Much like every other Christmas I've ever known in fact!
Today I thought I'd drag myself away from the sofa for a couple of hours before I started to take root!
I made my way up the road to RSPB Greylake. my second home! The mornings fog had drifted away and the sun was starting to shine through, though it was typically chilly.
The water in front of the hides was frozen. At one stage an elusive Water Rail walked across the ice from one clump of reeds to another!
There were plenty of Winter Duck, but most were off in the misty distance. Some Teal and Wigeon were quite close to the hide though. In a shot of the big flock of ducks I managed to pick out a single Pintail once I'd come home, but hadn't noticed at the time!
A Wren briefly popped up between the reeds, a female Stonechat did likewise, and a couple of Snipe came close probing the wet grass for earthworms and other 'goodies'.
A female Marsh Harrier may or may not have caught a duck. I'd never seen them in hunt mode before today! A Peregrine also put the ducks up and landed at the top of an electric Pylon.
Earlier someone had seen and photographed a beautiful male Merlin, but unfortunately I'd missed it!
I also took some pics of the little birds around the car park.
So much better than the Christmas couch!
Below are some pics from todays visit, plus other shots taken in December that hadn't been included in my recent blog posts;
^Above^ - Water Rail on ice!
^Above^ - Cute Wren.
^Above^ - Snipe!
^Above^ - Shovelers.
^Above^ - Teal.
^Above^ - Starlings.
^Above^ - Wigeon.
^Above^ - Female Stonechat.
^Above^ - House Sparrow and Starlings.
^Above^ - Male House Sparrow.
^Above^ - Female Marsh Harrier attempting to catch a duck (She may have been successful!)
^Above^ - Peregrine Falcon on top of a pylon.
^Above^ - Mute Swan in the mist.
^Above^ - Reed Buntings.
^Above^ - Dunnocks.
^Above^ - Blue Tits.
^Above^ - Robin.
^Above^ - Winter ducks.... there's a Pintail in the bottom pic, central, see if you can find it!
Now I add some pictures I've taken at other times in the last 4 weeks;
^Above^ - Great Spotted Woodpecker in my Somerset garden, taken through the kitchen window.
^Above^ - Frosty Holly bush in my garden this morning.
^Above^ - Woodpigeons in my home Somerset village.
^Above^ - Starling in my home village.
^Above^ - Rook in my village.
^Above^ - Robin in my village.
^Above^ - Blackbird in my village.
^Above^ - Collared Dove in my village.
^Above^ - Starlings at sunset at RSPB Ham Wall.
^Above^ - Curlew at Portishead beach.
^Above^ - Dunlin at Portishead beach (With Ringed Plovers, top pic).
^Above^ - Meadow Pipit at Portishead.
^Above^ - Heron near Banwell.
^Above^ - Long Tailed Tit in my garden.
^Above^ - Grey Wagtail on top of my works building in Bridgwater.
^Above^ - Woodpigeon enjoying frosty berries in my village.... no Waxwings on them this year! :(
^Above^ - Frosty Robin!
^Above^ - Hoar frost near RSPB Greylake in Somerset.
^Above^ - Red Legged Partridges near Butleigh in Somerset on a foggy day. I had to stop my van so they could all cross the road safely!
^Above^ - Chaffinches at RSPB Greylake.
^Above^ - Great Tits at Greylake.
^Above^ - Blue Tits at Greylake.
^Above^ - Female Stonechat at Greylake.
^Above^ - Reed Buntings at Greylake.
^Above^ - Dunnocks at Greylake.
^Above^ - Robins at Greylake.
^Above^ - Wren at Greylake.
^Above^ - Blackbird at Greylake.
^Above^ - Starlings at Greylake.
^Above^ - Lapwing with a small flock of grey waders, possibly Dunlin, at Greylake!
^Above^ - Some 'arty' shots taken out of my kitchen window this morning! :)
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