Another frosty bright day

This morning seemed slightly less cold than yesterday but nevertheless was very icy and again bright and sunny. The usual crossing into the riverside meadow is harder to get across at the moment because of the flood water that has turned to ice and the field looks like a small nature reserve - with a large flock of canada and grey geese. I scanned the flock but could not see anything else, though there were herons - I think 4 - standing as though on guard, completely still whilst the geese were moving around busily grazing.

One of the kestrels was out hunting again and on the way back home I disturbed a snipe. I've seen snipe in the field a few times, usually in the field by the river - this time it was in the wet hollow in the first field, and I only had a glimpse of the zig zag flight as it took off.

We were also out this afternoon for around an hour and a half and had a good sighting of a kingfisher that flew along the river near the Newport end, and perched on several branches as it flew down the river.

Shovellers on Tongwell lake

Walked around the lake yesterday - a beautiful sunny day. We usually walk down one side and on to Great Linford, but this time walked round the whole lake (which is not that big). Although a couple of weeks ago there were pochard, commorants and probably a variety of ducks (I had not checked carefully) today there were mallards, many canada geese, coots and some moorhens, no commorants to be seen and one pair of shoveller ducks.