November is whizzing by and the days are getting disappointingly short so not much chance to walk the patch after work meaning I am mostly getting to bird at the weekends.
That being said I did manage to get out on the 12th November,as I was on call the night before.This turned out to be areal bonus as when I walked though Kirkins and down Furnace Lane I noticed there were lots of Blackbirds around in the hedgerow and as I watched them feeding on Hawthorn berries they were joined briefly by a Ring Ouzel(107) a fantastic bird to have on my patch. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera with me as there were heavy showers during my walk so contented myself with watching it tucking in before flying off to the east.
The next day the only thing of note as I peered down the lake in the gloom was a pair of Teal.
The walk on Sunday 16th was a very pleasant one plenty of birds about. Kirkins held a flock of 24 Skylarks, 8 Pied Wagtails and 4 Meadow Pipits.As I looked though them a flock of 25 Herring Gulls passed overhead.Winter thrushes were still in low numbers but I also saw Song and Mistle Thrush and Blackbird.
Down at the lake there was a good mixed flock which contained 22 Long-tailed Tits,2 Coal Tits,Nuthatch,Treecreeper,Goldcrest,Blue Tit,Great Tit and 2 Chiffchaffs. It's good to get Chiffchaffs in November and it made wonder if they might hang around as I have never had a December record.
On the water it remains very quiet but I was treated to two Kingfishers and three Water Rails were calling from different parts of the reed beds. Two Great crested Grebes were on the water plus another Little Grebe and a real rarity here in the shape of a Coot!!
Today I managed an hour walk before work after being called out in the night. I was gobsmacked to find another Black Redstart on the fenceline in Kirkins. This is unprecedented on the patch and with the two the other week has doubled my tally of this species on my patch since I started watching.It also made me wonder how much is missed as I am the only person watching the patch seriously.
There were about 50 Fieldfares and 15 Redwings seen and a flock of 30 Siskins of note at the lake.

9TH NOVEMBER-Round-up of the first week.

The first of the month produced the first Fieldfares of the winter with a total of 72 seen(Hooray!!) plus 36 Redwings.A flock of 20 Siskins were in the alders with at least 200 Goldfinches.The field at Kirkins held 14 Skylarks,30 Meadow Pipits.10 Pied Wagtails and a dozen Linnets.
Four species of Gulls were seen (Common,Lesser Black-backed,Herring and Black-headed) but the lake it was very quiet just Moorhen,Mallard and a Great crested Grebe on the water although a female Kingfisher was there and two Grey Wagtails flew down the lake.The total for the day was 46 species.
Yesterdays walk( the 8th) didn't through up any surprises so in the afternoon Phyllis and I went to Reculver to hopefully see the Desert Wheatear which we duly did. Unfortunately it got rather overcast and breezy as we arrived so the photos weren't as good as I'd hoped.

Male Desert Wheatear

As I had to work today I didn't get out till after lunch but I was glad I did when as I walked into Kirkins I noticed a small bird flitting off the fence onto the ground then back again. Before I could get the binos on it properly it flew up onto the roof of one of the new houses. It was as I had thought a Black Redstart(106),a great start to the walk.To be honest not much else of note was seen so I made my way to the lake via the Hononten farm track. As I neared the farm I did what I always do,scan the roofs of the farm buildings and to my amazement found another Black Redstart!!What are the chances? This bird could have been the one I'd seen earlier but the buildings are about a mile away so I feel it must have been a second bird.

One of todays Black Redstarts

On the insect front I was amazed to find this Clouded Yellow butterfly as I walked back home.

The latest Clouded Yellow I've ever seen.

To end of October

The month passed by with another species for the year tally in the shape of twenty seven Brent Geese(105) which flew over SSE on the 26th.
The previous day had seen a total of forty five species seen with the the only summer species being three Chiffchaffs.

Maybe the last Chiffchaff of the year?

At the lake a Marsh Tit was seen again and two Water Rails were also present.It's always good to actually see them as a lot of the time they call without being seen.A second Little Grebe for the month was also seen.

I had a trip out in the afternoon to see the Red breasted Flycatcher down at Beachy Head.A cracking little bird and one which has eluded me in Kent.

Red breasted flycatcher( A little cracker) though not the best of shots!

On the 26th the first two decent flocks of Redwings were noted totalling one hundred birds.

On the 28th, Glyn had a House Martin through the lake whilst he was fishing and there were three Grey Wagtails and eight mandarin when I popped in.

O the 30th I had a great surprise when I stopped to scan the field at Kirkins as three hundred Brent Geese went over in three Skeins, BRILLIANT!!

By the end of the month still no Fieldfares.