Thursday 5 February 2009

Thursday 5th February

Out at lunchtime with Mike Easterbrook looking for Waxwings, but despite visiting all the usual haunts we didn't manage to find any. The churchyard had farm workers in all morning, thinning the apples, which may have kept them away. The earlier rain had dissolved most of the snow and there was a noticeable decline in the numbers of winter thrushes feeding around the base of the trees. The only birds of note in the churchyard orchard were a single Brambling, Green Woodpecker and Goldcrest.

Checking a few other locations potential Waxwing sites in the village yielded nothing, so we returned to work via Bradbourne House which still had a picturesque covering of snow. The Barnacle Goose was feeding on the lawn with the gaggle of Canada Geese. The Tawny Owl slept soundly in it's usual tree and a raft of new ducks were discovered on the lake; 2x Gadwall (drakes), 5x Tufted Duck (3 drakes) and a female Pochard - the latter two being new site ticks for me. A couple of Little Grebe drifted around the fringes and a Grey Heron perched high in one of the surronding willows. Just as we entered the car park near the main labs a couple of Lapwings rowed past heading east.

5 comments:

Warren Baker said...

Hi Adam,
Nice Brambling pic from yesterday.

I'm going to tesco's to buy a big bag of apples, then i'm gonna stick them up in my garden elder tree, and wait for the hoards of waxwings to descend!

PS. What type of apple do you reccomend!

Adam said...

East Malling ones! Don's Waxwings were feeding on Braeburns, bit upperclass in Boughton!

Ad

Greenie said...

Adam ,
Funny how it goes .
Had the weather been better , rain then fog and drizzle here , I was going to try for the Waxwings again - with the camera .
Weather saved me the fuel .

Greenie said...

Adam ,
Thanks very much for the offer .
Can I assume 'whitehosue' should read 'whitehouse' , or was it a Freudian slip to keep me off your patch ?

Simon said...

Some brilliant photos of late Adam!