Christmas Eve

A lovely start to Christmas Eve here on the east coast, sunny and cold with a temperature of 2 degrees C on my nose end, making me look like Rudolph 😊

A walk down to the sea front got the blood going and I soon warmed up. Nothing on the beach again except for a Pied Wagtail and the usual gulls. The sun was getting its act together though...

Sun getting into gear at 08:54

The Sanderlings that used to be seen most mornings running along the shoreline are now to be seen further north, past the promenade end. Had 26 the other morning up there. One or two stray down the south end but the beach has changed since the Beast From The East and the sand hasn't fully come back yet. Give it time though and the beach will recover.

Along Stream Dike the water was flowing quickly - given the rain we've had over the last week this isn't surprising. A Little Egret flew off as I climbed the steps to get onto the grass and follow the stream towards the Mere.

Unsurprisingly KP was closed today:

Walking up from the gated KP to the south side only took about 10 minutes, so I didn't feel as though I'd wasted my time going there first as I half expected it to be closed. On into the fields then and I had a chat with a few locals walking their dogs - they are friendly (the people that is, some of the dogs aren't!).

Two of the four Scaup that have been here for weeks were showing nicely in the morning sun, but distantly.

A long-staying Scaup

The Great White Egret was on the shoreline earlier apparently, but I missed it by doing the hated early morning Christmas Eve shopping trip to Tesco before I came out for a walk. Still, has to be done I guess.

Mooching along the footpath towards the hide I was struck by the regimented pattern of the crops in the field:

No brown hares in there so I walked on. I could hear the Barnacle Goose herd at the top of the next field so I wondered if I could get all of them into a photo in order to count them. There are usually between 120 and 130 dependng on what view you get of them, so what will the count be today? 124 was the answer and I had a good clear view. Maybe one or two have fallen by the wayside or maybe they were in another field?

At the hide there was almost nothing but Mute Swans, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye for ages, but then 3 Goosander flew in to the west end.

They landed and swam to the edge of the reed bed where they stayed for about 15 minutes before flying off and continuing their westward journey.

2 drakes and a female Goosander

Meanwhile the Red-necked Grebe that had been seen earlier swimming east towards 1st field dropped into Decoy Channel.

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe photobombed

It then took off and flew to the western reed bed that had just been vacated by the Goosanders.

Red-necked Grebe going up west

Goldeneye numbers are pretty good this year at The Mere and I counted 86 today. I think the highest number seen to date this winter is 145, but I may be wrong. As I had been stood on the viewing platform for an hour or more I was getting pretty cold and my fingers were going numb, so I decided it was time to get moving again and set off home. The usual flock of Long-tailed, Great and Blue Tits were in the wood and a Treecreeper was with them. As I watched them move through the canopy a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers were chipping away somewhere close by.

On the way back I followed a Kestrel along Southorpe Road as it landed and flew on then landed again, but it was flighty and didn't hang around close enough to be photographed.

It was good to get back home into the warmth and thaw out, although by this time the sun was feeling warmish and I'd taken my wooly hat off!!