February and its very cold

A few days ago I found a flock of 50 or so Goldfinches, they were feeding in the fields that run down the spit separating the two sections of the main lake (hope that is clear) and were feeding on the teasels that are covering the field, at the time it was very grey and overcast so my photos used too slow a shutter speed to be any good, so I checked the forecast last night and it predicted some sun (some rain as well, obviously, but some sun) and when I drew the curtains today I was greeted by beautiful un-broken blue sky!

I decided it was ideal for my goldfinch photo opportunity (as mentioned as a target in my post Jan Review), so I packed my long lens, my walkstool and my bag hide and headed straight to the fields, there wasn’t huge amounts to see on the way, no interesting duck or loafing gulls of note anyway so I didn’t take long to get there.

The sun was indeed shining but there were no finches feeding so I set up in a likely spot and settled in for the long wait. One thing I learned in this period is that I need a decent and WARM pair of walking socks, my feet were cold within minutes but I didn’t let that bother me too much, however after half an hour it felt like the wind had changed direction and it suddenly became really cold, and still there were no finches. I attempted a quick photo of a Magpie and a Wood Pigeon while I froze but not much was moving in the strong wind bar Black Headed gulls and Common gulls.

Wood Pigeon feeding, Lodge Lake, Milton Keynes

A Lone Magpie, Lodge Lake, Milton Keynes

Very Cold

After around an hour and a half I was getting quite cold, and still no finches. In fact only a few had flown over in this time. A maximum count of 3! So I gave up. I know I’m a bit of a wuss, but my back was feeling the cold and starting to spasm so I do have an excuse. And continued my walk around the lake, there was still very little of note, so I was home warming back up before too long, only adding a lone photo of a funky looking Mallard to my collection.

Hopefully I’ll have a little more luck next time I head out.