Spent the last hour or so of the year (decade?) at Amwell adding Smew (male) and Red-crested Pochard (three) for the year. Four or five Yellow-legged Gulls were in the roost and four Little Egrets flew in at dusk.
Last bird to be seen: A Little Owl, along Fowlmere Road in Foxton.
In the evening, a partial eclipse of the moon occurred…
After the rain died down I spent the last part of the day at Fowlmere in an attempt to find something new for the year and beat last year’s total of 95. I failed of course. Virtually bird-less apart from a couple of Water Rails (one flushed and the other on the still frozen mere with the only other bird on there being a Moorhen.)
A quick dusk walk in the heavy rain. Surprisingly the mere was still partly frozen. As expected, no birds.
Spent the whole of a sunny afternoon at Minsmere, staying until dusk:
Cetti's Warbler – several heard.
Marsh Tit x 2
Bearded Tit – several heard.
Red-throated Diver x 13
Barnacle Goose x c.50
Stonechat – pair.
Marsh Harrier x 4
Bewick's Swan x 15
Tawny Owl – heard.
No birds at Fowlmere. Seven Grey Partridges at Shepreth and also interesting and close views of a male Kestrel chasing a large male Sparrowhawk in a presumed attempt to get the Great Tit that was held in his talons.
A walk with the family during the last hour or so of daylight. Nothing until an Egret flew over. Convinced it was a Great White (we were struggling for a while to eliminate Grey Heron as it was silhouetted) rather than Little. Long trailing legs and general size and structure all suggested Great. One that got away.
One was disturbed from a cupboard and put back accordingly this evening! Latest ever date of a flying one for me!
No birding, but whilst driving to London to watch QPR, over thirty Partridges (mostly, if not all, Grey Partridges) were seen in the fields between Foxton and Stevenage. Presumably they are always present, but were just easy to make out in the snow.
Heavy snowfall overnight, so couldn’t get in to Cambridge. Worked at home in the morning but set up the camera for Tom who took several images of Blackbirds, this one being our best shot in my opinion:
Later we both went to Fowlmere to to look for footprints. However, it started snowing again and so most were covered. We did find a few of both Fallow Deer and Muntjac, as well as this mustalid track.
Bird-wise it was better than normal: Three Snipe flying around looking for unfrozen water, a Barn Owl (poor record shot in dim light below!), a Chiffchaff calling, and seventeen Grey Partridges, as well as seven Teal and a male Gadwall.
A crisp sunny day, so took my lunch to Fowlmere where I saw nothing but a Water Rail and a Sparrowhawk; lunch was good though.
Better than usual today on a crisp sunny morning: A Gadwall, and three pairs of Teal, as well as two Snipe, before a female-type Marsh Harrier flew over the mere being mobbed by Crows. This is a rare bird for Fowlmere in winter so I managed to get a record shot…
No interesting birds whatsoever. Nice winter colours though as shown in this camera phone photo, where a Mute Swan has just sneaked into the corner to prove that there were a few birds actually there!
From the train to Cambridge, a Buzzard and several each of both Red-legged Partridges and Grey Partridges. More than I’ve seen on visits in recent days to both Fowlmere and Shepreth L-moor.
