There was a wind blowing round Radley Lakes this afternoon. The forecast is that it will get worse over night and tomorrow morning (Storm Eunice). There were lots of birds.

Here is a Coot

and a Cormorant.

There were a lot of snowdrops clustered by the shore at the start of the clockwise walk round Thrupp Lake.

The fir trees that used to stand behind the house Sandals have been cut down.

The restored ash pit, on the other side of the Sustrans Cycle path, is now a mixture of wood, and marshy areas and some water. The walk round was muddy a lot of the way.

This is just one of the remaining watery areas near the railway track. A large flock of birds came over and behind them were a couple of Kites. There was also a hawk, possibly a Kestrel, hanging in the sky and plummeting down, beyond the railway. Various trains went by: two GWR expresses, a goods train and two slower passenger trains.

I cycled along the Sustrans Route 5  to Radley Lakes mid afternoon. In this view St David’s Meadow can be seen on the left with Thrupp Lake beyond.

There seemed to be a lot of birds about round Thrupp Lake.

They included ducks, coots, moorhen, gulls,

swans,

grebes,

cormorants, and others.

On some smaller areas of water, and on some shallow ponds and lakes, ice had not melted all day.

This view is across one of the lakes that was filled with ash from Didcot Power Station where trees have grown. There is a path all the way round and there is still wetland and shallow lakes or ponds at the far side near the railway and River Thames.

After the sun went down, at 4:20, there were trails of birds in the sky heading north.

This was my final monthly visit to the Abbey Fish Ponds Nature Reserve.  On entering somebody saw me taking a picture and asked what I’d seen.

It was a Wood Pigeon so nothing to boast about. But he told me how he had seen foxes and three sorts of deer. I said ‘wow’ and looked for deer but saw none.

A lot of reeds and branches have been cut back and leaves have fallen and as a result there were more birds to be seen and heard.

An Egret flew out from the stream and landed in a tree.

Although common it is still good to see a Robin.

Starlings were gathering in one of the trees at around 3pm. They took off and will probably be joining up with even bigger groups of starlings for their cloak turning murmurations.

A lot of the reeds and sedge have been cut down but there were still places with reeds.

Most of the reed is under the ground, as roots and rhizomes. Green spears are poking up even in December.

P.S. I got a call from Newcomer asking to be shown round the Abbey Fish Ponds. So there could be a bonus visit early next year. I might even do a recording as we explore with David Attenborough voices.