My 2011 ended without having seen on of the most enigmatic birds of the British winter. The small and seemingly delicate Smew visits these shores in wintertime and can be found in a number of southeastern locations usually with uncanny regularity.
One such place is Amwell NR, a reclaimed set of gravel pits that sit at the northern end of the Lee Valley, not far from Ware.
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| Nut-freezingly cold Amwell |
It was a beautiful, crisp morning but the low sun made it difficult to get good views of the wildfowl on Great Hardmead Lake. After a quick scan I went up to Tumbling Bay Lake; not only easier to view birds but also, a better name for a lake if you ask me.
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| Pochard |
All the usual ducks could be seen here. Pochard, gadwall, mallard and tufted duck mixed with mute swans, coots and moorhens. But it is here that a pair of smew had been reported over the past few days.
The drake is easy to see as his brilliant white plumage with fine black lines is like no other bird I know. He was distant but slowly swimming in my direction. By the time I was ready with my camera/scope concoction, he had decided to thwart me and was now swimming off at a tangent...I shoulsd have realised this would happen as it always does.
So, I decide to stalk the smew. I anticipated his next direction and scrambled around the lake to intercept him. The sly old duck was now paddling in a dark and sheltered area of the lake with many overhanging branches from the lakeside trees. (I used a word for him that I’m sure he would have never heard before and not one I wish to use in this blog but I said it and there’s that.
I had to be patient and as the smew started to move again, I knew there was a chance he might retrace his ....wake? I had him now. Even though my fingers felt like giant frozen sausages, I was able to refocus the scopes focus wheel and held my breath.
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| Drake Smew |
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| Drake Smew |
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| Yep, Drake Smew |
So I managed to get a few pictures but I must have taken nearly 50 and most of these were either blurred (more than usual) or there were branches or other lake vegetation obscuring the blighter. Was about to leave to explore the other great habitats of Amwell when from nowhere, the female smew appeared. She is called a redhead for obvious reasons and I have no idea where she had been hiding all this time but agreed to a family portrait.
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| Drake Smew and Redhead |
I had spent nearly two hours trying to photograph these wonderful birds and decided to try my luck back at the main watchpoint. I took the scenic route over the river and along the woodland walk. This spot is usually good for siskin and redpoll. The siskins didn’t let me down. There were about twenty of these high up in the alders chattering away like idiots. This is a difficult photograph to get as the birds were exactly vertical to me and about 60 feet up in the top of the trees.
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| Male Siskin |
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| Male Siskin |
I had one final quick look at the watchpoint over Great Hardmead Lake. There was a cracking male Goldeneye along with grey herons, lapwings, wigeon, teal and shoveler. The sun was beginning to make things nice and comfortable. Time to leave then.
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