The past couple of days have certainly made me feel like Christmas is fast approaching. The frosty starts and snow in the air have put an end to the surprisingly mild weather we've been having here, which I was reminded of just yesterday when I saw a duckling behind the Kingfisher Screen! Did anyone see the ducklings mentioned on Autumnwatch? I hope there aren't too many about! The unsettled weather we experienced yesterday did, however, result in a glorious rainbow in the afternoon (see photo below).

The Kingfisher has been seen by plenty of visitors today, as well as being seen by loads of people on Saturday. We've also had lots of Lesser Redpoll around the boardwalk, some House Sparrows opposite the visitor centre, a Sparrowhawk flying over the visitor centre and both Red-legged and Grey Partridge opposite the visitor centre - all being reported today, within very convenient distance of the coffee machine. It's not looked especially tempting outside today, but the birds are putting us to shame and getting on with things whatever the weather.

Slightly further afield, and all sighted today, a deer was seen from Pickup Hide, Long-tailed Tits are still all around the boardwalk area, and two Little Grebes were seen at the Kingfisher Screen. A Pintail was also seen from Village Bay Hide, and a Green-winged Teal was seen at Lin Dike. Teal are the smallest dabbling duck you can find, with beautiful markings - the female is brown with a gorgeous dash of fluorescent green on her wings.

If you do come and visit us before Christmas, please let us know what you've seen - we love to hear about what's around (as well as seeing these things!). If you're as unprepared for Christmas as I am, I'd urge you to come and see us next Saturday (the 10th) and get the shopping done alongside special craft activities for the young ones, and with no blaring lights/repetitive music/traffic jams around! Between 4pm and 6pm we'll be having a Christmas Shopping Event, with a complimentary mulled wine and mince pie for the adults, and juice and biscuits for the kids. A much more relaxed experience than the norm!

So after all my rambling on about how much I'm looking forward to winter, I think it's finally here. It's fantastic to be constantly learning new things here - just today, I've been swatting up on Green-winged Teal (which I'd never heard of before today) and I'm sure I'll be put to shame numerous times before Christmas, but I'm absolutely loving getting to know our wildlife. New things are cropping up all the time - and it's only the very beginning of the cold weather! Here's to winter...