Toft Wood After the Snow

Yesterday, as soon as the sun was high enough to thaw the icy bit of Miller's Road for walking, I headed down to Toft Wood with my camera. There was a combination of a light layer of snow on the grounds and trees augmented by frost in the damper parts by the Bourn Brook - a very magical look with the reds of the berries and autumn oak leaves. After half an hour exploring, I headed out of the wood and round to the allotments via the Badger Sett. Very pleased to see plenty of characteristic very broad flat badger footprints at the entrance to the hole (with Rabbit and Pheasant)

Sunset Fox and Birds

When I first moved to Toft in the late 1960s, a favourite sunset walk was always to the rushy marshy area now occupied by the Meridian golf club which had a very large Reed Bunting roost in the winter. I thought when they built the golf club in 1983 that this would be dispersed but it just moved a short way to an area of farmland that is left in the winter as it is too wet to plough. As I approached the roost area I was aware of a large number of pheasants getting very agitated and it was only when I got home and looked at the photos that I realised they had seen the Fox before me! All the birds were very jittery but images of Reed buntings, Goldfinch and Fieldfare (we have dozens of these at the moment).

Bradgate Birds etc

Final few from the Bradgate trip - mainly birds that I enjoyed for various reasons - the Jackdaws intent on removing ticks etc from very patient Fallow deer, pictorial views of Peacock and Pheasant, water-level views of Swans etc.

Welney Morning Birds

We spent the rest of Sunday morning (after a breakfast in the cafe!!), general bird watching and 'snapping' on the main reserve so here a flavour of the session and including Cattle Egret and ?Chiffchaff (a pair were flitting in the bushes - presumably overwintered in UK).