Tophill Low Nature Reserve - Part 1

It was an adventure on Friday, the road to Tophill Low had not been gritted, so driving on the snow & ice had to be done extremely carefully.  With temperatures barely above freezing all day there was only 2 other intrepid nature watchers at the reserve.  Persevering with the cold and the poor driving conditions certainly paid off though.

On the drive to the car park I could see lots of small birds moving around in the trees. Goldfinch and Lesser Redpoll were busily feeding on the Lagoon Alders.

These Blue Tits were busy alternating between feeding and fighting in the snow!

As soon as I parked up the car, I heard a Woodpecker tapping away, and looked over to the trees near the picnic benches and saw him immediately, a great start to the day.

Great Spotted Woodpecker

There weren't many takers for a picnic today though!

On the walk around D res these Long Tailed Tits were trying to scrape a living on the wall and there was also a Wren nearby trying to find something to eat.

D res hide in the snow

The feeders in the woods are very popular in the bad weather and I spent an enjoyable half hour watching them flit in and out.

Blue Tit

Coal Tit

Great Tit

Dunnock

Robin in his Christmas card pose

There were plenty of Coots, Wigeon, Gulls and Mute Swans on the small patch of water left unfrozen on D res, and there was still even more excitement to come on North Marsh and beyond!