Beddington Farmlands, 10th December 2017

Staying in Surrey between leading the Saturday walk at Canons and a survey job in north London, I teamed up with Christian C for a vigil from the hide in the horrendous weather. It eventually cleared up and we managed a short wander but the conditions beat us in the end! However, we did relocate the Twite on the northwest side of the landfill site with 60 Linnets, although it evaded any attempts at improving my photographic record of it. Counting the ducks was a satisfying exercise, with 35 Pochards, 62 Shovelers, 57 Teal, 26 Gadwall and 13 Tufted Ducks on the lakes. A Shelduck added a bit of 'value' - a fairly unusual sighting this early in the winter, and six Reed Buntings and two Meadow Pipits were along the side of the lake. Nine Snipe also flew from the margins, needing very little inadvertent prompting to flush.