Yesterday was our first official day back after the winter break and it was certainly a case of 'as you were'. The last time the reserve and hide were fully open was Wednesday 15th December, since then we've had sub-zero temperatues and the occasional snow flurry. This added up to large amounts of inhospitable conditions for birdwatching and even walking around the reserve was hazardous at times due to the ice.
The main lake is still frozen and there is very little open water for our regular winter bird visitors to feed on. However, this has not entirely stopped some of our hardy volunteers coming on site to keep up with habit management.
Our regular hide guides today decided that instead of opening the hide they would walk around the site during which they spotted over 30 bird types. Probably a much better bet than sitting freezing in the hide!
This coming Friday we host the annual post-Christmas social get together for the regular Friday health walkers (this takes place after the walk!)
Please keep a weather eye out for the coming weekend, if the temperature does not improve significantly then we may have little option but to keep the hide closed. Many apologies.
See you on the reserves,
Best regards,
Chris Edwards