Lynford Water 17 December 2022

 The week prior to Christmas 2022 was a particularly cold one with some severe frosts seen.  As the temperatures were low and with the early wintry weather being a dominant feature I decided upon a visit to Lynford Water to check for signs of any Duck species associated with cold weather such as sawbills or Goldeneye.

Upon my arrival at Lynford Water the dawn temperature was -6 degrees celsius and with a severe frost. Following sunrise the day was very bright with very good visibility and light.  Lynford Water was largely frozen with just a small area of open water where wildfowl were gathered.  The surrounding woodland was cloaked in frost and looked incredibly beautiful.

 The small area of unfrozen water held most interest with good numbers of Mallard, Gadwall (33+), Tufted Duck (26+),  a few Shoveler, Egyptian Geese (2), Mute Swan, Little Grebe (4), and Great Crested Grebe (2).  In the peripheral woodland at least 33 Cormorant stood motionless in the trees.

At least 4 Water Rails were present with two together seen on the ice and as is typical with this species, calls only were heard, the familiar pig-like squeal.  Water Rails are usually very secretive as they live within the cover of dense reedbeds, however, the species will venture away from cover in very cold weather and can occasionally be seen running between cover on ice.  This particular visit saw two Water Rails together in light reed cover where calling, however, both were seen running for deeper cover

Water Rail at Lynford Water 17 December 2022

Much of this visit to Lynford Water was spent taking photographs of the incredibly beautiful wintry scenes.