Oh Good, PB Didn't Go Quite So Mad This Week!

So, for the 2nd week running, my day off coincided with a belter of a forecast, and for the 2nd week running, I had the dilemma of where to go.... Langton Lakes won, as I hadn't been there in ages!

I've decided I'll have to stop going out quite so early, as most of the first 100 or so pictures were low light grainy misadventures in hopefulness!

A Gadwall pair (there were several) in the 1st lake

And a Canada Goose having his morning spruce-up

The first of the obligatory Robins :o)  (As you can see, it's getting a bit brighter...picture 141 of the day lol)

There were a lot of Great and Blue Tits about, but I saw no Long Tailed or Coal

A few finches, Mrs Chaff

And a good number of Dunnocks, at least now they're starting to behave like themselves, skulking around the bottom of the hedgerows

Mr Chaffie

And one of the Blue Tits

Suddenly a little way away a cacophony of calls signalled something was afoot... A Red Kite cruising by!

Considering the weather we've endured recently, the paths were pretty good, just the occasional muddy patch to negotiate... the Australian Goldfinch had to such worries

Since I was there last, a reed bed has been developed to help with the mitigation of flood waters, and one of the floating islands has been taken from one of the lakes, but it appears to no detriment to the birdlife. Along the approach to the reed bed, Mr Blackbird

And another Dunnock skipped ahead to the fenceline (a stripier head than I'd noticed before)

A Mallard and a Grey Wagtail shared a small island in the flooded bit of field

And an array of Snipe sat on the far side of the lake

And Billy (no-mates) was sat about 30 yards to their left

On a little island, halfway between the hide and the snipe, 4 Lapwing practised very good social distancing, and their plumage shone like a really shiny thing in the early sun.

There used to be a circular walk around the 3rd lake, but a new scrape is being allowed to develop, so the path is blocked off, so I headed back along the route I'd taken, seeing a slimmer Robin

A less stripey-headed Dunnock

A yellow Blue Tit

A Cormorant in a tree (there were half a dozen or more, but in a tree waaaaaay over the other side of the big lake)

One of about 4 or 5 Swan couples

And a Gadwall in better light!

I'd got back to what would have been the other end of the loop where the new scrape was being encouraged, so tootled off along a more "woodlandy" path, and was just thinking to myself...hmm, treecreeper or nuthatch environment... when a flurry of twig movement caught my eye... I fired a few speculative shots off, and don't remember thinking oooh..Goldcrest.....but it was 

In the same tree, branches rather than twigs started to shake....

Looking out across the 3rd lake, lots of Canada Geese, Mallards, several Coots, and this foursome of Shovellers

And a few Black Headed Gulls....some incominggggg

Along with the lakes and hides, there is a short walk along a stream, which I'd not done before, so I thought why not, the sun is still pretty low, and also at my back, so some nice light may be had.... the only winter thrush I saw, a Redwing

Then this fella got chased across the field by a crow, landed in a tree, paused for maybe a minute, then was off again...

Now, an infuriating Woody, who was in the tree for a good while, but no matter where I moved to, it ensured twigs were involved in my view!!

You may remember back along I said about how I love Magpies spread wings, and alluded to the tails....well it's a shame I wasn't 50 yards closer...but this is what I meant by their tails 

And to finish with, 2 or 3 cormorants took it in turns to swoop from their distant tree and loop round over the lake....

And so concluded another chilly but really nice morning, out and about.

I hope you enjoyed perusing, and hope the sun and blue sky raised your spirits as they did mine.

Thanks for reading

Stay Safe All