Bright and Sunny Southside Walk

 A proper December morning boded well for a good walk and I set off at a brisk pace to warm myself up.

Despite the early hour there were a few people walking along the road in front of me as I reached Southorpe Road. Weekends are usually a little busier around the Mere so I wasn't surprised to see others out and about.

Once the sun got up fully, the sky was a lovely deep blue and stayed that way all morning.

A few Redwing were in the treetops as I went through the double gates into the ridge and furrow field leading to the west end of the Mere.

I heard a Green Woodpecker calling from the wood as I walked past and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew through the trees. Another couple of months and these birds, along with others, will be thinking about pairing up for the breeding season.

In the large hawthorns there were more Redwing and a couple of Fieldfare feeding on the berries, which are disappearing fast now.

Redwing

In Ouzel Hedge the flock of finches had a few additional birds today. Along with about 40 Goldfinch I saw 6 Yellowhammer, 7 Reed Bunting, c. 10 Tree Sparrow, a Greenfinch and a few Linnet. Also about 40 Starlings were noisily reminding me of their presence. We don't see that many Starlings at the Mere outside their fantastic dusk roost murmurations.

Starlings looking great in their spotty plumage

The flock of c.160 Barnacle Goose took off and flew overhead but instead of coming down on the Mere or in one of the southern fields as usual, they disappeared west.

Barnacle Geese

Out on the water there were plenty of wildfowl (Mute Swan, Coot, Mallard, Pochard, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Wigeon, Tufted Duck and 2 Shoveler. Also Greylag Geese.) No sign of the Smew for me although the redhead had been seen earlier.

The final sighting for the morning was the pair of Stonechat that have been regulars along the fenceline recently.

Male Stonechat

Female Stonechat

A very pleasant 5 mile wander and much better than I can expect tomorrow after a visit to the dentist 😢