Lackford Lakes - 12.2.12

A planned trip to Norfolk was abandoned just South of Thetford when rain started falling and immediately turning to ice which made driving somewhat scary! A Buzzard decided to land on the grass on the central reservation near Baldock which was nice of it! So as I was near Lackford Lakes I decided that was as far as I was going. On arrival the car park resembled an ice rink as it hadn't even thawed a bit. Unfortunately 99% of the lakes were frozen with only 2 small ice free patches everything was crammed into them. 6 Goldeneye was about as good as it got duck wise but some Lesser Redpolls (including a lovely red fronted male), a small flock of Siskin and 2 Water Rails were also seen. The highlight though was 1+ Marsh Tit which gave me the run around trying to pin it down only to get back to the visitor centre and have one on the feeders just outside the window! The most amusing scene though was of a Moorhen haning off a seed feeder by it feet whilst flapping its wings as it knocked seed onto the floor where it could eat it easier!

On the way home I decided to pop to Sandon in the hope of a year tick or two. I pulled up next to the green metal gate and 2 other birders were already there. My mates Brendan and Chris! They put me onto 4 Grey Partridge straight away (year tick) and I also noted 4 Buzzard and a couple of Yellowhammer but the star of the show was a Merlin that flew through hunting the small passerines but it was annoyingly distant so sexing it wasn't possible though a male had been seen the day before.