A flooded Llangors lake.

I spent a cold and largely unrewarding two hours in the bird hide at Llangors lake yesterday, this lake is near to where I live and is quite convenient for me. The lake reedbeds are totally flooded out after the horrendous rain we have been subjected to over the past weeks. I think that the Bittern I saw back in the autumn that was intending to winter there has unfortunately been displaced by these floods, it’s difficult for a bird like that to spend the winter in those conditions. Similarly the resident Water Rails have been pushed out of their natural habitat in the reed bed and have sought refuge in a small woodland adjacent to the lake. That is also flooded out but there are fallen logs in there that provide somewhere to stand on above the water. It’s tough for all birds but worse for some - Kingfishers suffer particularly badly in the floods and there are two birds fishing near the above mentioned bird hide that have probably been displaced from local rivers. They are surviving thankfully because they are seen from time to time, and I have seen them catching small fish from the flooded lake margins. An Otter has also been seen once or twice near this hide and now is s good time to see one at the lake because they can fish nearer in these conditions. The only bird I saw in my time at the hide was a little Goldcrest searching for food in the reeds, trying to eat seeds from the reed heads. It didn’t stay still for more than five seconds, as is the norm, but I managed to pin it down for a shot. I hope conditions improve for these birds – we don’t need any more rain that is certain!