Driving down narrow Somerset lanes towards Westhay Moor National Nature Reserve, my attention was distracted as the flat expanse of land to my east was slowly waking to the bright cast of relief from a rising winter sun. Why is it whenever we see something that naturally appeals to our sense of attraction, the first modern instinct is to reach for technology to record the moment, as if capturing it within a cage fed by binary will ensure it's longevity. With these thoughts in mind, i bucked under the temptation and dully pulled over to take several snaps of a rich and vibrant flame fired sun, slowly moving over Glastonbury Tor.
For the first time this winter the act of walking through lightly frozen puddles seemed to fill me with a false sense of joy, as if the mere presence of frost catching a brief hold of the surrounding moisture was an abnormality. Though with daily reminders through a multitude of media of the warming climate, and experiencing the warmest December on record, it's perhaps no surprise that we seek solace in the familiar.
Birds across a winter landscape reams familiarity for me, from childhood adventures among my juvenile lakeland stomping grounds, to exploring vast areas of open landscape across Mid Wales, and enduring bitter Atlantic storms staring out to sea with the hope of spotting passing seabirds. A stroll around my new patch on a fine winters day, with a clear sky and frost on the ground made me feel instantly at home.
My highlight among the clatter of wings passing over the reeds, ducks and geese vocally announcing their presence and wintering passerines foraging within the canopy of wet woodland edge, was two pairs of Goosander. The distinct sexual dimorphism (or difference between the males and females) is striking in this diving sawbill. The 'red heads' or females with their chestnut head plumage and slender bill portray a sense of style, carried off with a wisp of swayed back plumage crest straight out of a retro punk fashion shoot.
Each pair stayed loyal to another as they seemingly took it in turns to dive down in search of a small fish meal. The males with the bottle green, slick backed head plumage, busied themselves with covering ground whilst almost checking over their shoulder to check that their betrothed was still in toe. Seconds would past in a spinning of webbed maneuvers, before continuing with the process of building up lost energy from roosting overnight on a cold winters lake,
Once considered a bird seen during hard winters, the Goosander has slowly since the 1970's pushed it's breeding range down from Scotland into Wales and in turn Somerset in the early 1990's. Now a small number of pairs breed primarily in the west of the county. During surveying for the Somerset Atlas 2007-2012, records predicted that birds attracted to the area during the colder winter months have been known to roost overnight on Cheddar Reservoir, situated a few miles to the north east of Westhay Moor. During the day they return to feed on the bounty beneath the cold water of the lakes, dotted between the reeds and the marsh.
Birds seen throughout the rest of the morning included:
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