Some of you may remember the rather splendid water rail nicknamed 'Wally' who paraded in front of the Visitor centre for us several winters ago. I still get asked whether he has come back...
Fond memories....Wally the water rail, photographed by Howard Statham
Whilst there has been no sign of him for the past two winters, there is certainly water rail activity out on the trail with sightings from both Winpenny and Nettley's hide. This morning, our guided walk had a fabulous view of the rail right in front of the hide for quite some time.
When conditions are icy it tends to be an ideal opportunity to see snipe - the work we have done in front of West Mead hide seems to be yielding results with regular close-up views of these sneaky little birds. The black-tailed godwit numbers are still around the 500 mark are most often found on the North Brooks.
Whilst snipe are normally perfectly camouflaged, they show up rather better in the snow - this photo was taken by one of our volunteers, Chris, a couple of years ago when we had a cold winter.
Despite the wintery conditions, the great spotted woodpeckers seem to think that it is spring and can be heard drumming. Most mornings I am greeted by this sound - the big oak on the corner of the car park is a favourite spot.
The full set of winter thrushes can be found - song, mistle, redwing and fieldfare - roaming the hedgerows and pasture fields. In addition to goldcrests there have also been 2 firecrest sightings in the past few days - in different spots each time, but keep your eyes and ears open.