Barnes WWT.

On Wednesday I visited Barnes WWT around midday. The bright blue sky reflected in the colour of the water but out of the sun the cold northerly breeze quickly chilled the fingers. The buildings in the background are on the other side of the River Thames which forms part of the boundary to this urban wetland reserve acknowledged to be the best in Europe. So here are a few images of some of the species that were around.

 A Little Grebe continually pointed its behind towards the sun

 Only spotted a few Common Pochard but I guess more will appear as winter approaches.

 A female Tufted Duck taking a midday nap.   

 A male Northern Shoveller with its distinctive spatulate bill and puffed out white breast. 

 Time to tidy up those feathers.

 Mrs. Shoveller floats by totally unimpressed by the males.

Shortly after entering the Dulverton Hide I surveyed the distant reeds on the northern side of the main lake through the bins and eventually locked onto a brown shape ... one of the two Bitterns that arrived, probably from Norther Europe, about a week ago. Sorry, no photos as it was far too far away!  Other sightings included Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Canada Geese, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Common, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls, Starling, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Cetti's Warbler (heard only), Great Crested Grebe, Lapwing, Jackdaw, Crow and Parakeet.

After some patient waiting a couple of Common Snipe appeared from the vegetation on a nearby island and spent a short time feeding before disappearing again, probably for their afternoon snooze. (Not the sharpest of shots as these guys were really too far away for the lens so original cropped.)

Finally from the first floor in the Peacock Hide I watched these Highland Cattle, which are being used to graze the grassland, slowly move to a fresh feeding location. Certainly no indication that they were feeling any effect from the biting wind!   FAB.