Year's end

I had my final walk of the year on the common this morning. Now that the bitterly cold weather has eased there were more birds to be seen than has been the case recently, and apart from the last few vestiges of ice grimly clinging on in parts of the boardwalk, the conditions were fairly good. Both Scouts' Pond and the Pit were still largely covered in ice, but the thaw is clearly well advanced, for now at least.

It was still quite misty however; so much so that when some Pink Footed Geese flew overhead, they were invisiblet. Their calls, for all the world like an aerial pack of puppies, was the only evidence of their fleeting presence. Apart from them, I was also pleased to have a good view of a goldcrest at Scouts' Pond, and a solitary coal tit on School Common. A male kestrel on the telephone wires near Warren Road kept the smaller birds agitated, and I was pleased to find my first fieldfares of the year near Pit Common.

Thanks to everyone who has told me of their bird sightings on the common, and I hope you'll keep it up next year. Each year we seem to get at least one uncommon visitor, and the highlight for 2010 was the pair of bearded reedlings. Sadly they did not decide to stay for the winter, but now they know about our reedbed, perhaps they'll return.

The bad weather in November and December means that we are slightly behind schedule for the reed cutting programme, but if we can get a good run at it now we should soon catch up. On top of that there is a significant programme of work to keep the commons in good order, so if you're not already a volunteer we've got plenty of activities to keep you occupied.

All the best for 2011!

Slip sliding away

I was surprised to find how much compacted snow and ice has yet to thaw from the boardwalk when I walked across it today. It is thawing - the gentle drip, drip from the dipping platform into the half-thawed water of Scouts' Pond proves it, but only very slowly. So the message is, take it carefully if you're walking on the boardwalk. I hear that the forecast is for bitter weather and possibly snow to return by the end of the week, so no let-up is in sight.

The weather is beginning to bring some interesting birds to light however. Bullfinches are being regularly reported, and a little egret has been seen twice in the last three days. There was a flock of about 10 siskins flying round the common today, and a sparrowhawk was seen in an adjacent garden. Please let me know if you spot anything special.

Still snowy

A bitterly cold week, with more snow in the last few days returning the commons to their picturesque condition. I expect it's killing a lot of wildlife, but the bonus for birdwatchers is that it does bring some unusual birds to notice, and in order to conserve energy they tend to be more confiding. Today there were several lapwings overflying the area, and in School Common within a few yards of each other I found Britain's two smallest birds: wren and goldcrest. How these tiny scraps of life survive a winter like this defeats me, and of course only the fittest of them do.

Speaking of the fittest, even the stalwarts of the SCT volunteers were stood down today, as the ground was too covered in snow and impossible to work. Never mind; it stopped my toes and fingers dropping off!

School Meadow looked particularly attractive in the snow today, with the outdoor classroom furniture wearing think white hats:

And the Pit was also on good form. When I arrived at it a black headed gull was sitting on its frozen surface, but it chose not hang around for its photo to be taken.