28th Dec - Frost last night -4C, sunny, light breeze (but fog in some areas see below)

This morning two Goldcrests, a Coal Tit and others were busy in the Church yard Yew tree, with the sun shining on the tree many invertebrae/insects must have been active.  A few Fieldfare flew over head, looking splendid against the blue sky.

After lunch i decided to head off to Rutland water to see a Surf Scoter that turned up, near the dam, among Tufted Duck.  The sun shone all the way there until I was about a mile away then I hit fog, the visibility was very poor so thought my chance of seeing the Scoter was low.   Once on the dam the visibility was about 150m, fortunately a flock of Tufted Duck were off shore and visible through the murk and with them the Surf Scoter.  A first winter bird, so the general brown colour did not help clarity in the fog.  I did manage a few 'murky' record photos.

In the fog the temperature stayed low, about 2C, so not surprisingly little else was visible or flying about. A Kestrel flew by and dissappeared in to the fog and a Green Woodpecker called from somewhere behind me.