Bright Frosty Morn

The second day of sub-zero night temperatures, though the cold failed to bring in anything unusual to the area. Tufted Duck numbers are creeping up towards fifty and are outnumbering the Teal on the basin. Shelduck numbers are still high with 15 on the basin and two on Bow Creek. The female Pintail was again on Bow Creek, though this time she was asleep. A female Great Spotted Woodpecker was in the copse, this a good sighting for this time of year, this is only the fourth record in January (including a bird recorded last week). Over the last few weeks Nick has been putting down food in various areas, and today a number of birds were feeding on the hand-outs, most were Chaffinch. I spent about an hour and half watching the Thames and also the sky. The Thames was very quiet with nothing of note and there was hardly any movement across the clear blue sky. So far I have struggled to reach 45 species for the year, a very average start to the year, but maybe the Blue Crested Hoopoe which turned up on Midsomer Murders will put in an appearance.