Windy and Cold Marsworth

There was a constant chorus of birdsong in the wooded entrance path to Marsworth reservoir, but all the birds were hidden amongst the bare branches, so to tempt them out into the dappled sunshine I spread liberal amounts of birdseed on the tops of the fence posts that lined the path, but only on those in sunlight.  I then put a small groundsheet on the damp earth and sat and waited.

They were in no hurry to oblige, but I was sure they would come to accept my presence if I kept still and when I moved, did so slowly. I had surmised correctly, and soon I had shots of  robins, blue tits, great tits and chaffinches. Fishermen and dog walkers began to arrive and they were disturbed too often, so I got up and walked along further till I spotted a dry path that led to the water’s edge of Startops End reservoir, so I strolled along the stream that came between them, and all I found were a pair of grebe just visible between the branches at the foreshore, so I came back and found another spot by the hide to see a pied wagtail and more robins.

I continued from there along the Grand Union Canal, and watched a narrowboat through Lock 42, then back for a spell at Marsworth. The sun had by now disappeared and the wind had got up, but I did get some shots of the reeds before the sun went. There seemed to be only one pair of pochards left, but numerous black headed gulls and mallard pairs.

Christmas Birds at Burnham, Buckinghamshire

Inside wood logs burning in the grate provide warmth and a friendly glow, whilst outside the kitchen window it is cold, yet somehow inviting. To humans inside it is a pretty picture, but for birds it is a time of hardship, but fortunately thoughtful humans have provided food for them in the form of nuts and apples. The range of birds was wide, there were great tits, coal tits, blue tits, chaffinches, nuthatches, robins, green parakeets, jays, collar doves, pigeons and wood pigeons, all in the space of less than an hour. Crows flew overhead, but kept their distance.

For the most part I kept very still inside and tried simply to capture them as they fed, but when I went and sat equally still on the window ledge outside it took only a few minutes before most of the birds returned – the need for sustenance overcoming their fear of me. Oddly the pigeons were the most wary, the blue tits were the first to return, even before the robins.

Walking the lanes it was far quieter, so human kindness was definitely having an effect – the birds were very reliant on the food we provided when so much else was covered in a thick blanket of snow.

Bailey’s Hard, Beaulieu

On the way back from sailing down at Bosham, I called in on Gloria and Richard Holmes at their converted brick factory; the first time in a long while sadly. They have a lilac bush that is a focal attraction for a wide range of birds. I managed to see, blue tits, great tits, nuthatch and a robin.

The hard was once a boatbuilding site like the much more famous neighbour – Bucklers’s Hard, and is now a very peaceful backwater, home to a canoe training centre with a small jetty and a bench with just a few moorings in the Beaulieu River.

It was a very nice way to catch up with Gloria and Richard before heading for the M25 and home.