COTSWOLD WATER PARK

I spent a pleasant afternoon walking in the water parks, firstly at Keynes Park, although I failed to spot the ring necked duck; my fault as I had not taken enough notice of what it looked like, as it is very similar to tufted duck! Hopefully it will still be there if I get a chance to return in the next few days.

I then parked at Neigh bridge and walked along to the road to a pit on private land where I stood at the entrance and added Red crested pochards to my year list. 

Finally I drove over to Blakehill nature reserve where up to 3 short eared owls have been seen regularly from 3pm onwards. I arrived shortly before three and at ten past, spotted my first short eared owl. I watched it through binoculars for 10 minutes, before I was joined by several other birders equipped with telescopes and long lenses.  We saw at least two different birds, and managed a few record photos, one of which shows one holding prey.