A Winter's Morning at Lackford Lakes

31st December 2025

A cold winter's morning at Lackford Lakes and highly appropriate I should be welcomed by a Robin.

I headed straight for Bernard's Hide hoping for some action on or around the Kingfisher Pool, although Kingfishers have be absent from here for a couple of years now. Because of the mild winter we have been experiencing up to now, the last thing I was expecting was for ther Kingfisher Pool to be frozen over, so no action here!!!

Luckily the Slough was still ice-free and held a good number of wildfowl, particularly Shoveler and Teal.

Also good number of Lapwings which were roosting inbetween feeds.

There was also a drake Shelduck feeding fairly close in, looking rather immaculate in its breeding plumage.

And although there were no Snipe around the icy Kingfisher Pool, I did manage to find just one out on the Lapwing island.

Now on to the "Magic Log" where seed is put down to attract the woodland birds. Unfortunately since my last visit a large tree has fallen down and is now lying across the log, restricting the view slightly. Apart from the usual Blue and Great Tits, a Coal Tit was making the most of the free food.

And then a most welcome guest was this Nuthatch which I could photograph all day.

But the biggest surprise today, and nothing to do with the log, was this Tree Creeper which suddenly appeared in the trees above my head, and is the first Tree Creeper I have photographed for several years.

Well, what a great way to end the morning.

Now off to Lakenheath Fen, so WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!

A Couple of Hours with the Hertford Kingfisher

30th December 2025

Last year during the winter months the Hertford Kingfisher was hardly seen at all as the heavy rains caused the river to be very muddy and fast, meaning the Kingfisher could not fish there so went elsewhere looking for a calm pond.

However this winter, especially the last few weeks, there has hardly been any rain and the river is flowing at a slow pace and fairly clear so perfect conditions for the Kingfisher to sit in its favourite tree and stare down at the water.

When I got there the forecast sun had not materialised, but after half an hour the clouds rolled back and conditions were absolutely perfect so all that was needed now was the Kingfisher. It arrived about five minutes later so I started clicking away.

It sits in the same perfectly motionless position for several minutes at a time, so takes a long while to get a collection of shots in different poses. Here are the results.

And it was all worthwhile as he eventually caught a Bullhead which seems to be the commonest fish in the river.

The heavy spring rains followed by the hot summer have produced a bumper crop of  Hawthorn berries which provide a great back-drop, but considering the time of year I can only apologise for them not being Holly.

A couple of hours well spent.

A Wild Goose Chase at Fishers Green

27th December 2025

Christmas is over and I am in need of some fresh air and exercise so off to Fishers Green for a Wild Goose Chase. I walked up to Holyfield Farm to view the surrounding fields and was amazed at the sheer numbers of geese present. I have been here before at this time of year but never seen so many.

There were absolutely hundreds of Canada Geese, possibly as many as 700+, mainly in fairly loose flocks.

There were also 200+ Greylag Geese but too far away at the top of the field for a photograph.

The next goose encountered was the Egyptian Goose. When I was birding in the Lea Valley in the 1970s Egyptian Geese were extremely rare, in fact I can only remember seeing one in those days. Now they are common everywhere and today there were 50+ with a flock of 30 in one field alone.

There is normally a sizeable flock of Barnacle Geese at Fishers Green, but today they were obviously elsewhere and only one could be seen in amongst the Canadas. Just look at that size difference.

All of these four species of goose are resident feral birds having escaped from collections and now breeding in the wild with sustainable populations. Of course truly wild Greylags and Barnacles do exist naturally in the UK but are winter visitors to Scotland.

So what was the purpose of my visit today? Well, the clue is in the title........"Wild Goose Chase". Yes, the purpose of my visit today was to photograph the flock of truly wild White-fronted Geese that had arrived at Fishers Green.

They were quite distant but I did manage to get some shots of the rather loose flock.

As I walking back I found that three birds had moved a lot closer to the fence which allowed a few close-ups. You've got to get lucky sometimes!!!

Well that feels better and also great to meet up with Paul Hackett for the first time in several years.