MID FEBRUARY UPDATE

It was mixed weekend on the bird front.
Saturday saw a flock of 80 or so Skylarks in the field at the top of Kirkins plus a small flock of Linnets and a single Yellowhammer.The lake remains pretty quiet with a Little Grebe,a Great crested Grebe and 10 Mandarins of note.
One of the Buzzards was perched in the usual tree in Shirrenden and a Sparrowhawk was terrorising the Redwings and Fieldfares in the orchard.
I decided on a walk through the alder wood at the southern end and was soon glad I had as a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker(64) called. I eventually caught up with it before it flew off into Shirrenden Wood.
It was brilliant to hear that call again.
Siskins remain difficult with just a single seen.
A Grey Wagtail was seen below the waterfall but that was the best bits of the day until some Lesser Redpolls turned up on the garden feeders.It's always a delight to get these in the garden as they are  few  and far between.

One of the L/Redpolls on the feeder. Not a brilliant shot but I had to take it through the kitchen window.

Sunday didn't chuck up any surprises but the Lesser Spot called from the alder wood and the Little Grebe had been joined by another.

EARLY FEBRUARY UPDATE.

My early morning walk on Saturday 7th Feb. started as usual in Kirkins which produced two rather splendid male Bullfinches on the brambles at the top of the field. At the edge of the new houses there were 7 Yellowhammers,2 Meadow Pipits and 11 Skylarks.
As I walked down past the pumping station a Peregrine went over my head going north.
Down at the lake and two Little Grebes were visible at the bottom end plus 3 pairs of Mandarins and the pair of Great crested Grebes had returned.I  heard Canada Geese calling and they soon came into land accompanied by a Greylag Goose(62).
A single Siskin was seen with a flock of Goldfinches.
In the orchard there were 100 Fieldfares and around 35 Redwings.
Around the lake and Great, Blue,Long tailed and Coal Tit were added as well as a single Goldcrest.
Interestingly I also saw another Great black backed Gull going over with some Herring Gulls.

This Redwing was a great visitor to the garden early on Saturday.
Sunday 8th I decided to check the horse paddock behind the pumping station and was delighted to find 18 Yellowhammers and 120 Redwings feeding on the grass amongst the horses. The lake held a welcome addition to the list in the shape of a Cormorant(63) plus a Kingfisher was seen. Up at the field behind the farm house I found 30 Skylarks and 10 Meadow Pipits. It's great to see this number of Skylarks on my patch!
A quick walk around the Shirrenden side produced a pair of Kestrels and a Buzzard.

One of the Kestrels at Shirrenden.

With the days getting a bit longer I hope I can get some birding in after work instead at just the weekends. Still, Spring will soon be upon us, with all the birds I hope it will bring.

January passed by with the total species on 59.
February started with the small flock of Skylarks still commuting between Kirkins and Hononton Farm. Fourteen were in the flock on Sunday but there have been as many as forty.
The orchard held about three hundred Redwing but only about thirty Fieldfare with them. There was small movement of Herring Gulls and with them a first winter Great Black-backed Gull(60).As I walked down to the lake a Buzzard was calling and it soon appeared over Shirrenden wood.
It was good to add both Kestrel and Sparrowhawk. The water was surprisingly empty with just Mallard, Moorhen and the pair of Great Crested Grebes but as I walked back up the lake a Kingfisher flew form a bankside willow.
On Tuesday evening I popped in to the lake on my way home and was delighted to find two pairs of Gadwall(61). Not a common species on the patch and probably only one or two records a year,so I was very pleased.

Redwing in the orchard.

Little Owl at Rectory Park.

 

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.