Another cold one, although thankfully without any wind. Not much of note as I opened up this morning, a calling Cetti's warbler at Ivy North and brambling by the Centre and 4 fieldfare flying over were all I wrote down. The silt pond on the way to Ivy South hide was frozen over, or almost so, one of the cygnets was sitting in a small ice free patch on the western side.
There was a bit of late news from yesterday, a report of a great grey shrike on the path between Rockford and Ivy Lakes, it sounds as though it might have been on the reserve proper, but I cannot be sure. If it had been on the reserve it would have been another species for the BTO Challenge. Still towards the end of the day I popped into the Tern hide and there was a water pipit on the shore right in front of the hide, I should have got a reasonable picture of it, but just as I was about to take it a pied wagtail chased it off. Water pipit is an extra species for the challenge. Most water pipits winter along the coast where it is a bit milder, this one obviously likes things a bit cooler. As things continue to get colder over the next few days perhaps we will pick up one or two more extra species.
It's great there's a great grey shrike around! It reminds me of a comical incident I witnessed a few months ago. It was a woodchat shrike harrying with a good deal of commotion and finally seeing off a red kite from its territory. It was the difference in size, you'll appreciate, that was comical!
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