OLD YEAR OUT AND NEW YEAR IN !

It's been a while since the last post on my blog so here's an update.
2014 went out with the year list finishing on 110 with a last ditch Common Snipe(110) on 29th December. So the year finished with no new species added but the highlights were Garganey in May and three Black Redstarts in November.
The new year started with a walk that didn't produce an over abundance of species but I was pleased to get Marsh Tit(40) on day one even though a few commoner species were absent. On Highlights on the 2nd were Tawny Owl and Grey Wagtail. On the 10th (50) was reached with Meadow Pipit and Rook made it (51).
On 11th Kingfisher (52),Little Owl (53)and Nuthatch (54) were added and the 12th gave Water Rail
(55) and Treecreeper (56).




A Brambling (57) was a great find in amongst a flock of 70 Chaffinches on the 16th and finally on the 23rd both Egyptian Goose (58) and a Shoveler drake (59).

WEEK ENDING 14th DECEMBER 2014

It was great to get out on the patch for a couple of hours on the 13th and 14th of the month. The week before I had a stinking cold so only managed a short walk on the Sunday.
On Saurday the winter thrushes had reached good numbers with about 500 Fieldfares and 200 Redwings present in the orchards by the lake. Its's always great when they arrive in big numbers although they are never easy to approach and seem to spend their time being chased around the orchards by the local Sparrowhawk.

One of the many Fieldfares

The lake was still very quiet except for two Little Grebes amongst the Mallards and Moorhens.The ditch at the southern and held a couple of Reed Buntings  and a Water Rail was calling from the corner of the lake.
The lakeside alders held 10 Siskins and as I watched them I heard the familiar call of a Chiffchaff. Brilliant!!
This is the first December record of this species on the patch and now means I have recorded it in every month of the year.I watched it flitting around before disappearing into the alder wood.
On Sunday my luck continued as I flushed a Jack Snipe(109)from the small ditch at the southern end of the lake whilst I was taking some shots of the hard frost on some nettles.It flew around the orchard a bit and appeared to land further along the main stream into the lake. A great record for the patch and the third in 18 years.

Frosty Nettles

The sunshine meant that at last I could get the camera out and get some frosty shots.

Redwing in the orchard.

These are the winter days I love with hard frosts and beautiful sunshine!

GOODBYE TO NOVEMBER!

Well November has passed and at last there seems to be an increase in the winter thrush numbers. On the 22nd there were just over 200 Fieldfares in the orchard at the lake which increased to 400 on the 28th.

Fieldfare by the lake.

Redwings seem to be in short supply with the highest number being about 50 on the 28th. 

The lake itself seems to at last be turning up something other than the usual Mallards and Moorhens with a Tufted drake on the 28th and 8(4 pairs) of Wigeon on the 29th which flew off south and a pair on the 30th.

There were a lot of birds in the orchard on the 28th for as well as the winter thrushes there were 100 Starlings,30 Chaffinches and in the alders ,300 Goldfinches plus 10 Siskins.

Pied Wagtail on the roof of Lake Cottage

On the 30th I had one that got away when a large Pipit went over the orchard but I wasn't quick enough to get on it properly and unfortunately it disappeared south east. My gut feeling was a Richards but it didn't call so I'll just have to chalk it up to experience.

This evening I had a drake Gadwall(108)on the lake so I'm hopeful I might reach 110 by the end of the year.

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. 

MID-ISH OCTOBER UPDATE.

October is racing by but at least it has yielded two new ticks for the year.Nothing unusual has turned up but on the 9th the Canada Goose numbers peaked at 152 with the single Greylag tagging along.
The 11th produced my first Little Grebe(103) of the year although Glyn had seen one in the spring. The next day Lesser Spotted Woodpecker for some time was seen behind the boat house. Of note there were 10 Lesser Black-backed Gulls over and two Grey Wagtails on the stream.
The 13th saw forty House Martins going over south(what I thought would be my last) but four were seen the on the 15th with five Swallows.
On the 17th I had the day off work to catch up on some decorating but managed to get a quick walk in before I started, which tuned out to be very enjoyable.
The field at Kirkins held plenty of birds with 60 Linnets, 15 Pied Wagtails,5 Skylarks and rather surprisingly a Wheatear. This is my first October record.Whilst watching it charging around the field I had my first Brambling of the autumn.
Down at the lake things got even better when as I was walking alond the orchard track I heard the humming of wings a was delighted to see a Mute Swan(104) take off from the lake and fly off north.At the southern end of the lake there were two Water Rails and 3 Chiffchaffs and I also had my first Lesser Redpoll calling as it flew over.It's amazing how much pleasure we can get form seeing the commonest of species.