A quick look at the lake at 06.10 this morning produced two pairs of Teal and a Mandarin drake.
Popped in on my way home and saw a Grey Wagtail and had a flyover Snipe.
At 18.50 a phone call from Andy,fishing down at the lake, had me jumping in the car to get my first Swallow(86) of the year.

Sunday 7th April

At last the sun has decided to shine and to brighten up my morning I found my first singing Blackcap(84) of the spring. There were also three singing Chiffchaffs on the patch this morning.Happy days!
The winter thrush numbers had dropped as I found only 12 Fieldfares and 22 Redwings in the paddock at Shirrenden.
There weren't many gulls today but I did find 2 Med Gulls going over with some Black-headeds. This spring has easily been the best for Med Gulls on my patch.
The only raptors I saw today were Buzzard and Kestrel even though it looked very promising.
From the back garden I later saw 2 more Buzzards drifting over east.
In the afternoon I went for a walk with Phyl (my wife) and soon found another Buzzard.In Furnace lane we watched a Chiffchaff as it alternated between singing and grabbing insects.
On the way back up the lane we had a surprise when a Cuckoo(85) called a couple of times but annoyingly we couldn't find it and it didn't call again.
On the animal front, there was a common lizard on the bank in Furnace Lane and earlier I startled a pair of Roe Deer which were in a ditch on Swigs Hole farm.

April 1st 2013

April started as March had left off with a cold North easterly which started as a light breeze, when I left the house, but slowly picked up as I continued. I was soon counting my lucky stars when, at 07.55 I had a Marsh Harrier(83) going north. Brilliant !! and only the second patch record.
Apart from this, for the most part, the same species as yesterday were seen, although I did add Common Gull and Treecreeper.
In the afternoon I popped out to the patch and added Peregrine and  Lapwing.

31/03/13

I walked the patch for 3 hours on Sunday morning as it was the last day of the month.
With the cold wind I wasn't expecting too much in the way of spring migrants and to be honest there weren't many about.
Plenty of gulls were going through and I saw five species, Great Black-backed, Herring, Black-headed,  Mediterranean and Lesser Black-backed all passed overhead.
The Grey Wagtail was once again on the stream below the waterfall and from the dam end 3 Mandarins could be seen further down the lake.
A walk down the west bank to the far end produced Kingfisher, Canada and Greylag Goose and the usual 2 pairs of Great crested Grebes. At the bottom end of the lake a Reed Bunting was singing and a Water Rail called from the reed bed.
Woodpeckers were drumming in the woods and I added both Green and Great spotted to the tally. It was nice to see a male Goldcrest singing and on the edge of the reeds there were 2 Chiffchaffs(the only summer migrants seen during the visit).
A lone Siskin called as it flew over and a Cormorant circled the lake before drifting off.
There was a flock of 30 Redwings in Shirrenden and as I was about to leave a Lesser spotted Woodpecker drummed then called from the alder wood.
In all 53 species were seen during the walk, most of which I expect to see during the winter months

Dropped in to Furnace Pond on the way home from work and at last had a Chiffchaff(82) which was making it's way through the reeds at the dam end as this was out of the breeze and in the sunshine.
This is easily the latest date for Chiffchaff on my patch as the usual date is around the 17th March.
I had a quick walk adding Fieldfare, Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail which came off the little stream opposite the pumping station.

Sunday 24th March

I left the house with snow falling.
The field in Kirkins held Fieldfare, Redwing, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Yellowhammer and on the little spring at the bottom of the field there was a pair of Grey Wagtails.
On Furnace pond there were the usual Great-crested Grebes, lone Coot and Moorhens.
These were joined by a Tufted drake a Kingfisher and a Mandarin drake.
There were a few gulls moving and I soon added Black-headed, Lesser Black-backed,Herring and best of all two Med Gulls, all going N/East.
In the alder wood I found Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker as well as Siskin and Goldfinch. There was a loose mixed flock which contained Blue, Great, Long-tailed and Coal tit and Treecreeper.
Back out on the Shirrenden side I found Stock Dove and Pheasant. A look across the lake produced a pair of Buzzards circling over the wood. As I was leaving a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker called from behind the boathouse.
In total 38 species were seen, not a bad total and one which still didn't contain any spring migrants.
When will this horrible cold weather end?

Last couple of weeks (Best Bits)

In the last couple of weeks haven't had much chance to do the patch justice but on Saturday 9th I added Gadwall(78) to the year list when two drakes were seen from the dam end on my way to work.
On the Sunday I did manage a walk in the morning and found 5 Tufted Ducks on the lake as well as 2 Coots, 5 Great-crested Grebes and a kingfisher. A total of 12 Canada Geese went over followed closely by a pair of Greylag Geese(79).
Monday 11th produced 3 Goosander on my way home from work which included 2 drakes.
On Wednesday 13th there were 3 Teal and 2 drake Mandarins when I looked in on my way home from work.
Despite the appalling weather yesterday, I left the house at 06.45 determined to get a decent walk in. As I entered the bean stubble field on Kirkins Farm it was evident that a lot of Fieldfare were on the ground. So not wishing to disturbed them I skirted around the edge of the field  and out into Furnace Lane then re-entered the field at the bottom.
As I did so a small flock of Meadow Pipits got up and drifted further into the field and with them I noticed a slightly larger bird which on closer inspection was a lark.I was pretty certain what I had seen was a Woodlark but wanted to make sure so tracked them into the field and eventually re-found them. They weren't easy to get nearer to, but with a little stealth I found the Woodlark(80) feeding with them. Absolutely Fantastic!!!a new species for my patch list.
This morning when I entered the field it was totally devoid of birds but at the lake I found good numbers of thrushes around the orchard. The water held the usual suspects bur a walk around the ditches to the north of the lake produced a Snipe(81).a drake Mandarin flew over and as I got to the southern end I spooked 3 Grey Wagtails from the little stream and a Water Rail squealed from the reed bed nearby.
So although my watching has been fairly limited it has been quite productive.