Valentine's Day Patch Wander...

Date: 14th February 2016 - Early Afternoon

Location: Newton Park Lake Circular

Weather: Blue Sky + Sunny, Patchy Cloud - Cold Wind

Other Species: 1 Greenfinch, Goldfinch, 2 Green Woodpecker, 40+ Redwing, 7+ Goldcrest, 6+ Long-Tailed Tit, House Sparrow, 2 Grey Heron, 1 Treecreeper, 1 Kingfisher, 28 Teal, 9 Goosander, 1 Raven, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Buzzard, 3 Pied Wagtail, 1 Fieldfare, 1 Greater Spotted Woodpecker, 4 Linnet, 1 Coal Tit - Of Note - 40 Species Total

Observation: Headed out through Bath Mill as normal, pretty quiet through here. On to the Dog Walk, quite a few fallen trees since the bad spells of weather, there were a small flock of Redwing high in the trees. Not much else, until the Village, where the resident Goldcrest was showing well for us in the sunshine at 'The Cattery'.

A distant Green Woodpecker was heard calling just as we were moving on. At the Lake, we checked the Alders and spotted a cute little Treecreeper, calling away!

Mid-way between the Lakes, the Grey Wagtail was still bobbing on the waterfall catching some flies, after a quick preen, he posed nicely for us!

Also a very pretty blonde Mallard, we think it could be a Mallard X Spot-Billed Duck. Been present for about 2 weeks now.

On to 'Top Lake' where the Goosanders are still present, back up to 9 today (3 Male + 6 Female)  got some lovely shots of them in the sunshine!

Also of note on the 'Top Lake' were 1 Little Grebe, 2 Grey Heron and 28 Teal (a good count of Teal!). 
Little Grebe making a dash for it !

Lots of flowers in full bloom now and look lovely in the sun.

As we come up to the Castle on the grounds of Bath Spa University, a beautiful Hare ran in front of us and into cover, only have 8 previous records so always nice to see!

We walked back along College Drive which was nice and quiet, when we seen 2 Roe Deer running down the hill towards us. They had been spooked from 12 O'Clock and ran across the road in front of us before finding cover in the nearby trees. As the Roe Deer were running around, they also spooked 4 Linnets which we couldn't re-locate.

Back at 'Horse Fields', no sign of the recent Yellowhammers or Stonechats today but a bit further along, the field was full of Redwing, Pied Wagtail and a single Fieldfare approx 40+

The walk was coming to a end, last sightings included another Green Woodpecker and lastly a Greater Spotted Woodpecker back at Bath Mill.

Thanks For Reading !