Freezing Cold Friday

Yesterday dawned  frosty, overcast and grey. I set out from home at about 9:30 a.m. and drove to Woburn in Bedfordshire with the intention of trying to spot the flock of Waxwings that had been reported feeding there over the last few days, but alas the only birds I found feeding at the reported site were a flock of about 30 Starlings. With no joy in Woburn I decided to drive a couple of miles down the road to Stockgrove Country Park. This park covers about 80 acres and straddles the borders of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire and is managed by the Greensand Trust, it consists of a variety of wildlife habitats including ancient oak woodland, conifer woodland, meadows, marshes and a lake and has been in use since medieval times.
When I pulled into the car park the temperature gauge in the car read -4* Celsius. Loaded up with camera gear and a big bag of bird food I walked the short distance to the lake where I knew there should be some birds to photograph (many people feed the birds in this area). The lake was completely frozen over apart from a small  section by the footbridge about 10ft x 3ft. which was occupied by 12 Mallard.

Stockgrove lake with the remains of the boathouse which burnt down in 1963. Incredibly (stupidly) there were human footprints in the snow covered ice going across the whole width of the lake !! 
The birds must have been finding the icy conditions very difficult, as they started to gather before I had begun to put any food out.

Blue tit

Great tit

Coal tit

Willow tit (note the crossed beak)

Robin

 This Robin has a large lump of ice on it`s right leg, It looks like the ice has formed over the ring that was put on when the bird was young, the good thing is it didn`t seem at all troubled by it.

Nuthatch

Blackbird (young female ?)

Dunnock

Carrion Crow

This character was feeding on the seeds that had fallen out of the bird feeders by the visitor centre and was being very vocal about it, but seemed very happy to pose for a photograph after I had put some food down for him!

After about three hours my hands were so cold I could no longer feel the camera and with the light fading fast I decided to call it a day and head on home.
All in all, after the disappointment of not finding the Waxwings, I had a most enjoyable few hours.

Photography notes :-  75-300mm lens, ISO 800/1000, f 7.1 to f10, RAW.


And finally.....

.......a grumpy Robin.

Sightings List

Wood Pigeon
Carrion Crow
Rook
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Magpie
Blue tit
Great tit
Coal tit
Willow tit
Nuthatch
Blackbird
Mallard
Moorhen
Dunnock
Chaffinch
Robin