Thursday 27th January 2011

Just 10 minutes outside today so at the risk of same old, same old I visited the corner orchard on the Research Station, East Malling to see if the Bramblings were still showing.  The orchard had been pruned and mown and surrounding windbreaks flayed yesterday so I wasn't sure they'd still be around.  The orchard was surprisingly alive, perhaps a combination of the brisk north-east chill and the disturbance exposing new food sources.  

I was pleased to immediately pick out 3x Bramblings sitting out in a Cherry tree.  Despite the change in wind direction the gloom of the last week persisted and I didn't reckon on getting any decent photos, especially as the birds were fairly distant.  However the birds seemed quite content and I managed to creep a bit closer to get probably the best photo I've got of a Brambling...shame the sun couldn't have come out!  The birds knew I was there but didn't fly, although looking back at my snaps one bird was giving me the evils (not dissimilar to the stare a Hawfinch gave me in my garden in 2008)!

Check out those eyes!

Friday 21st January 2011

No lunch break today so I had a quick 10 minutes before work to check the seeded track (becoming a bit of an obsession of mine!).  3x Brambling made a brief appearance, and I managed a few shots in the dank drizzle.  It snowed an hour later, but then developed into a beautiful, bright sunny day, but  I was stuck indoors...grrrr.

Wednesday 12th January 2011

A quick scan of the corner orchard at East Malling Research on my way into work turned up 5x Brambling, mostly washing and drinking from the puddles on the dirt track, but a couple flew up to the trees giving a brief opportunity to get a snap...again in abysmal light conditions.

Just before lunch I saw Eddie scanning the orchards, he'd had no luck with Waxwings but hopefully he managed a Brambling.  As much as I've loved scanning that corner orchard the last few days I felt I needed a change of scenery and so hitched a lift to Bradbourne Lake at lunchtime.  Nothing out of the ordinary there but it made a refreshing change to see some of the regular birds without feeling any pressure to search for Waxwings.  The lake held all the usual suspects; 43x Canada Geese, 47 Coots, 7x Moorhen, 9x Mallard and 3x lingering Shoveler (1 drake, 2 ducks).  On land, a Grey Heron appeared irriated by my intrusion and took flight landing on the wall of the Hatton Fruit Garden, only to be irritated by a couple of Magpie.  A Green Woodpecker, 2x Jay, Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest, Pied Wagtail and 20+ Redwing, feeding on the lawn of the House all added some interest.

Saturday 8th January 2011

After watching Fieldfares, Redwings and Starlings fly about this morning over my house in Barming (including one of the Albino Starlings) I decided to pay a quick visit to work to see if the Waxwings were still about.  A forty minute search failed to turn any up (my first Waxwing free day in the last seven), although the church and corner orchards were initially very quiet.  I managed 5+ Brambling, including 2 in the large tree opposite the Conference Centre entrance.  Fingers crossed the Waxwings will be around tomorrow.

Sunday 12th December 2010

I woke to news of more Waxwing sightings in Maidstone, with one flock of 22 in nearby Allington.   I decided to check out those locations where I thought they might turn up nearby.  Maidstone Hospital car park, St Andrews Park, various roads in Allington, Ditton Court Quarry and finally East Malling Research (it had to be bad going to work on a weekend!).  Needless to say I didn't find any Waxwings.  Returning home I found out from a local blog follower that there had been 23 birds mid-morning in Barming!  There's a strong possibility they were the same flock seen in Allington earlier in the morning, but with so many birds about who knows?! The birds had only remained a short time before moving on, but thanks Donna for the info, a new record for the Barming Heath tetrad so very much appreciated.  If anyone in the locality does happen to see any others then please feel free to contact me by phone (07972899377) or by email (adam.whitehouse@emr.ac.uk) - I will treat all reports in confidence in case anyone's worried about being descended on by hordes of twitchers!

The trips to the other sites won't wasted - Ditton Court Quarry turned up a couple of Lesser Redpoll and the number of winter thrushes on the East Malling Research site had increased massively with literately hundreds (maybe thousands) of Fieldfare and Redwing, supplemented by a huge murmaration of Starlings an company of Chaffinches.  Amongst the Chaffinches was a single Brambling, the first on this site for winter.  I'm sure there were more out there, and probably a Waxwing or two, but I just couldn't keep track of everything - really quite a spectacle (the photos don't do it justice!).