Eversholt Lake GOOSANDER numbers keep on climbingw whilst CHINESE WATER DEER are everywhere

FRIDAY 13 JANUARY

The first frost in a while and temperatures struggling to climb to 8 degrees C during the day. Very pleasant though, with the ridge of high pressure bringing clear skies, watery sunshine and very light winds.

Virtually all of my birding today was in Bedfordshire, where I was pleased to record four species of owl.....connected with the only wintering Stonechat too

CHESS VALLEY (BUCKS)

Just the 3 Little Egrets again - all in the Bois Mill and Neptune's Falls areas

BEDFORDSHIRE

Checked out a number of sites and was pleased to see the LITTLE OWL still surviving at SANDY SMITH NATURE RESERVE, CLOPHILL and the wintering female COMMON STONECHAT at THE WIXAMS, WILSTEAD. The latter site also harboured a couple of Chinese Water Deer.

At STEWARTBY LAKE, only the juvenile GREAT NORTHERN DIVER and Grey Wagtail were of note, whilst at nearby MARSTON VALE MILLENIUM PARK, 3 CETTI'S WARBLERS were worthy of mention (but no sign yet again of the Bearded Tits).

CHINESE WATER DEER proved to be abundant in the Ridgemont area, with no fewer than 18 in the fields around Beckerings Park Farm and a further 9 in the School Lane/Husborne Crawley area.

EVERSHOLT LAKE (BEDS)

The GOOSANDER flock was outstanding and now numbering 24 (including 15 adult drakes and 9 redheads. Many of the drakes were displaying and the calm lake was echoing to the Red Grouse-like chuckling sound that they were making - and all in such finery.

The lake also held 118 Greylag Geese, 1 Grey Heron, 1 Little Grebe and 7 Coot whilst a wander around Milton Wood to the west produced 8 Grey Squirrels (including a Black variant), 9 Muntjac Deer, a conifer-roosting TAWNY OWL, Green Woodpecker, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (both drumming), 4 Goldcrest, Common Treecreeper, 15 Coal Tits (in one feeding flock), Great Tit, 5 Blue Tits, Jay, 2 Song Thrushes and a Bullfinch. A flock of 53 Greenfinches arrived at the Bamboo thicket roost at about 1530 hours.

BROGBOROUGH LAKE (BEDS)

All 3 GREATER SCAUPS were still present, as well as the ''oddbod'', whilst Northern Pochard numbers had climbed to 528 and Tufted Duck to 464. Common Goldeneye numbers were slightly up at 31, whilst Cormorants were at 84.

A SHORT-EARED OWL was hunting at dusk, with a further 15 Chinese Water Deer being seen