several occasions and finally found a feeding Bittern. Unfortunately it was four hundred yards away and out of reach of the camera. I did however obtain film of a Marsh Harrier hunting the reed beds and even saw an Otter on the same day.

On Hopwood Jack Snipe and Woodcock have been present despite the low temperatures. The Dipper is still on the stream and a Green Woodpecker was encountered looking for ants in some frozen mosses.

In the snow of the fourth we had our best species count of the Winter with 22 recorded. These included Willow Tit, Goldcrest, Reed Bunting, Sparrowhawk and Great Spotted Woodpecker