Winter on Westhay Nature Reserve (SWT)

A beautiful day today with a bracing breeze, but clear sky - perfect birding weather.

I popped into Greylake and fought the crowds to see what I saw yesterday, but without the ice.  I then thought that I would pay a visit to Westhay Nature Reserve (SWT).  This is much less visited and less known than Greylake, it would seem, but has lots to offer.  In summer is a fantastic site for raised bog plants, migrant birds, insects, amphibians and the occasional otter.  In winter it is much quieter, but still has marsh harrier, duck, egrets, cormorants and herons, plus water rail and cettis warblers etc.

I particularly wanted to see the saw bills - i..e the goosanders, which only seem to like it on one lake here, and nowhere else that I've noticed on the Levels - but I could be wrong.  

There was a number of these spectacular birds - both the brown headed females and the green headed males.  There was some half-hearted courtship displaying going on too.

GWE

 

The water rail below is in a scenic landscape\pose - rather than being too far away, under too dark conditions for me to get a good image with my camera...   ;-)

For reasons that I can't expand upon it was an expensive visit, but a pleasure nevertheless.