Raft

My initial plan of going to find some Brambling was curtailed....not by the snow....by people driving so slowly I reckoned it would take a few days to get to the birds....so....having given up on that I decided a quick visit to Whetsted was needed.  After all, you don't know how warm it is indoors till you spend a little time outdoors...!

Its cold out there....

1015 - 1130 Cloudy, sometimes bright, snow eventually, cold, NW f4-6

....and the wind was rather cold.....hat on, hood up...!

Not much to speak of really...I may have thought it was quiet a few days ago, but today WAS quiet.  Very little movement from any passerines...a couple of Goldcrest called along with a Reed Bunting.  On the way back, down the east end where it was more protected from the NW wind, a Robin and Blackbird fluttered by....

Island pit was just about deserted....

A Crow was happy out in the field marching around and a pair of Magpies flew past.

Snow moving in, looking toward Tonbridge....

On the water was the most interesting sight....on Middle Pit most of the ducks had formed a raft...

Raft...

There are obviously more sociable ducks and less sociable ones....this raft was made up of around 40 Shoveler, the male Goldeneye and some Pochard...around 10 I would guess....

On West Pit were the unsociable ducks....made up of Gadwall, Wigeon and Coot....clearly happy to be scattered across most of the pit....

The snow....much melted today....has increased the water levels quite a lot....the ditches are now full...and the pits are clearly higher as well....