Possibly not quite as exciting as Zoe's last blog posting about her flight over Otmoor, but here are the results from the latest Wetland Bird Survey on the moor. A combination of lots of water elsewhere and the freezing temperatures causing areas of the reserve to freeze over probably explain the drop in wildfowl numbers, especially shoveler and wigeon:

Little Egret                 1 (Big Otmoor)

Grey Heron                4 (1 Malt Pit, 1 Ashgrave, 2 Big Otmoor)

Mute Swan                 12 (2 Ashgrave, 8 Flood, 2 Greenaways)

Greylag Goose          153 (1 Ashgrave, 152 Closes)

Canada Goose          186 (173 Ashgrave, 6 Big Otmoor, 7 Flood)

Wigeon                       129 (76 Ashgrave, 3 Big Otmoor, 50 Greenaways)

Gadwall                      13 (4 Malt Pit, 9 Reedbed)

Teal                             930 (6 Ashgrave, 91 Big Otmoor, 20 Reedbed, 107 Flood, 706 Greenaways)

Mallard                       242 (40 Malt Pit, 39 Ashgrave, 47 Big Otmoor, 21 Closes, 22 Reedbed, 21 Flood, 52 Greenaways)

Tufted Duck               20 (Reedbed)

Water rail                   1 (Closes)

Moorhen                    5 (Closes)

Coot                            10 (Reedbed)

Golden Plover           320 (Flood)

Lapwing                     378 (2 Big Otmoor, 3 Closes, 221 Flood, 152 Greenaways)

Ruff                             3 (Greenaways)

Jack snipe                  1 (Malt Pit)

Snipe                          54 (1 Malt Pit, 1 Big Otmoor, 52 Greenaways)

Although they've not been seen for a couple of days the whooper swans picked up earlier in the week may well still be around on one of the flooded fields. Merlin, ravens, stonechats and the wintering hen harrier have all been seen this week too. Talking of hen harriers, Otmoor is an amazing place to see birds of prey with the ever-present red kites, buzzards and sparrowhawks being joined at various times of year by peregrine, hobby, marsh harrier, merlin and hen harrier. We even had an osprey fly over during the autumn.

The RSPB does a lot of important work to help protect and provide suitable habitats for birds of prey. If you'd like to find out more about this aspect of our work it's well worth looking at this website http://www.rspb.org.uk/supporting/campaigns/birdsofprey/index.aspx