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| Snow at Strumpshaw |
Strumpshaw looked a lot whiter than usual this morning. This was because it had been snowing over night. Though it was only a light dusting that remained, it was still exciting to walk around the reserve while it was covered in snow. With snow on the ground, even if its just a couple of inches deep, it is always important to check for animal prints. I was walking down Sandy Wall when I noticed a trail of fox prints that I followed to where it started near the top of the path that led to Fen Hide. The prints are pretty distinctive. It is very similar to a dog's, but is smaller and more compact with two toes at the top, two toes at the side, a triangular pad beneath them all and a small dot above each toe, which are the fox's claws. Following the prints is like reading a book as they provide a clue to where its going and what its doing along the way. For the most part, this fox was using the path as a highway to get to the woods, but it did check beyond the borders a couple of times as its prints were on the tops of the wooden sleepers.
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| View from Reception Hide |
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| Fox prints |
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| Fieldfare |
The prints weren't the only thing I saw on my way to Fen Hide during my early walk. As I was following the print trail along Sandy Wall, I also noticed a large thrush perch atop of a tall dead branch. It was a fieldfare. This winter visitor posed for a moment before moving onto the next bare tree further up and then to the next after that before it finally disappeared into the thickets. A couple of Chinese water deer in the snow-dusted meadow fields caught sight of me and bolted to safety as I made a quick detour to the river for a quick check over. It was too cold to stay inside Fen Hide for long, not that there were much to see other than two mute swans and two coots anyway, so I made my way back to the woodland trail, seeing a treecreeper, snowdrops in the snow and hearing bullfinches calling tantalizingly close by. I ended up seeing just one later that morning.
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| View from Fen Hide |
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| Coot |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Snowy Rosehips |
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| Snowy Reed |
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| Snowdrops in the snow |
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| Goldcrest |
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| Mallard |
At Reception Hide, I watched the snow and ice slowly melt away as the morning moved closer to midday. The ducks were doing their usual thing, though the gadwall were acting more livelier than the other species. The males were chasing one another across the broad as they were protecting their female that they were paring up with. The coots were also fiercely aggressive to one another. It was like handbags at dawn as they launched their attacks and letting rip with a fury of kicks. A duel would then develop into a free for all as more individuals joined in. They and everything else on the broad were soon forced to flee the area briefly as a marsh harrier flew over to harass them all. One bird even landed by the broad's edge a couple of times in the freshly cut areas at the far end. However, it was the buzzards that truly dominated the sky today with at least 12 of them up in the air at once just as I was about to leave.
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| Shovelers |
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| Shoveler |
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| Teal |
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| Gadwall |
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| Mute Swan |
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| Marsh Harriers |
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| Marsh Harrier |
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