Fur Scarf Anybody?

With England batting like lemons I decided to head to Moore NR for a poke around Birchwood Pool and the eastern reedbed.

The Glaucous Gull was playing easy to get, prancing around the small island in front of the main hide. Looks like a first winter bird to me, although not being well-versed in the scary and cultish activity of gull watching, my knowledge is somewhat rudimentary.

Within a couple of minutes a mangy Fox rocked-up and virtually cleared the pool save a handful of Little Grebes and a few wildfowl, so I decided to walk over to the Bittern enclosure that is the eastern reedbed.

Normally a home banker, there have been scant – if any – good sightings of this elusive little critter so far this winter and this seems indicative of a wider funk the North West seems to be going through on the birding front currently – let’s hope this cold-snap shakes things up a little!

Predictably there was no sign of any Bitterns today, so I had to entertain myself by watching a male Sparrowhawk trying to cunningly inch itself along a branch in order to get within striking distance of a Jay – unsuccessfully.

Before leaving I had a final scan of the reed stems only to reveal the rather unwelcome sight of a mink strolling across the ice. In the increasing cold, I could not help thinking the best solution all round would be for it to be hanging round my neck…

Until later.