With the change in the weather there seemed to be fewer birds around the patch on Saturday. The sun shone for a change and down at the lake a lot of the ice had at last melted.
On the water there was a single Great crested Grebe and  dozen Mallard. Twenty six Siskin were feeding in the alders with three Lesser Redpolls.
In the ditch running down the orchard there were three Linnet(70) feeding amongst the weeds. A pair of Sparrow hawks were circling over the orchard, which held forty Fieldfares and a kestrel was sitting on a post in the new orchard.
In the s/west corner a Water Rail called but remained unseen.
There were a few gulls going over with five species being seen(Common, Black-headed, Herring , Lesser black-backed and a single Great black-backed).
One of the Little Owl pair was sunning itself on the edge of the conifer plantation in Shirrenden. As I left the lake nine Mandarins(71) flew in and disappeared into the alder wood.
It was good to see that the local Kingfisher had made it through the cold snap.
I had a quick look on the lake on my way home from work this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to find a smart drake Teal(72) in the south west corner.