Friday 10th December 2010

With a thaw setting in I decided to pay a long overdue visit to Ditton Court Quarry.  The quarry was dripping in berries, the SW corner have a real red hue to it.

The snow was stained with discarded berries, and they will make an excellent feast for any passing Waxwings (if the record number of birds, 170+,  ever leave B&Q in Folkestone). 

A few birds were eagerly pecking at this bumper crop; Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, a single Redwing and 5x Bullfinches.  I checked all the Alders and Silver Birches for a Siskin or Redpoll and was successful in locating 3x Lesser Redpolls feeding with 10+ Goldfinches in one Alder.  They were joined by a volery of Long-Tailed Tits and a single Goldcrest.  A smart male Kestrel made a couple of sorties across the snow-covered scrub area and was mobbed by a Jay of all things at one point.  As it made it's second low pass a Meadow Pipit flew up to the top of a nearby tree and continually called - my first for this site and totally unexpected location to find one!

Walking back through one of the orchards on the East Malling Research land I was surprised at how the Fieldfare numbers had increased in the last 24 hours - 100+ in this single orchard.  

They were joined by masses of Wood Pigeons and Starlings.

Tuesday 16th November 2010

Tetrad TR51I (Aylesford and British Legion Village)

A hard frost in Barming this morning, but I missed out on my usual ride into work as I had to drop my car off for repairs on the Quarrywood Estate, Aylesford.  I unloaded my bike from the car and rode the short distance along the footpaths from Aylesford to East Malling.  As soon as I left the industrial estate in Aylesford I heard, then saw, 3x Jackdaws on the newly ploughed opposite Calves Leys Cottage.  This was quickly followed by a Bullfinch that darted in front of me and ducked into the adjacent hedgerow.  This got me thinking whether either of these species had featured in the winter records form the BTO Atlas?  This is the final winter for Atlas work and Tim Hodge recently posted an excellent summary of the 'species richness' for each tetrad in Kent on the KOS website.  So when I got a break at work I quickly checked if either of these species were needed for TQ51I (Aylesford & British Legion Village)....and they were!  With this in mind I got back on my bike at lunchtime and went off patch, well 5 minutes east to see what I could find.  By the end of the hour I'd filled in six gaps; Stock Dove (x2), Grey Heron (x1 sitting in a stubble field), Pheasant, Little Grebe (2x on a small pool next to BHS!), Linnet and Skylark (37+ and 6 respectively in the same stubble field as the Heron).  Others seen but already on the list were Jay (x5), Goldcrest (x2), Woodpigeon (+160), Carrion Crow (+45), Common Gull (x3), Black-headed Gull (x23) and low numbers of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tit.  A very satisfying hour and a chance to discover some new places and habitats close-by.  I know I can probably add a few more species; LBB Gull has got to be a cert on the warehouse roofs, a small grove of Holm Oaks and Scots Pine should turn up a Coal Tit (possibly overwintering Chiffies or even a Firecrest?) and Yellowhammer or Meadow Pipit have got to be in or around the stubble field.  This nut platt was a nice find, though not sure what potential it has bird wise?

To top it all off, a work colleague told me he had a Woodcock feeding on the grassy area adjacent the research car park at 18:30 last night as he left work - he described it perfectly-and one I still need for then patch!

Finally, with the sun shining I wasn't too surprised to see a butterfly flitting around outside the office window - a Red Admiral that had tucked itself somewhere warm to avoid last night's heavy frost. 

Sunday 31st October

I've been paying special attention to Starling flocks of late, partly as a result of scanning for Rose-coloured individuals (well sandy-coloured individuals) on my recent holiday to Cornwall, but also because they might materialise into Waxwings, especially after this weeks countrywide influx.  So a quick sortie out from Barming to East Farleigh Bridge and back had me scanning and checking every Starlings.  To be honest there wasn't all that about to check out - no winter thrushes in the South Street orchards and only a few Goldcrests calling from the Court Lodge Yews (South Street) and Rectory Lane Holm Oaks. However my diligence eventually paid off, not in the form of a Rosie or even a Waxwing but with three leucistic (albino) starlings.  Albinism in birds is a rare occurrence, wikipedia citing the probability at 1 in 1800, but I had three albinos sitting on the wires above the orchard just east of Farleigh Lane/Rectory Lane junction amongst a flock of just 38 normal birds - what's the chances of that!  Perhaps I ought to start doing the lottery again ;-)  I managed a few poor shots (compact held against the eyepiece of my 8x 42 bins) but I think it shows what needs to be shown!

The trouble is with the breeding statistics you can never be 100%  certain what the resultant progeny will turn out like - check out my second offspring below:

Tuesday 2nd March

A walk in the sunshine up the watercress beds in East Malling.  A couple of Goldcrests worked their way through the Larch trees in the deserted orchard, and then the best sighting of the day, a couple of Peacock butterflies basking and flying (pic to follow) in the sunshine at the spring head near Well Street - my first for the year.

Monday 22nd February

Round Bradbourne Lake, East Malling (Private site) again at lunchtime - in the pouring rain!  I was searching out the Green Sandpiper that had been reported again yesterday afternoon, but no luck today.  A Little Egret took off from the western edge of the lake as I walked across the cricket field, and a Grey Heron stood statesque on the opposite bank.  A couple of inquisitive Goldcrests checked me out, but didn't linger long enough to be photographed.  A small flock of Redwings 'seeped' in a nearby Holly tree.  Fieldfares are still in evidence on the research station site but feeding almost exclusively on the rain-sodden fields now. 

Sunday 7th February

A quick jaunt down the River Medway first thing with the kids, we managed to flush 3x Snipe on a marshy area just west of Barming Bridge this morning, and the noted the remnants of a Blackbird and a coughed up pellet (Sparrowhawk?) nearby.

Later I escaped to do the late visit for BTO Atlas Tetrad TQ65R. I started in the hamlet of Pizien Well, just west of Wateringbury. A few of the gardens were well-stocked with feeders and was continually visited by Long-tailed Tits, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Goldcrest and a Coal Tit, but no sign of the Marsh Tit or Blackcap I'd seen on the earlier visit. The owner of the garden saw me scanning his bird table and came out and asked if I wanted to sit on the bench in his garden to watch the birds....how many places do you get residents making an offer like that! He then produced an impressive list of all the wildlife he'd had in the garden over the last 20 years. The list included Tree Sparrow, Hawfinch and most surprisingly Hoopoe that he told me had landed briefly on the lawn of the adjacent garden a few years back! I wasn't to be so lucky today, and as I left the hamlet the weather deteriorated - I tramped through the derelict orchards which were deserted, not a single Fieldfare or Redwing, amazing has I'd seen 200+ a couple of days ago near East Malling.

Up Park Road, skirting round the grounds of Mereworth Castle and towards the Triumphal Arch (contour 108), I was lucky to get a covey of Bullfinches (7 in total) and a single Redwing. No sign of the Common Buzzards I'd expect on this patch and only another single Goldcrest by the old East Peckham church. Things weren't looking too good, I seemed to be well down on the species count of 34 I managed on the earlier visit. However things were to take a turn for the better. I nonchalantly scanned a small pool that is cut in half by the southern axis of the tetrad where I added Mallard and Moorhen to the list, but was amazed to see a drake Mandarin Duck sail past - then another, and another and then a squabbling group of another four - eventually I saw 9x drakes and a single hen - what a result! I ended up with 30 species, but some shocking omissions such including Magpie!

I finished off the afternoon by driving home via Teston Country Park to scanning the area check for a Barn Owl that had been reported just west of the bridge. I saw the smart new owl box and roost pole but no sign of the bird itself. Something to check for again.

Saturday 5th December

Only 10 minutes to check out the churchyard, St Margaret's, Barming mid-morning. A Kestrel hung in the air alongside the pylons by the A26. Only 3x Redwings feeding in the yews, along with a couple of hard chacking Blackbirds. A repetitive 'si-si-si' alerted be to an excitable volery of Long-tailed Tits. The lead bird flitted out of a yew and down into a heavily-scented Virburnum next to me. A cascade of small birds followed, including the remainder of Long-tailed Tit gang, a Blue Tit and Goldcrest. It really was quite an exotic mix of colours; vivid pink of the Viburnum flowers, set off against the subtle blues and yellows of the Blue Tit, blush pink of the Long-tailed Tits, the mossy green hue and contrasting yellow crown stripe of the Goldcrest. The party quickly worked through the twigs and branches of the shrub and moved on, with the exception of the Goldcrest which, although restless throughout (as they always are), lingered to check every bud and apex. Enticed by 'pishing' it moved onto the outer branches and for a moment looked at me with that 'amazed' look that the peppercorn eye of a Goldcrest gives you! By far away the best, and closest views, of a Goldcrest I've ever had.

The need for replacment bulbs for my Christmas lights (predictable event if there ever was one!) saw me visting the Quarrywood Industrial estate in Aylesford. I noticed a fenced off area alongside BHS, and peering through the fence saw a deep pool, run off from the industrial estate I expect. A pair of Little Grebe drifted around the perimter and a fox slouched nearby, oblivious to shopping frenzy that was taking place only yards away. Perusing the lighting section of BHS store (in desperation I might add), I had the delight of adding Mike Easterbrook (Kent county recorder - butterflies) to the day list....shame Wolves were winning!

Wednesday 7th October

With the Bald Birder off on his world travels (http://baldbirder.blogspot.com/) I thought I'd better check out Bradbourne House/Lake on the East Malling estate. Previous texts have alerted me to Pied Flycatcher, Waxwing, Whooper Swan and Med Gull, it was time to find something of my own! A few Goldcrests flitted around the yews (but no Yellow-browed Warblers or Firecrests that seem to be invading east Kent!), 6x Mistle Thrushes chacked from one of the lakeside reminding me that the first Fieldfares are not far off. The lake was full of Coots, Moorhens and Black-headed Gulls but nothing out of the ordinary. I wonder if the Bald Birder had been with me what he would have pulled out the bag!