Sunday, 8 November 2009
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Thursday 5th November
Only 20 minutes or so to check out the orchards at on the research station, East Malling. I quickly located increased numbers of Fieldfares - 27 feeding in a Bramley windfalls, not the orchard I usually get them in at this time of the year, but they seem more desirable than the the dessert apples for some reason! They were joined by a large flock of Chaffinches, 50+ but no sign of nay Bramblings amongst them...yet! There were good numbers of Woodpigeons on the ground, but few in the air, looks like I'm missing the 'big migration'.
Labels:
Chaffinches,
Fieldfares
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Saturday 31st October
A brief jaunt out with my youngest this afternoon, visting the area around Hall Park Farm, Barming. I've not been along this footpath for a few months so was pleased to see Skylark, 7x Yellowhammer, 4x Meadow Pipits, melanistic Pheasant and best of all for me, a Common Buzzard picking over the carcass of a 'Sparrowhawked' feral pigeon. This is only my second record of Common Buzzard in Barming and most probably the same individual I saw about 6 weeks ago in nearby Teston. It was reassuring to see some farmland stalwarts, especially after reading about the continued decline in their numbers in the recently published 'State of birds of Britain, 2008'. The local farmer who usually leaves winter stubble has ploughed half his field bordering St Margaret's church, but has left a good area of set-aside. It's attracted 30+ Black-headed Gulls and a number of crows, but hopefully will continue to hold all the aforementioned species.
Labels:
Common Buzzard,
Meadow Pipit,
Skylarks,
Yellowhammer
Friday, 30 October 2009
Friday 30th October

Over Ditton Quarry again at lunchtime, all the usual suspects, including some elusive Bullfinches. A GS Woodpecker seemed to be very showy and vocal, not a regular species here for me. An added bonus was a Skylark over, often heard on the adjacent Research Station site but as not yet actually seen from the Quarry! Blackbirds were again very vocal. Fieldfares and Redwings continue to elude me - the research station should be a huge Fieldfare feeding station with the bounty of windfalls. Finally I managed to catch sight of 7x flighty Fieldfares as I checked the plots just before dusk, along with 4x Mistle Thrushes.
Labels:
Blackbird,
Bullfinch,
Fieldfares,
Mistle Thrush,
Skylarks
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Thursday 29th October

Labels:
House Sparrows,
Little Owl,
Pied Wagtail
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Wednesday 28th October
Today didn't quite live up to expectations weather or bird-wise. It remainded overcast but suprisingly mild for the end of October. A pair of Yellowhammers dipped into the hedgerow alongside Gallagher's Gallop as I cycled in. At lunchtime I did a tour of the resaerch station site in East Malling hoping to get some winter thrushes, but despite good numbers of them being reported elsewhere in the county today I turned up a blank. I moved onto Ditton Quarry, where a pair of Bullfinches were glimpsed, a Jay made it's prescence known with it prehistoric squawks. Blackbird numbers appeared to have increased with 9 individuals seen feeding in hawthorn, possibly continental birds? Lots of fungi have emerged over the last week - not sure I can put a name to them all, but I think this one's a Blackening Wax-cap (Hygrocybe nigrescens)?Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Tuesday 20th October
All the usual suspects at Ditton Quarry at lunchtime, plus a single Redwing skulking in some hawthorn and a fly-over Little Egret. A pellet was found along one of the tracks, broken up, grey colour and quite furry, but not much bone, presumably a Tawny Owl's (which would be new for the Quarry list, but possibly a Sparrowhawk's?
Labels:
Little Egret,
Pellet-Tawny Owl,
Redwing
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