Counting Harriers or Not!

 After a full English this morning making a late start I made the short but very slippery drive in the falling snow to Faggs Wood. By the car park 5 species of Thrush fed round the chicken runs along with Robins, Wrens, Dunnocks and a Green Woodpecker. In the car park a Jay, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker and lots of Great and Blue Tits fed on the bread and doughnuts left out for them. A plod around the wood saw 3 Woodcock, 4 Goldcrests, 1 Tree Creeper and a fly over Bullfinch  and little else in the falling snow. From there I drove towards Scotney. On the Brett Pit 4 Smew(2 Drakes) and 3 Goldeneye. At Scotney Mike Buckland was scanning the frozen vista and informed me that the Greater White-fronts were still there. We walked to the small copse to look for Woodcock on the ground, we found a couple but the smallest movement spooked them. We moved to the Sussex end of Scotney where we could see the 2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese with the 9 Dark-bellied Brent Geese. 

A Frozen ARC from the Screen Hide

    

I moved on to the ARC Pit which was now almost completely frozen. In front Hanson hide a Cetti's Warbler skulked along with a Water Rail, a Bittern flew across the ice as did a Sparrowhawk while a Fox trotted about on it. A walk up to the Screen Hide found a tit flock with at least 10 Long-tailed Tits and a Chiffchaff.
New Diggings from the causeway before being moved on by the police found 10+ Goosander and 8+ Smew also a Great White Egret.
Driving back across Walland to The Woolpack, 55 Bewick Swans and a Merlin.
A twenty minute walk out across the snowy marsh to the Harrier roost I was going watch was uneventful. Setting up the scope I quickly found a Marsh Harrier perched on a fence post, which was just as well as the Harrier sat there for minute then flew off south and that was the only one I saw in 1.5hrs. Fortunately there were some other birds to look at. 3 Common Buzzards perched up in separate trees, a Bittern flew into the reed bed, 6 Bearded Tits flitted about, 11 Corn Buntings roosted in the reeds, 2 Water Rails ran along the edge and 2 Merlins chasing and catching Skylarks in front of me .