What a beautiful day! A crisp blue sky, long fingers of frost on the grass and large mounds of ice over the lower reaches of the merse and chunks floating out to sea on the tide. I would never have believed it was cold enough last night for ice in the sea at midday but there it was glistening in the sun.
Today was a great day for a guided walk at the Crook; the sun was shining to warm us and all was crunchy under foot making the walk out to the edge of the merse much easier. We even saw a ball of rainbow in the sky on the walk back. Good selections of birds around the Bay too; we saw a family of 5 whooper swans in a group of 7, various skiens of pink-footed geese, a lot of fieldfares in the hawthorns along with a tree-creeper, great spotted woodpecker, goldcrest, robin and a wren. Lots of snipe around the reserve along with curlew, redshank, golden plover and dunlin. The resident mute swans and grey herons put in an appearance and one lonely little egret.
If you'd like to find out more about the Crook of Baldoon and get help finding the variety of life out there, then join the ranger on his next guided walk on Wednesday 12th December, 11am-1pm; or Boxing Day, 2-4pm to work off the Christmass excess. Please phone 01988 402130 to book.
Hi Alexa.
Very good day, winter on a good sunny cold day, can be very rewarding for seeing birds. Thanks from us, for a good guided walk, for showing us the layers of shells, in the mud banks, the ponds and the many birds.
Gentalis.
Forgot to mention perhaps the most interesting birds - a red-breasted diver, a great-crested grebe and not to be missed some shelduck and pied wagtails. What a great day out! :)