Daytime temperatures above zero! The thaw is slowly starting and I didn't need to wear gloves today. After checking what were mostly birdless sites in the Trent Valley (all the waterbodies were frozen over with only small ice-free patches), Nick Crouch, Paul French and I visited the reserve in the afternoon. We saw a good selection of birds and the highlights were:
Little egret - one flew north over Phase 3
Goosander - a pair flew west towards the River Trent over Phase 2
Pintail - two males on the ice-free settling lagoon (second lagoon north from wood, next to eastern public footpath).
Shoveler - three (two males and a female) on the second lagoon
Teal - about 400 on ice-free channels in Phase 3 (viewed from western public footpath)
Goldeneye - three on the first lagoon
Grey Partridge - four flew over Phase 2
Water rail - two seen walking out on the ice on Phase 1
Curlew - three on Phase 3
Barn owl - two birds: a pale bird (probably a male) hunting over footpath by Trent and a darker bird (probably a female) hunting over Phase 2
Kingfisher - one on first lagoon
Green woodpecker - one flew over Phase 2
Great spotted woodpecker - three: two in wood and one in scrub by Phase 1
Stonechat - a pair in the Phase 1 reedbed
Bearded tit - heard calling
Tree sparrow - one in scrub by Phase 1
Brambling - two (male and female) in scrub by Phase 1
Siskin - three in alders next to eastern footpath by Phase 1