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)

Great Crested Grebes

 Very pleased to see two Great Crested Grebes at Paxton Pits already paired up and performing mini displays. Beautiful light yesterday afternoon to birdwatch but difficult for photographs.with so much contrast and reflections. One of the pair came quite close and caught a very large fish which it eventually managed to swallow.

A Winter's Day

Yesterday was clear skies from sunrise to moonrise. I walked up to Hardwick Wood to help with the annual coppicing (something I have taken part in for more than 60 years in West Cambridgeshire! The ground was still very frosted but out of the wind pleasant in the sunshine. Lots of tiny leaf fungi around but no larger ones. The Spurge Laurel, a local wildflower special, is coming into flower. The walk back into the wind was not so good! 

It was a supermoon last night - known as the Cold Moon, a good description so it was a brief walk round the village to view it.

Paxton Pits NewYear Birds

Spent an enjoyable couple of hours  yesterday afternoon in the Cobham Hide just watching the birds - the light was very poor but managed a few images of the action including this Long-tailed Tit, one of a party of 4 or 5 who landed in the bush in front of the hide. The Marsh Harrier paid 'its' (female or juvenile) usual visit. The Cormorants are coming into breeding plumage as their nesting season can start early January.

New Year Day Flower Hunt in Toft Village and Paxton Pits

The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland runs a New Year Flower Hunt each year asking participants to record all the flowers in bloom. As previous years, I did a hunt at Paxton Pits this morning (11 species, Annual Poa, Red Dead Nettle, Shepherd's Purse, Common Field Speedwell, Garlic Mustard, Dandelion, Nipplewort, White Nettle, Daisy, Hazel, Common Chickweed) and a circuit round Toft village (15 species). These are the species in bloom in Toft.