Filby Duck-fest and St Benet's Abbey, 22 January 2023

I've been putting off a visit to the Trinity broads for the various rare ducks that have been lingering around the area for most of the winter. Yesterday I cracked though and headed to Filby Broad where most of them have settled in recent days. On arrival I was greeted with a mass of ducks at long range on the only ice-free section of the broad - great! Along with Ashley Banwell we eventually managed to pick out the good birds but it took some while and the distance meant it wasn't exactly a visual spectacular. The birds were a 1w drake Ring-necked Duck, 1 Ferruginous Duck, 3 Smew (all redheads) and 2 Scaup (1w drake and female) with c40 Goldeneye and loads of Tufted Duck, Pochard and Coot to search through. All the fun of the fair!

After that we headed to St Benet's Abbey for a walk and to catch the sunset. The latter was a little disappointing but some good birds were had - 15 Bewick's Swans at close range by the entrance road and 9 more a huge distance from the 'hill' by the abbey cross. 15 White-fronted Geese flew over and 3 Barn Owls entertained as the light began to fade.

                                                                                                                                  Bewick's Swans

                                                                                                                                      Barn Owls