Hello everyone, Haven’t we experienced some lovely Winter days recently? Margaret and I spent a couple of hours at Rutland Water a week or so ago. It was lovely and sunny, but windy and cold! However, we walked round the lake, and saw some good birds, including golden eye ducks and a red kite.
We also visited Topsham, and again it was a super day. The tide was in, so the birds were forced nearer to the shoreline. We saw over forty species, including lots of avocets, a couple of snipe, shovellers and many others. I can recommend a walk round 
the Goat Walk, from which you have lovely views over the estuary, and the walk passes the hide, where all the keen folks stop off to get fantastic views of the waterfowl, plus curlew, lapwings, godwits, etc.
Locally, the numbers of fieldfare and redwings have increased. There 
were several hundred of them feeding on the ground in the mead the other day. A few people have been lucky enough to see goldcrests, in gardens and in the village trees. These tiny bids are the smallest in Britain. The cold days bring lots of the commoner birds into our garden. We never tire of seeing goldfinches, robins, chaffinches, dunnocks and the others.
And, now for something completely different. 
A large black cat has been seen by more than one person recently, very close to the village. And when I say large, I mean very large! Bigger than a fox, but more cat-like, with a long body. Could this be the panther, which local folklaw says inhabits this area?
Alan Jones, 01404 841671
