Playing catch up in the cold

The Safari wasn't prepared for the bitterly cold conditions today. After our traditional Sunday morning epic bacon panini and a few chores we got a call from the rangers saying there was a pair of Siskins at the nature reserve...a 'needed' for the year bird. we weren't far off heading out that way anyway but the news made us drive a tad faster...just in case...On the way we passed a field within our 'nature reserve' recording area which was full of Rooks (MMLNR #62), in previous visits they have been in the corner of the same field we've classed as just outside the recording area.

We arrived on site and parked up at the west end and made our way straight to the Friends of Marton Mere feeding station, where the first bird we saw was indeed one of the Siskins (123 MMLNR #63). Loads of activity around the feeders today in the chilly conditions - all the usual suspects. We were met by the Rangers who had earlier also seen a Brambling, one of only very few here this winter.
A walk down the far end had us sitting, not for long in the blast chiller that was the Fylde Bird Club hide. A few gulls mooched about and we didn't count about 30 Lapwings. Four male and four female Goldeneyes was the best we could do but they were very active, diving for fun, so there may have been a couple more of each sex. Three female Pintail were nice to see still present but Wigeon numbers have fallen by about 90%, only six were seen. A Sparrowhawk put all the gulls and Lapwings to flight, none of the nine Cormorants so much as batted an eyelid at it. Some off these are looking mighty fine with their white thigh patches and 'hood'.
A Song Thrush shot low across the grass with a beakful of nesting material, they seem to be doing a bit better than in recent years, round here at least. High but also flying over was a Pied Wagtail (MMLNR #64, while on the water were three Great Crested Grebes (MMLNR #65) our first for the site this year.
Two Water rails squealed loudly at each other and a third was heard too. Best call of the day was a child's squeaky toy-like note that alerted us to a cracking almost full summ plum adult Mediterranean Gull, sadly it avoided the camera. It flew round a couple of times but didn't land with the hundred or so Black Headed Gulls loafing around. We saw it again later but again it didn't apear to drop onto the water for a pic.
Meeting up with reserve regular MJ, he told us that EP had seen a Bittern, probably around the time we were watching the Siskin at the feeders. It was very cold in the draught cutting through the hide so we decided to wander back to the feeding station and see if the Brambling would put in another appearance. A long, but far more comfortable, wait ensued. Brambling (124 MMLNR #66) duly ticked, recorded and even photographed!
With Frank looking cold we called it a day and on the way back to the Land Rover met AA on a day out well away from her beloved Sand Dunes and had earlier had a fleeting glimpse of the Brambling, and then MMcG who was tempted by the news of the Brambling to carry round his monster lens. If the bird appeared for him his pics will be better than ours, but were quite happy with our results...see below for a selection of todays shots - we took  nearly 1000 pics ! and back at Base Camp did a lot of deleting!!! Ain't digital marvelous - imagine what that would have coast and how disappointing it would have been if they had been on slide film!
A selection of Black headed Gulls...

 Still struggling a bit with BiF shots...

The Brambling, a female.

There were Chaffinches galore, the males were looking at their very dapper finest.

 Especially when the sun caught them.

 Cowslip, a little over exposed, but deffo a harbinger of spring.

Female Great Spotted Woodpecker.

 A very odd 'three winged' Lesser Black Backed Gull, or are there two there?

 At the hide a pair of Mallard came right to the water's edge.

 Best pic of the day for us was this very confiding Moorhen.

 We don't often take pics of non-natives but this Rabbit was to cute, and close, to resist.

And finally a grainy Siskin enjoying lunch, perhaps we could have got away with knocking the ISO down a stop.

As we were getting ready to leave for a warming brew our first Bumble Bee of the year flew past, didn't get a rear-end view so we don't know which species it was - a big beggar though that's for sure; and probably wondering why she hadn't stayed in bed a few more days - it was freezing stood chatting in the wind. A quick last look on the water for the Mediterranean Gull wasn't successful so we called it a day and headed back to Base Camp for that all important brew.
So with two unexpected year birds under our belt we were quite happy with the day's proceedings - only 33 behind Monika now!
Where to next? Back to the delights of a very cold Patch 2 tomorrow.
In the meantime let us know what unexpectedly dropped in for lunch in your outback.