The brilliant winter sunshine has been enjoyed by many visitors, and our birds. Our visitors today, including a coach-load from the Hitchin and Letchworth RSPB Local Group, found 76 different species, with the 77th not far away. Each visitor would have had their favourite - perhaps it was seeing a bittern, or the three marsh harriers flying together, or the male bullfinches glowing in the winter sunshine. For others, it was the winter colours of the drakes, a flock of goldfinches or seeing a barn owl.
Some people saw the unusually-marked, immature harrier that posed us on Wednesday's guided walk. During the week, we watched it basking in the sun, which played havoc with the plans for the walk. Today, it was only seen in flight. What is so unusual about this bird? Well, even the best local birders aren't sure about its parentage. Hen or pallid harrier? Or one of each?
I spent today in the car park, where one interesting bit of behaviour was shown by two buzzards, one chasing the other, very slowly. Perhaps flying on a windless day was taking a lot of effort.