Coombe Abbey

Friday 9th January 2009

Thursday had been birdless but I did have the opportunity to indulge other pleasures namely drinking a pre birthday Goats' Milk or two with friends at the award winning Church End Brewery Tap and eating Pork pie. At this point I have to say that despite what my good friends in Leicestershire would have you believe there are outstanding Pork pies to be had outside the boundaries of Melton Mowbray. Enough said : today has been a strange day, started off in grey mist as I tried in vain to find any kind of birdlife in the Coombe Fields area where there used to be flocks of Golden plover, assorted finch flocks a tree sparrow if you were lucky but today absolutely nothing. Decided to move on to Coombe Abbey, the feeding station attracted the usual species including Nuthatch and Marsh tit. As I left the hide a Raven flew over calling which was an unexpected bonus. The weather had brightened considerably by mid-day and by the time I got to Draycote Water it was a beautiful day. However, by the time Id walked to the Valve tower and back a heavy fog had desended, luckily Id seen all the overwintering species. The highlight of the walk though had been the sight of a Coot wrestling with a Perch. The Coot didnt want to swallow the fish so decided to shake it to pieces and eat the bits.