Walks on the patch now consist of mostly popping in on the way home from work but one on the 22nd was interesting for the large mixed flock of finches that are now congregating in the old orchard.This was made up of Linnets,Goldfinches,Chaffinches,Bramblings(3) plus Pied Wagtails and Meadow Pipits.
There was a flock of Siskins and Lesser Redpolls were feeding on the Greater Willowherb at the southern end.

                                              Lesser Redpoll on willowherb,
That evening there were also six Swallows feeding over the small sheepfield.
On saturday 24th four Bramblings were present and the lake held 2 Kingfishers,4 Mandarins and a
Water rail of note. A Buzzard and a Sparrowhawk were also seen.
On Sunday 25th the highlite was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which flew into the alders at the southern end and the finch flock had been joined by some Yellowhammers and a Reed bunting.
This afternoon a Chiffchaff was in the hedge at the edge of the horse paddock in Furnace Lane with a flock of Long tailed tits and also with them was a cracking Firecrest (102).Brilliant!!

Sunday 18th Update.

It's been an interesting week on the patch which started on the  14th with a gull fest in Kirkins where the field had been turned over attracting six species:- Black Headed(120),Herring(52),Lesser black backed(2),Common(2),Great black backed(1) and an adult Mediterranean.
The following day a Swallow went through heading north.
Yesterday(Saturday 17th) the first winter thrushes arrived with 249 Redwings seen,mostly in one flock of 200 birds.In contrast just 15 Fieldfares were seen.
Another Swallow was seen going north and a male Blackcap was found in the hedge by the pumping station in Furnace Lane.Goldcrests were numerous with at least a dozen seen.
Down at the lake the field where the large orchard has been grubbed out recently there was a great mixture of birds with Chaffinch,Linnet,Meadow Pipit and a couple of Bramblings feeding on the ground plus a large flock of Goldfinches.
40 Siskins were in the lakeside alders and 5 Lesser Redpolls flew overhead.Three Chiffchaffs were around with one bird feeding on the ground among the mixed flock.
Kirkins held 31 Stock doves and a Mistle thrushes.
Today there were more Redwings arriving with 65 seen and 17 Fieldfares overhead. Small numbers of Skylarks were going over in all directions as were small flocks of Chaffinches and one Brambling called as it went overhead.
Down at the lake a Water Rail called and 4 Egyptian Geese went north.
Most intriguing of all was a movement? of Magpies which consisted of a flock of 8 then a flock of 18 going south, something I have never witnessed before.
Swallows were seen again with 2 south,2 north and 3 west.I imaging theses will be the last I will see this year although I do have two November records so you never know!
 

I was away at the end of September so didn't get to walk the patch until a short walk after work on the 6th October which produced the first Lesser Redpolls of the Autumn plus a few House Martins and Chiffchaffs were still around.
On Saturday 12th I managed a full walk of the patch which gave the first Water Rail and a decent flock of Siskins plus a few L/Redpolls. Skylarks were passing over head in small numbers and there was a total of 9 Chiffchaffs.A flock of 30 Meadow Pipits were on Kirkins field and in total 42 species were seen.
On Sunday the the undoubted highlight was a skein of 320 Brent Geese(101) which went over at 08.15am.
On the insect front I found a Hornets nest in the oak tree which usually plays host to the local Little Owl pair.

Hornets nest.

I've attached a photo of the Osprey which stayed around the lake for three days in September.

Unfortunately the light was poor and the Osprey was always distant.

It rained as soon as I stepped out of the house this morning so I didn't expect much from my walk. There were still a dozen or so Swallows around plus a couple of House Martins down at the lake.One Coot was feeding on the barley bales which have been put in the water to reduce the algae bloom.On the far side of the lake 13 Mandarins were diving to feed on acorns which have dropped into the lake.
A Grey Heron was sitting in an alder and as I watched it 4 Cormorants came in.
The Great crested Grebe chicks are really growing and are practically the same size as the adults. It's great that they eventually managed to raise two youngsters after two failed attempts.
There were a few Siskins being blown about by the blustery wind.About a dozen Chiffchaffs were around the lake.
On the Shirrenden side there were three Blackcaps in the elders and to my delight yesterdays Osprey flew form one of the pines towards the lake and disappeared into the trees at the southern end.
I hadn't taken my camera as it was raining heavily so I was going to try to get down later.
When I got back to the house I found a Swift flying over the village.
This afternoon I did manage to get back to the lake and stood on the orchard side to give me a good position to watch the lake.It wasn't long before I had some great views of a Hobby as it circled over the wood.
The Osprey reappeared and did a few circuits of the lake before gaining height and drifting off to the south west. I did manage some shots of it before it went,

Today's Osprey

The 9th saw yet another Yellow Wagtail over and probably the last Whitethroat in Kirkins.The Hobby continues  to  hunt over the village early in the morning giving some great views over the house.
A Stonechat(99) was a welcome addition to the list as it hopped on and off the fence in Kirkins on the 10th but sadly it didn't hang around. Another single Yellow Wagtail went over and Siskins went over singly or in pairs. It's been an extraordinary autumn for this species on the patch.
This mornings walk saw summer bird numbers greatly reduced with a dozen or so Chiffchaffs and 5 Blackcaps seen but I was very pleased to find a Spotted Flycatcher in the southwest corner of the lake.
Overhead Swallows were going southeast all the time with a few House Martins amongst them.
This afternoon I popped down to the lake to see if anything had turned up and was delighted to see an Osprey(100) which was trying to fish whilst being bothered by the local Black headed Gulls.It appeared to fly into Shirrenden wood and as I couldn't relocate it I decided to return at 5 o'clock.
The first thing I saw when I returned. was a  Sparrowhawk and as I watched it an Osprey appeared from the north and once again disappeared towards the wood.I stuck around for an hour but only managed a Hobby.
I'm hoping it will stick around till tomorrow so I may get a photo.

September began with the highlights of the 1st being a Swift, a Peregrine and three Buzzards( one adult and two juveniles from the Shirrenden nest.
On the second the only bird of note seen was a Yellow Wagtail going over as well as a good mix of warblers.
Friday the 4th produced my second Redsart of the year with a bird in one of the windbreak hedges at the southern end of the lake which annoyingly kept it's distance so I could only manage a record shot.

Heavily cropped Redstart.

In contrast to this summer migrant 7 Siskins were also seen.

I managed a good patch walk on the 5th seeing 46 species with plenty of Chiffchaffs about plus a Whitethroat,a few Blackcaps, 45 Swallows,4 House martins,3 Reed Warblers but the Willow Warblers seem to have cleared out.

On the 6th another single Swift was seen and in one Elder bush Whitethoat,Chiffchaff,Blackcap and a cracking little Lesser Whitethroat were feeding.

Even better was to come when a single Tree Pipit then two more went over.

On the 7th another Redstart was seen, this time on the sunny side of the hedge in Kirkins.

This morning at 06:50 a Hobby was hunting over the village giving great views over the house and down at the lake 130 House Martins, 20 Swallows and a Sand Martin were on the wires.

Late summer update

The summer has pretty much passed and Autumn is upon us bringing some much awaited birds to the patch.At the start of the month 20 Mistle thrushes had gathered in the lakeside orchard on the 3rd August.
On the 11th the first Teal (97) and on the 13th five Common Sandpipers(98) were seen(although Geoff had seen 6 or 7 earlier).Six Spotted Flycatchers were around the paddock in Shirrenden.
Throughout the month Siskins were seen on most visits to the lake and on 15th the second Yellow Wagtail of the year was seen plus my third Sedge Warbler of the year.
Adult Hobbies  were around regularly with two on the 23rd. On the same day a Tree Pipit went over and three Egyptian Geese were seen.
On the 27th Canada Geese numbers reached 154 and the second Whinchat was in Kirkins on the 30th.
The following day in horrid conditions 160 Swallows were on the lake plus 2 House Martins,a Sand Martin and a different looking Hirundine which at first had me foxed but when it landed on some wires I realised it was a Swallow/House Martin hybrid!
Having not had many opportunities for photography I've attached some pictures from our week in Lesvos,

Black Stork

Western Rock Nuthatch

Woodchat Shrike (juv)

Red Rump Swallow