Nine of us braved the elements for this trip. We arrived at Amwell prior to the rain that had been forecast. Walking down the track, we saw lots of Redwing, Long tailed tits, Chaffinches. Over the railway track & into the wooded section that runs adjacent to the river Lea, where lots of birds were flitting about including Treecreeper, Blue & Great tits, Robin, Blackbird, Siskin & Dunnock.
We stood overlooking the latest flooded area and saw six Little Grebe, Gadwall, Teal, Goldeneye plus other ducks & various gulls. It was very cold standing there in the wind, so we did not hang about too long.
We continued along the footpath by the river to the viewing area overlooking the gravel pit. Again it was very exposed, the cold wind making the water very choppy although one of the party did see a female Smew.
We left for Rye House RSPB reserve and the warmth of the visitor centre. Making our way to the first hide, the rain started. There was not many species of birds on view. We decided due to the heavy rain we would not continue to any further hides, but would instead travel to Fishers Green hopefully to see the Bittern.
This was not to be, we arrived at the hide to be told by the volunteers that the bird had not put in an appearance that day.
We sat in the hide for a long time being entertained by Water Rail & Kingfishers which kept flying past. Four of the party decided that they had had enough and called it a day. The remaining five sat for another ¾ hour and were rewarded not with a Bittern, but a Jack Snipe on one of the island.
Generally it was not a good day, the wind and rain having an effect on the number of birds that we saw.
Dave Jones