Wednesday 13th February

I had no choice but to walk in today and after the bright mornings of the last few days I was disappointed to see the thick fog and contended myself that sightings would be just as poor. North Street, Barming was monoloplised by Collared Doves. A large privet hedge on the corner of North Pole Road held a noisy, and very large colony (43) of House Sparrows. I wonder how much the lose of much front garden privet hedging in the last 20 years has contributed to the decline of this species? The fog was extremley thick at the top of Gallagher's Gallop but unexpectedly made seeing a number of birds a lot easier. Numerous Robins (11) declared their territory as did a Yellowhammer, both standing out fantastically against the foggy backdrop. However the highlight of the day was a flock of Lesser Redpoll feeding on weed seedheads and occasionally flitting into an open hedgerow right next to where I stood. This is the first I have had in Kent this winter and the first on this particular patch.

I returned at lunchtime to check out the Redpolls. Three were still present, one was more elusive, looked slightly larger and paler mantle...a Mealy? Didn't get a good enough view and not confident enough to make a positive ID...I'll check again tomorrow.