I was hot! I actually got hot!

What a strange day. It must have been very cold overnight because even at eleven o'clock on a very sunny day, the water covering Swinemoor common was still frozen. At this time though my jacket, sweatshirt and t-shirt meant that I was overdressed for the sunny weather and it wasn't long before I was hot! I'd forgotten that it was possible to actually be hot in this country, but yes, at the beginning of February I was hot. Wow!

Swinemoor in the sun

A few interesting birds about: around 60 Lapwings, 3 Golden Plover, 1 Snipe, 4 Teal, about 150 Black-headed Gulls, 24 Common Gulls and 2 Herring Gulls were loafing around on the wet grassland. Also 17 immature Pied Wagtails were feeding on top of the ice.

Further along a group of feeding birds included 6 Long-tailed Tits, 2 Great Tits, 2 Blue Tits and 2 Tree Sparrows. A flock of about 30 Redwings flew out of some trees as I walked along and a lone Grey Heron was hunting in a ditch - strangely enough this is a species I rarely see here.

Plenty more common birds around with a couple of Mallard, loads of Moorhens and a Little Grebe in the Beverley-Barmston drain - what a glamourous address!