6th Jan - cloudy am, a few sunny spells early pm then cloudy, 9C, light westerly

Stanford reservoir; a look this afternoon. At first it seemed very quiet, just the usual species and few passerines.  A Willow Tit called and a Goldcrest was singing, 2 Jays flew in to the adjacent wood, and another was near the dam.  A large Grey Lag Goose flock again, few Wigeon, c20 Shoveler and Goldeneye, plus Tufties,  Gadwall and Mallard.
On the south side over the adjacent field I noticed something flushed c40 Lapwing and the Gulls off the field, nothing was visible. A few minutes later I spotted what was the likely cause, along the fallow strip I noticed the ringtail Hen Harrier hunting, giving some good views. It was working along the strip and heading towards me and I was hoping it would keep coming for some close photos. However, unknown to him, another visitor walked from the blind corner which the Harrier spotted and decided to fly back whence it came.  Its been in the area a while now so hopefully a future chance will occur.

Just passed the feed station a Treecreeper was working up a Popular tree, several Tree Sparrows, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting were feeding on the ground in the leaf litter. A few Redwing were in the hedgerow, along with Song Thrush and Blackbird, only 1 Fieldfare.  A Snipe flew over, while c20 Meadow Pipit flew up off the field and settles in the Popular tree tops, a single Skylark circled.

A Great Egret was standing the in field at the inlet and a couple of Little Egrets were along the river.