Eider duck at Weston Super Mare and a hovering Goldcrest at Cheddar!

Snow.
Much of the country had some last night. Except Somerset. Where I live.
 Typical.
I love snow, but it's rarer than a Corn Bunting in Somerset! We tend to get freezing rain and winds instead! So no pretty snowy pics from me.
  Luckily I did manage to find and photograph an Eider for the first ever time though!
Well, I didn't really 'find' it myself..... my friend, and fellow nature lover Penny Wills found it at Marine Lake in Weston Super Mare just before Christmas, and I was delighted to find it was still there!
  It was a female. She didn't seem to mind me being there, on the walkway between the lake and the sea, but I struggled to hold my camera still as I was battered by the freezing sea-winds. My fingers were getting close to frost-bite status, so I left her to carry on diving for food and made my way back to my vehicle to ramp the heaters up! (Why is it agony warming up freezing fingers??!!)

      Penny also has a nature blog, you can find it HERE

I also photographed a hovering Goldcrest under a pine tree at Cheddar reservoir.
Goldcrests are adorable tiny birds, always on the move searching for spiders and flies in trees and hedges, photographing one in the open is a real challenge, managing one in flight I would imagine is nigh on impossible, so I was very grateful when one hovered a couple of times under the pine needles and allowed me a passable shot or 2!

Below are the Eider, the Goldcrest, and some other pictures from the last week, including Bullfinch, Chiffchaff and Great White Egret;

^Above^ - Female Eider at a freezing Marine Lake in Weston Super Mare.

^Above^ - Goldcrest at Cheddar reservoir.

^Above^ - Herring Gulls at Marine Lake.

^Above^ - Feral Pigeon at Marine Lake.

^Above^ - Pochard at Cheddar reservoir.

^Above^ - Pied Wagtails at Cheddar reservoir.

^Above^ - Female Mandarin at Cheddar reservoir.

^Above^ - Mallards at Cheddar reservoir.

^Above^ - Carrion Crows at Cheddar reservoir.

^Above^ - Black Headed Gulls at Cheddar reservoir.

^Above^ - Female Bullfinch at Westhay Moor nature reserve.

^Above^ - Chiffchaff at Westhay Moor.

^Above^ - Cormorant at Westhay Moor.

^Above^ - Gadwall at Westhay Moor.

^Above^ - Gadwall (top 2 birds) and Shovelers at Westhay Moor.

^Above^ - Great White Egret at Westhay Moor.

^Above^ - Goldcrest (again!) at Westhay Moor.

^Above^ - Long Tailed Tit at Westhay Moor.

^Above^ - Kestrel near Westhay.

^Above^ - Buzzard near Westhay.

^Above^ - Robin at RSPB Greylake.

^Above^ - Redwings at RSPB Greylake.

^Above^ - Damp Blue Tit at Greylake.

^Above^ - Wigeon and Shovelers at Greylake.

^Above^ - Gadwall at Greylake.

^Above^ - Size difference..... Starling and Carrion Crow at Greylake.

^Above^ - Starlings, Golden Plovers and Lapwings at sunset, Greylake (See my last blog post!)

^Above^ - Greylag Geese and Mute Swans near Tadham Moor in Somerset.

^Above^ - Common Gull at Backwell Lake, North Somerset.

^Above^ - Black Headed Gulls in the rain at Backwell Lake.

^Above^ - Moorhens at Backwell Lake.

^Above^ - Muscovy Duck at Backwell Lake.

^Above^ - Fieldfares at Westonzoyland airfield.

^Above^ - Mother and child Cows watching me at Draycott in Somerset.

Thank you for reading/looking!
 Hope you all have a great weekend.....me? I'm hoping to get out with my camera, whatever the weather! :)