Hi Martin,
Catcott Lows mid-day FRiday,9th Dec.95%frozen over, centre ditch and boundary ditches still open
Still a good number of duck probably 400 plus, mostly Wigeon and Teal with very few Shoveller and a couple of Pintail. New arrivals since yesterday late afternoon were 3 more Whooper Swans, one with a peat stained head bringing the total present now up to four. A small flock of 5 BlacK Tailed Godwits arrived around 4 p.m. when around 50 Lapwing dropped in probably to roost, none having been there all afternoon.

The only area of water apart from a few ditches that was not frozen this morning (10.00-11.00) was the far end of Canada Farm Lake as seen from the hide. I assume that most of Catcott Lows would be frozen also which would explain why there were so many ducks on the deeper part of Canada Farm Lake.
Counts included Teal 215, Wigeon 58, Shoveler 54, Gadwall 50, Tufted Duck 16, Mallard 12, Pochard 1 and Pintail 1. I also recorded 2 Kingfishers, 2 Marsh Harriers and a big surprise for the Lake, one Blackwit that flew in and landed on a small island. Strangely no Coots or Heron species were seen. On the droves there were several dozen Chaffinches and a few Goldfinch but no sign of Redpoll or Siskin. Also several Jays ,Redwings and Blackbirds on the main drove from the entrance.