A frosty end to a unique year

 I've started early with my 2021 plan to walk down to Dowlais most days in order to help loose the extra weight gained during various lock-downs (and because of eating too much with too little exercise) .

Today dawned bright and crisp and for once we had a proper frost so I set off at a reasonable time for once.

Though nothing particularly unusual was around, the bright, crisp conditions made for a few different photos. It was still a bit too shady on the Blind Yeo when I found the Goosander flock though





In addition last night I had read a short piece of the camera instruction manual and learnt how to set a faster shutter speed in the hope that this would give sharper pics. Most people do not wait 4 years to have a look at the instructions but hey ho.

This gives an idea of the conditions



It also gave me a chance to try out my Christmas present of a re-chargeable hand warmer which I can whole-heartedly recommend.

At the top of Dowlais five or six Blackbirds  were shuffling around in the grass


Unusually they had been joined by 13 Redwings. These are surely, the smartest of the British thrushes



On the flooded field a few Pied Wagtails were moving between icy patches and 75 Lapwing were at the rear.



Due to the distance and light I have substituted a Lapwing picture from the levels taken 2 days ago. This shows their colours much better





The skylarks at Dowlais are relatively confiding and I rarely resist the opportunity for a photo when dog walker numbers are relatively low and today was no exception




Finally a Woodpigeon happened to perch up close by and I snatched a picture just before the first jogger of the day flushed it



So that was the year 2020. Despite two lock-downs and very little travelling I still did not find a patch tick all year. Neither did I get a convincing British tick, (one of my most wanted, Sociable Plover, is now fairly near my daughters house but I decided not to flout requests to avoid travel and have not been to see it).


All in all though, if my major regret is missing a rare bird then I consider myself one of the lucky ones and can look forward to improved conditions come the summer.


A Happy New Year to you all


 

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