A misty morning walk at the reservoir

Friday December 27th - The day after Christmas with no name, in this case it's a Friday, a dreich, overcast one at that so, I went out for a walk.

Up to the reservoir, mainly because I hadn't been for ages and I had a feeling the cloud was going to lift, it was starting too clear a little at home, fingers crossed.

There was one other car in the car park, a good start but, the mist was thicker here and made for a spooky kind of atmosphere so, off I went up the usual track.

I was hearing birds chirping all around but nothing to be seen as I headed up to the first bend.

Round the bend onto the first straight and I heard sounds up to my left.

I could see some flitting going on but nothing stopping for long until ...

A small group of Crossbills showed themselves on the trees, I thin k there were three, two females and. male but I didn't get a shot of him and they didn't hang around very long, still great to see them at all.

I always look for the Crossbills up here, hoping for a repeat of my closeup session last year.

A guy out with his dog walked up and that was enough to scare them off so I headed on up the road. As I approached the fork I spotted a Buzzard perched on a young pine.

I grabbed a few shots as I walked closer.

And of course, it headed off as I got too close and flew behind the stand of tall trees. There was a brief ruckus as a carrion Crow took umbrage to the Buzzard's presence then silence was resumed.

Round the next bend ...

The Buzzard hadn't gone far and the Crow was back on its perch. I think it's almost always there.

Maybe it nests there?

Anyway, onwards and the Buzzard flew on ahead.

Further down the road.

I thought it made a great photo as it perched above the path with all the mists and trees surrounding it.

Once again, too close and it was off but, it turned and flew right by me, there's obviously something back there it likes.

I was caught by surprise as it flew right past.

And disappeared back towards the stand of tall trees.

The mist looked like it was lifting a wee bit, I could now see patches of blue sky here and there/ As I walked on, I noticed a few birds across the other side, perched on the rocks that formed the old field boundary before the reservoir was flooded.

A mixed group of Cormorant, two Herons and a few Mallard behind the rocks. Unusual to see two herons sharing a perch, I wonder if they are a pair or related? I have seen two here quite often.

There were also a couple of Goosander females on this side preening in the water near the shore.

I saw quite a few dotted around the water.

I stopped off at the picnic bench to drop food on the bin lid but saw no birds coming in at all.

I did hear Crossbills again in that area but only caught fleeting glimpses.

As I cleared the trees just before the first gate, I spotted a couple of birds high in a distant tree.

Looks like a young female Crossbill and a female Reed Bunting.

I carried on through the first gate and up to the old wooden gate without seeing much at all but the light was pretty great as the sun tried to break through.

There was a bright patch of sunlight way down the reservoir.

On the left side, the old trees were shrouded in mist.

I took a few shots to create a panorama scene but just loved the minimalism of the shot above.

After a good stare all around at the top, I headed back towards home, spotted one lone male Crossbill in a treetop but walked quickly back, not seeing much else at all, which made for a good walk.

I met a few more people on my return leg, all out with their dogs but, the sun never did break through completely.

All in all a quiet walk bird wise but a very enjoyable and peaceful walk.