Monday 9th February

Rain, rain, rain. The weather should have been perfect for ducks, but all the 'interesting' ones that that sat out the harsh weather on Bradbourne Lake, East Malling had gone, leaving just the resident Coots and Moorhens, a couple of Little Grebes and the Barnacle Goose, it's slight frame easily lost amongst the larger Canada Geese . Having checked the churchyard orchard and seen just 3x Fieldfares, 2x Chaffinches and a Blackbird (what a difference a week makes!) I wasn't expecting to see the Waxwings. However, sitting up the highest point of one of the oaks south of Garner Drive, East Malling I was pleased to see a couple of Waxwings hunched up against the rain. Terrible photo I know, but pretty much represents the day. A Goldcrest flitted around furtively in one of the nearby conifers and a Jay caught my eye as it looped down to the base of one of the oaks.I waited a while to see if the Waxwings wouldn't come down to feed, but no, they weren't going anywhere in this weather. Three Lapwings shuffled around Rookery Field (muddy field to the west of the East Malling-Ditton public footpath) as I made my way back to the lab.

A report of Woodcock in East Malling was received over the weekend, the second in as many months, this time in an the area around The Malling School.

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.