New years day was a dull and dreary affair and my activity was restricted to a drive around Aldeby and Burgh St Peter looking for possible Barn owl activity and further sites to observe Hares in the coming months. I drew a blank with both of these objectives which, considering the weather, wasn't a surprise but I did spot a Kestrel hovering along the roadside. I pulled up, lowered the windows and turned on my camera but by the time I looked again it had disappeared. Scanning around there was no sign of it and I was about move on when there was movement in the hedge and all of a sudden a beautiful female Kestrel hopped up onto the top and I slowly lifted up the camera and managed a few shots before she took off again.
The following day was bright and sunny so I made my way over to SWT Lackford Lakes which is normally a good site for wintering ducks as well as its more well known about Kingfishers. Typically for me the day turned out to be quiet on the bird front but I did come across a few Goldeneye on one of the lakes which at one point came close enough as you can see below. The male and female stuck close together but the male did leave her to drive off another male which dared to approach.
Moving on to another lake I saw a variety of common ducks including Mallard, Teal, Tufted and Pochard. Most of the Pochard seen in the winter have migrated from North and East Europe and Russia although small numbers do breed in this country. The males are brighter in plumage than the females with a mainly grey body with a rusty red head and a bright red eye whereas the females are more of a grey/brown colour. They are usually found in groups and spend much of the time asleep as they feed at night to a greater extent when they dive to feed on plants and small mollusc's and insects. Luckily they approached close to the hide I was in and examples of both male and female can be seen.
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