Winter has well and truly arrived! The Loch has been mostly frozen for over a week now, which makes for amusing sightings of the birds skating around on the ice. Greylag geese continue to visit in large flocks of 100+ with several pink footed and white fronted geese too, there have also been sightings of Tundra Bean Geese a slightly more unusual arrival. We had quite a surprise last week though when a Great White Egret turned up, landing right beside Gullery hide.
After hiding out during the worst of the weather the pair of Smew have now reappeared on Swamp, we're all glad to see them back. We also had a brief visit from a female Hen Harrier on Sunday 11th, flying low over the Loch around Swamp hide, with the resident Buzzards and Kestrels too it's great to see so many birds of prey on the reserve.