Jan 17th Strumpshaw Fen

Sun and Reeds

After a slight delayed train journey, the walk up to Strumpshaw today was a little bit brighter than it usually has been lately. Dawn was already in motion when I finally arrived at Brundall station this morning and in the rapidly fading darkness, I was able to spot a hare run away from me on one of the fields as I made my way up the country road leading to the reserve. Strong, bitterly cold winds were blowing throughout today and frost covered some of the paths during my walk to Fen Hide. It was one of those days that you'd rather be inside where it is warm. There was also a brief spell of hail at one point. At least, for the most part, it was a nice sunny day (just very cold) and watching the sun rising over the reeds with bright rays of sunlight was the real highlight of my day.



Sun rising over the river

Frosty path to Fen Hide



Pretty sky over Strumpshaw at dawn

Frost on a leaf

Snowdrops

There wasn't an awful lot to see this morning. I guess this was no thanks to the wind making many things to take cover from it. There was nothing to see at Fen Hide, so I decided to walk around the woods for a  bit. Not that there was much about here either, though I did see 4-5 bullfinches flee from my presence and a quick moving goldcrest hopping around the vegetation just by my feet. The snowdrops are now starting to appear in one corner of the woodland trail, not many but still a sure thing that spring is arriving early this year. At the bird feeders, the hungry blue and great tits were attracting the attention of a male sparrowhawk, which I saw flash past the feeders with little success before darting over the Reception Hide. This hawk made a couple more runs at these birds, taking the same route and we could see it from the hide.




Great Tit

Blue Tit









Coots

I was feeling a lot warmer under the heaters of the Reception Hide, but the wind was causing a draft under the window flaps which blew directly at me, keeping me from feeling completely cosy. About 45 coots were my main source of entertainment (and yes, I was that bored that I counted them), though there were also a few distant marsh harriers, brief visits from flocks of teal that came and went, a couple of cormorants, a pair of gadwall, a mute swan and Cobber the black swan (both preferring to hang about at the back of the broad than to come see us at the other end) and 2 bearded tits making a quick visit by the front of the hide for just a couple of seconds before disappearing again into the reeds to our left.

Teal

Mallard

Cormorant