Smew

Went down to Amwell this morning. Expecting a mild late winters day, it was rather cold and cloudy. The pair of Pintail that have been present a few days were a long way off at the back along with most of the snipe. A pair of Wigeon still remained-I assumed many had departed now that Spring is around the corner, but later on around 20 more appeared. Still a few Goldeneye around.
Walked over to the main hide with Mick where we were able to get reasonable images of the drake Pintail-the female had fallen asleep.

 
 Apart from a calling Cetti's warbler, not much else was happening so we went up to Tumbling Bay where the three Smew could be seen together n the distance. Leaving Mick I walked up and found a suitable spot where i could get some photos. Unfortunately they proved to be a bit flighty and I was not able to get all that close. Two red heads accompanied the drake, but a third remained on it's own and always seemed to avoid the others.

 Still a lot of Siskins around in the alders and Dunnocks, Chaffinches and Song Thrushes are singing.