Mornings are a great time to walk around the reserve, as things begin to wake up after a good night's sleep, but what a difference 24 hours can make! Yesteday's gentle snow fall, coupled with the freezing overnight temperatures, have resulted in many areas of the smaller water bodies freezing right over, concentrating waterfowl into the remaining open water, making for great viewing opportunities. Thrushes of all kinds are on the move, looking for softer ground to forage in, water rail float up from the side of the boardwalk and, walking along the paths to the hide, snipe rose from the path side vegetation at regular intervals, their croaking cry echoing back as they towered ever upwards and away.
Drifting over all this, were our marsh harriers, gently slipping this way and that on the breeze, floating effortlessly over the reedbeds like brown and amber ghosts, lords of all they survey, and all of this lit up by the low, brilliant, early morning sunshine shining through the reed seed heads, giving the whole reedbed a softly glowing halo - real magic in the morning