Not Quite Summer at Abberton

On the 4th Colin paid a visit to Abberton reservoir and had a pretty good selection of birds, including a couple of rarities. There wasn't a great deal on the coast and as we wanted a fairly short trip, it was a toss up between Rutland Water or go to Abberton since there were a few things he missed.
I drove over in squally rain but by the time I got to his place it had dried up, but remained very windy all day.
We stopped off at Layer Bretton causeway first to scan the western end. There were plenty of duck on view with vast flocks of Tufted Duck and Teal to sift through in the hope that the Ring Necked Duck or Green Winged Teal were still around-they hadn't been seen for a couple of days, and of course we failed. A couple of red head Smew were good to see as they have been very hard to come by this winter, and we also saw the first of four or five Great White Egrets. The grey geese were mobile and hard to see here and we missed the Russian Whitefronts.
The Layer de la Hay causeway was a new experience for me as its been many years since my last visit so the new raised wall was something different. It was very exposed though. I found the first of three Long Tailed Ducks here but it was a bit distant for photography. Apparently it had been near the sluice viewpoint earlier.

At the viewpoint there were several confiding Goosander. Apparently the sluice attracts shoals of Perch which pulls in the fish eating duck.

I missed the star bird while looking at the Long Tail but it reappeared despite the horrendous wind. The juvenile Swallow was certainly something rather unexpected in January, but because of the mild conditions it has stuck around for a while now. There is also a House Martin wintering on the south coast, so there are certainly plenty of insects for them, at least until the cold wintery weather eventually arrives (that's assuming it does).
We spent a long time looking for the Black Throated Diver from several locations and eventually ended up north of the visitors centre to check the northern section. This was a well wooded area in the old days before the water levels were increased, with some nice little bits for water birds and a fantastic feeding station. Its a bit bare and open now, and the new trees and shrubs have yet to really get going.
We failed to find the diver here, but I was pleased to find two Slavonian Grebes having missed one off Titchwell. A couple more Great White Egrets were on view-it wasn't long ago that they were a big rarity, now they are expected anywhere in the south. I had hoped that the Hen Harrier would put in an appearance, but apart from one Red Kite and a Kestrel battling the headwinds no raptors were seen. No doubt the conditions were To blame.