Dec 4th Strumpshaw Fen

A very frosty start to this morning. Its been pretty chilly, so much so that the broad outside the Reception Hide was frozen over! I was glad that I was wearing an extra layer today.

Bewick's Swans

Leaving the hungry pheasant behind, I was making my way to Fen Hide when I heard some light honking above me. I looked up and there were two Bewick's swans flying towards the direction of Buckenham. They were fairly quiet when you compare them to other swan species, just a few faint honks. I managed to get just one decent photo of them before they disappeared behind a cover of tree branches. From this photo, I could see the fine details that distinguished them for what they are. A smaller body, a shorter neck and a beak that was more black than yellow.

Stoat

Fen Hide was pretty quiet, with only a couple of Chinese water deer, a heron and a buzzard to be seen while trying to resist the cold for as long as I could. I left the hide and decided to walk down to the river to see how many fieldfares that were feeding on the apples there I could find. However, I had only turned the corner to rejoin the Sandy Wall, when something darted across the path in front of me and into the undergrowth to one side. It was a stoat! And it was a surprisingly kind stoat as it gave me plenty of views and even posed a couple of times for the camera. If only the light down along the path was better as my camera was finding it hard to focus properly. At one point, it even carried something like a dead vole in its mouth. How I would have love a better photo of the moment than what I ended up getting!

Finally, after a few minutes being distracted by the stoat, I managed to reach the apple trees by the river. I sat on a frost covered bench for a short while and it wasn't long until the apples on the ground were attracting flocks of fieldfares and blackbirds. Lots of them. They squabbled over them, the fieldfares being the bossiest in this pecking order. Their rattly calls echoed in the cold air. A very welcoming wintery sight.

Female Goldeneye

Back at Reception Hide, the broad was starting to thaw and a pool was forming at the far end. There were ducks making the most of this freed up bit of water and amongst them was a female goldeneye. This is the first time I've seen a goldeneye at Strumpshaw. It was the only duck in the group that was diving completely beneath the surface in this icy cold water. However most of the time, they were hiding behind the reedy islands. Luckily, there were marsh harriers busy harassing them and scaring them back into view. I guess the marsh harriers were becoming desperate and fancied their chances on having duck on the menu. In the end, their attempts came to nothing as they were continuously returning into the air without anything to show for their efforts.