Monday 7th January

Back at work today, but while lifting strawberry plants from the fields this morning I couldn't help but notice a small flock of gulls in an adjacent field. Spurred on by Simon's Med Gull in Mote Park I decided to check them out - Common Gull, 20 of them looking very upright and 'friendly-faced' just as the books describe. A sortie at lunchtime was quite productive as I located 2 Little Egrets on the Bradbourne steam, only the second time I've seen a pair on the research station site. The three Barnacle Geese were reloacted in the fields around Bradbourne House, amongst a large flock of Greylag and Canada Geese, after wandering over Wouldham way during the Christmas break. The only other thing of note was the the number of Starlings seems to have increased 10-fold over teh last 2 weeks and are visibly making the wires they sit on sag!