6th Nov - touch of frost, cloudy cold NW, 6C, cold shower (3C) early pm, dull at times

I had a quick look at Shawell lagoons this morning, very few Gulls, as is often the case when the nearby landfill is non-operative.  However, made up for by my first Goosander for this site, a female, along with 18 Wigeon.  Four Cormorants were present and a single Snipe was resting near the reeds and a Pied Wagtail was feeding nearby.  The Green Woodpecker flew past calling urgently, a Blackbird gave alarm and dived in to cover both were disturbed by a Sparrowhawk.  A Fox was on the shoreline again.

Back to Stanford reservoir this afternoon.  Duck numbers were up today, with a good number of Gadwall, Shoveler, 9 Teal, 7 Goldeneye, 50+ Tufted Duck, c200 Wigeon, the 3 Scaup were seen briefly as they flew along the reservoir and probably left, but a new arrival was a single drake Red-crested Pochard, seen in the murky photo due to the weather conditions

A Snipe flew around over head and two Grey Herons were present today.  Plenty of Long-tailed Tits and several Goldcrests were around, but generally the cold wind was keeping small birds out of sight.  Another Muncjac briefly showed on the track.