January 20th to January 22nd.

A few hours on the reserve away from my desk in the last few days and I have to say it's pretty quiet.

One reason being the water levels continue at their winter high. We keep the water levels high in the winter to help control the growth of vegetation later on the year (the roots get drowned).

This year the water levels are slightly higher than normal because in a few weeks time we have a floating reed cutting machine paying us a visit. The last thing we want is for the it to get 'beached' on the freshmarsh. This machine called a Truxor, gives a quick and easy way of trimming the reed growth.

My colleagues who love boy's toys are already salivating at the chance of having a 'voyage' in this 'boat' as it works its way along the northern edge of the reed bed.

The sea has been very quiet except for five long tailed ducks and a few kittiwakes. However, the area around the visitor centre has been good with all three redpolls still present, water rail, bull finch and chiffchaff.

A few images left taken around the visitor centre with my fantastic new camera.