MSQ...... 2.12.12.

With another nice bright day on offer,i dropped Trace at work and made the short journey over to Messingham Sand Quarries.On arrival it was apparent that most of the reserve was frozen solid,with a few open areas of water which were being exploited by the locals.First goodie of the day came in the form of a single Long-eared Owl watched dozing in the sun on the edge of one of the lakes and it gave great views through the scope,really nice to see.Hopefully this stunning Owl species will make a recovery in the county,as it once wintered and bred at several locations locally in years gone by.I then continued through the reserve,seeing small numbers of Siskin and Lesser Redpoll,but little else until i arrived at the main lake.The best here,was the continued presence of the 4 female/immature Scaup and they gave great views as they dived for food and i even managed to get a few record shots of this nice marine duck.This is a superb record for the reserve,with the birds being present for about a month now,excellent stuff.Other than the afore mentioned,a few Redwing and Fieldfare were seen,but it was just nice to be out in some great weather again.