Sawbills and Shorties

10 Dec - A fine winter day, and a look at the Lower Mill area - no less than 26 Goosander, including 16 smart males, on Pit 41 - with a further 4 birds on Pit 65. A scattering of Goldeneye, with over 40 Red-crested Pochard on their regular haunt at Pit 44. In the afternoon, I visited Blakehill as the wind had dropped and the Short-eared Owl was out hunting well before sunset, ranging on both sides of the main track and giving nice backlit views against the setting sun. Of note, there are currently good numbers of Bramblings in the beech woods on the northern side of Cirencester Park. I plan to try to photograph them while the winter light is better during the current fine spell.....