The weather forecast for yesterday was thick fog for most of the day - was it really a surprise to wake up to a bright sunny morning? An opportunity not to be missed to try Grafham Water and Paxton Pits near St.Neots, both relatively local to me.

The attraction at Grafham Water was the pair of Bewick's Swans, unusual visitors that have been there for a while now. The total surprise was to get to Grafham to find the water level as low as I can ever remember it. It was getting on for 100 metres from the normal shoreline to the water line. Apparently, Anglian Water are unable to obain water from the river when it is in flood, which it has been for some weeks, due to the silt in the water affecting the filters.

The net result was that I stuck out like a sore thumb every time I tried to approach any birds on the water. Only long distance shots of the Bewick's Swans were possible - this is heavily cropped but at least stands as a record shot.

Then on to Paxton Pits where the lakes were mostly frozen with the odd small hole in the ice where the waterfowl congregated but too distant for photography. The feeders outside Hayden Hide provided a few opportunities as the clouds came in.

A further walk towards Kingfisher Hide revealed a new feeder with a succession of birds feeding. There would have been some good opportunities for photos but the light was just too poor so I have bookmarked that site for a future morning visit in the sunshine.

The current weather forecast for the Cambridge area is heavy snow over this weekend. Will the forecasters get it correct this time?