The morning dog walks have certainly become much colder this past couple of days, with a couple of overnight frosts and morning temperatures hovering about 0C. Yesterday we had some snow flurries during the day but it didn’t really amount to much just a light dusting of the white stuff. This morning and the ‘Beast from the East’ arrived with vengeance, leaving about one inch of snow overnight in its wake. I was out and about with Meg and Gracie for 6.30am and although the temperature was reading 0C the Easterly wind probably reduced it by -5C it was a bitterly cold Easterly wind, I certainly cannot remember one as cold as that for some considerable time, in fact when I returned home from the dog walk my hat was covered in a good layer of snowy frost.

I normally spend Tuesday morning on the golf course, anyway, with all the early morning snow the course unfortunately was closed today. Usually on our golfing day when the weather turns inclement we still meet up for a chat in any case, have pot of tea, a bacon sandwich and a good catch up on what we have been doing this past week, alas today my golfing partner decided that he wasn’t going to venture out of his house, a sensible decision.

I now had a free day, so decided as a result of this to head over to the reserve at Fairburn for a walk around the reserve and some photography. It was full winter gear this morning, not very often that I have to get the big winter jacket out but today was one of those days, along with the quilted winter salopettes, especially after I struggled with the cold last week I wanted to be somewhat warmer than I was then.  

It was just after 9.30am when I arrived at the reserve, the roads were a bit tricky with the snow and ice, but quite drivable from the comfort of my 4 x 4. The temperature gauge in the car was still reading 0C and that easterly wind was somewhat nippy to say the least. To make matters worse, when I arrived in the Visitors Centre the coffee machine was out of action, fortunately one of the staff made me an instant coffee, before I set off for the ‘hide’ , all good stuff. 

The snow on the ground had completely transformed the landscape and the walk to the hide was even more picturesque than it usually is, especially when the sun managed to break through. There was nobody else in the hide when I arrived, and I only saw a handful of visitors during my time there, I think most people had heeded the travel advice and stayed at home.

The main lake looked completely frozen from end to end, with very little sign of any movement or life, albeit several pair of resident Mallard, Coot and Moorhen. The feeding station to the right of the hide was completely empty less the fat ball feeder, I always carry some bird food in my camera bag so after setting up and clamping the camera gear securely popped around the side of the hide to scatter some food around the floor, the branches and fence posts before returning back to the ‘comfort’ of the hide. The cold Easterly wind meant I had no protection from the ravages of the weather whatsoever as the ‘back’ of the hide is quite open, fortunately the benches were clear of snow. The ‘Pick up Hide’ is probably one of the coldest places on the reserve usually because of the prevailing Westerly wind, even then the front of the hide offers some protection. Fortunately it is not every day that we get the Easterly winds and what comes with them.

I made myself as comfortable as possible and with my coffee settled back to enjoy the mornings sights. In no time at all the Grey squirrel had found the seed I left on the fence post and in just one visit cleared the lot! I think I may have to purchase a water canon for my next visit and give it a good blasting! Fortunately I had some more seed in my back so popped round and replenished the seed again. The Hen Pheasants were nearly as greedy as the Squirrels as they hoover up the seed on the woodland floor. Very quickly at least three Robins popped in along with several Dunnock. One of the Robins was quite inquisitive and came and perched on the window shelf of the hide, boldly hopping between my coffee cup, note book and carton of bird seed. 

The Chaffinch were regular visitors and looked absolutely beautiful, the male birds especially. Within thirty minutes of being in the hide the weather took a turn for the worse when it started to snow, reducing the visibility at one stage to about twenty yards, I could barely see the Sand martin wall, this flurry lasted about fifteen minutes and was the first of several that I had to endure during the morning. Great Tits were regular visitors as usual, along with both male and female Reed Bunting, the snow didn’t deter them, although they were probably needing the food rather than the snow. I saw at least two Coal Tits this morning along with the beautiful Willow Tit. It wasn’t long before I heard the Long Tailed Tits calling behind me and a few minutes later four of them flew onto the fatball feeder. The highlight of the morning though was the Nuthatch, I often see these around the visitors centre and only occasionally here at the hide but today they were quite frequent and stayed around for most of the morning, a lovely sight. 

As much as I am used to seeing the land around me, the onset of winter with the frosty mornings and a layer of snow completely throws my mind set and changes our perceptions of the land, much the same as the change from Summer to Autumn when the trees change from green to golden brown and then as the trees start shutting down the Autumnal golds take over for several months until the frosts nip all the leaves, the frost and snow provides another colour on that landscape.  It was a wonderful morning at the reserve, despite the cold weather and snow.