What a joy it was to be out walking in the sunshine on Saturday. A good selection of birds was seen during my 2 hour walk. Down through Kirkins and the maize stubble seems to be attracting lots of corvids, about 140 consisting of a pretty even split of Jackdaws and Rooks. The hedgerow held a few House Sparrows and Chaffinches plus a pair of Reed Buntings and five Fieldfare flew from the apple trees in the top corner.
As I neared the pumping station a Mistle Thrush sang from an oak a bit further along the lane. Two Goldrcrests were foraging in the ivy covered willow next to the station.
The orchard next to the lake held a mixed flock of Fieldfares(25), Redwings(14) and Starlings(200). As I neared the southern end I could hear a Reed Bunting singing and soon found him in a lakeside alder.
All three Woodpeckers could be heard drumming but the lake held just Mallard, Moorhen and a lone Great- crested Grebe until a Kingfisher appeared and landed in a tree in the corner.
A pair of Canada Geese flew over accompanied by a Greylag. Interestingly this trio have been on the lake a couple of weeks ago and the Greylag appeared to be pairing with one of the Canadas.
Around the other side of the lake and the highlight of the morning appeared in the shape of a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers. Such delightful little birds. Unfortunately I got just one(iffy) shot of the female before they disappeared into the alder wood.

Female Lesser Spot

In total 43 species were seen with a nice pair of Grey Wagtails bringing up the rear as I left the lake.

In the afternoon I had the good fortune of a Peregrine(67) over the garden when I was repairing the the fence which had blown down during the spell of horrid weather we have just endured. Every cloud has a silver lining!

JANUARY TO 12th FEBRUARY 2014

I can't believe it's nearly the middle of February and my patch list has just started to pick up a bit after a rather disappointing January, when only 59 species were seen. At the same time last year the list stood at 72!! This is probably due to my limited walking after the saga of my ankle and the appalling weather.
Still, back to the patch and waiting till 28th December for a Pochard there were 4 records in January with two being seen on the 7th with a Tufted drake.

Pochards.

There seems to be a lot of Redpolls around since last month with a single Common Redpoll(54) with them on the 18th Jan.

Into February and on the 1st of the month there were 2 Common Redpolls with a flock of 45+ lesser Redpolls. The first Woodcock was seen on the same day plus a pair of Greylag Geese.

The 2nd produced a pair of Teal and a Water Rail of note.On Monday 10th, 3 Egyptian Geeese flew S/E over the lake and this morning I had a pair of Grey Wagtails over to bring the years total to 66.

Finally, even though it doesn't seem to want to stop raining, it was great to see some Snowdrops in bloom a week or so ago.

Snowdrops in bloom.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.

Well, the year has come to a very soggy end.
On Sunday 29th there was a total of 10 tufteds on the lake and in the afternoon we had a walk up to Sprivers and back, with me on crutches and I was delighted to find a single Waxwing with some Redwings and Fieldfares on Hazel Street farm orchards.
 I managed a little walk down at the lake at lunchtime today but there weren't any last minute species to add to the years total, so it finished on 116.A really good total for a patch like mine and maybe if I'd been able to get out a bit more in the latter part of the year, I could have got a couple more.
One species was added to the patch total (Woodlark) in March.The Waxwings found in December 2012 were still around into the new year and were a great year tick which I never tired of trying to photograph.
 Insect highlights included my first Golden-ringed Dragonfly and Clouded Yellow butterfly.
All that is left is to wish everyone reading this blog a Very Happy and bird-filled New year.

With the festive period nearly upon us I was really looking forward to getting out on the patch as I am now off work until 6th January.
Unfortunately I've chipped a bone in my right ankle whilst out walking on Sunday 22nd December, so eventually had to give in and go to A&E on Christmas Eve.I received a very friendly and efficient service but left wearing a boot on my right leg which I have keep on twenty four-seven until my appointment at the fracture clinic on New Years Eve. Hopefully it will come off then.
After moping about the house I convinced my wife to drive me down to the lake this morning. We managed a slow hobble for half an hour  in which time we saw a tick for the year in the shape of a drake Pochard (116). There were also a few Mandarin, a Coot, a Great Crested Grebe, Kingfisher, a drake Tufted as well as quite a few Redwing and Fieldfares plus Goldfinch and Siskin in the lakeside alders and a flyover Brambling and Meadow Pipit.
This cheered me a little but the thought of being confined to the house is not a pleasant one.

November update

The month has passed with little chance to get out into the field for any great amount of time. Bird numbers seem to be low with a high count of just 200 fieldfares on the 28th when there was also a flock of 100+ Siskins in the lakeside Alders. The 14th produced a flock of 34 Lesser Redpolls and there has also been the odd Brambling seen.

                                                 Distant  Brambling
The first Goosander (a drake) of the winter appeared on the 22nd but the lake itself has been very quiet with just the odd pair of Mandarin to brighten it up plus a Little Grebe appearing a few times and on Thursday 27th a Grey Wagtail and 2 Kingfishers.
On Sunday 24th I had some great views of a female Lesser Spot through the scope but unfortunately we were on different sides of the lake.
I did photogragh a couple of interesting fungi earlier in the month:-

                                                  Orange Peel fungus?

Stagshorn fungus?

Hope I've got them right. Perhaps someone could let me know if I haven't.

Arrived at the lake just as the sun was about to appear over the trees at the northern end.

There were a few birds moving after the change in weather, with Chaffinches going over bringing my first Brambling of the Autumn with them. I soon added singles of Siskin  and Reed Bunting. Then Fieldfare and Redwing went over. A lot of Wood Pigeons were going East.
On the lake there were 25 Canada Geese, 3 Great Crested Grebes, 9 Mandarins, 8 Moorhens, a Coot (a bit of a rarity here, plus best of all a Litttle Grebe (115).

Little Grebe in the mist.

So a nice little walk plus a species for the year list, Excellent!!

October started with a walk on the 3rd which produced the first Water Rail for a little while. The lake  also held a Kingfisher,14 Mandarin and 14 House Martins and 11 Swallows. All three woodpeckers were seen and I managed a rather distant shot of a female Lesser Spotted

                                                   Female Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
A quick look at the lake on my way home on the 4th produced 230 Black headed Gulls plus 30 Herring Gulls going over East as well as 85 Stock Doves going south. The first Siskins of the Autumn arrived over the house on the 5th , with 7 over the next day and a flock of 30 at the lake on the 6th.
A stroll around the lake after work on the 10th gave a female Teal and a high count of 23 Mandarin,

                                                 Teal taken in the gathering gloom
2 Grey Wagtails, 4 Chiffchaffs, 2 Kingfishers, 5 Meadow Pipits, 43 Mallards and 10 Moorhens.
At last the sun shone and I managed a two and a half hour walk on Saturday 12th. I was hoping for a decent bit of movement and soon had my first Redwings of the autumn. I soon added Lesser Black-backed Gull, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Rook.
Down through Kirkins and passerines overhead were very few with a few Blackbirds and Song Thrushes but I did get Reed Bunting and Meadow Pipit. The only summer migrant so far was a lone Chiffchaff.
Down by the pumpng station I found a Grey Wagtail and a couple of Mistle Thrushes with some Stock Doves over. As I walked along the farm track between the rows of apple trees I was greeted by the call of Brent Geese(113) and was amazed to see two massive skeins, really high up, going south east. In total there were at least 450. Truly jaw droppng! Things got even better when a Stonechat(114)appeared on top of one of the wind break hedges, before flying off.A lone Swallow flew south east.
On the Shirrenden side I found my first Lesser Redpoll of the autumn with a couple of Siskins. I saw a total of 8 Great Black-backed Gulls, which is a fantastic count on my patch. 55 Species were seen in all, a really great total for the patch and I also saw 4 Roe Deer. Brilliant!!
I had a walk in the rain this morning and saw another Swallow, poor thing, I reckon this could be my last of the year.