Trip reports

Fishers Green and Amwell, Lee Valley

Bittern RSPB

Sunday, 3 January 2010

Six of us ventured out on a beautifully sunny, very cold day. A lot of the lakes at Fishers Green were frozen over, with a good mix of ducks and gulls gathered on what open water there was. We had glimpses of a water rail skating across a reed channel. Aside from that, highlights were a marsh tit on the feeding station by the car park, several goldeneye on the main lake, and a big, noisy mixed flock of Canada and greylay geese flying in over the weir. There were robins everywhere.
We moved further up the valley to Amwell (black ice on the road outside!). There we added a bittern - in the open in a reed channel, and still very hard to pick up - two male smew, 3 red-crested pochard and a buzzard being mobbed by crows. We also saw siskins and redpolls feeding in the trees.
Our total for the day was 62 species.