Monday 6th December 2010

Bradbourne House - PRIVATE SITE

It wasn't a good start to the weak - freezing fog, black ice and a puncture!  I managed to locate the Redpolls again near at the northern end of Oaken Wood, all I could pick out were Lessers and I think that's all there is in there.  They were feeding close to the track from Gallagher's Underpass but the fog was so dense they seemed little more than murky blobs on the end of branches. Five Bullfinches were seen, with three of them associating with the Redpolls, even joining the flock when they flew.  A pair of Jackdaws 'chak-kowed' near Kiln Barn Farm, a seemingly regular visitor to the patch now.

Three distant Pochard - the bird on the right sporting a 'blue' bill

At work I had a couple of reports of a Lapwing near the bypass road at the back of the main lab buildings and 3x Woodcock being flushed near Bradbourne House on Friday evening.  So at lunchtime off I set towards Bradbourne.  I passed through the apple orchard just west of the main lab buildings and it was alive with winter thrushes (Fieldfares and Redwings) as well as Starlings, a noticeable increase in numbers since Friday.  The windbreak Alders were still frozen and a small charm of Goldfinches fed voraciously on the catkins and on the fallen seed in the road.  They weren't as flighty as normal, obviously getting desperate for food.

Spot the Gadwall - a master of disguise, it's plumage identical in colour to dank, browny-grey, winter lake water!

Walking towards Park Farm, I picked out 12x Skylarks, 40+ Linnets and 7x Pheasant in the weedy patch near the white gate but no Woodcock today.  A mist hung over Bradbourne Lake and all the usual suspects were in attendance (Coot, Moorhen, Canada Geese, Grey lag Geese, Black-headed Gull, Little Grebe, Mallard) but were joined by 3x Pochard and 4x Gadwall - rare ducks for this lake.  I tried my best to get some pictures through the fog but they were all pretty disappointing!  I noticed one of the Pochards had what appeared to have a blue tag on it's bill, but I could make out the marks/lettering on it.  A quick search on the internet revealed a thread on BirdForum which suggests its a system used on the Continent...I'll have to investigate further.  

4x Lapwing were feeding under the Holm Oaks near the Hatton Fruit Garden, another sign of the desperation.  However the best bird was to be found last, a Woodcock, sitting out the sub-zero temperatures in the steam outlet.  To think it had taken me 12 years to get this bird on the patch list but managed three sightings in as many days...and what a fantastic view!

Another case of spot the bird. 

Saturday 27th November 2010

A hard frost this morning with freezing fog saw me heading off to the northern perimeter of Oaken Wood to try and get a better look at the Redpolls I'd seen yesterday.  21x Jackdaws and 15x Rooks sat out on the gallop pasture near Kiln Barn Farm with some of both species sitting in the trees that form part of tetrad TQ75C - two new species for the winter list.  The Redpoll flock were in the same spot as yesterday but equally as difficult to watch as they constantly flitted through the top of the silver birch trees.  They were joined by a pair of Bullfinches and some Goldfinches and Chaffinches.   All the individual Redpolls I could pick out seemed to be Lesser, although the individual show below kept me guessing (bird on the left)...it was one of 3 birds that kept separate from the remainder of the flock even when they took flight.  There were areas that looked buffish, probably too much for Common, not a classic 'bleached wash' about it although the supercillium and cheek looked whiter than the adjacent birds...it seems to get harder each winter...stringing a Lesser into a Common!

Compare the bird on the right (Lesser) to the bird shown on the left in the four proceeding photos; more buffs tones around the cheek/head and less 'clean' underparts and flanks.  Another  'Lesser' is shown in the photo below.

I took in the orchards at East Malling Research and as expected saw vast numbers of Fieldfares with a few Redwings and Chaffinches feeding on the fallen apples.  The best orchard at the moment for watching these birds is the one just to the west of the main lab buildings where the approach road bends around the back of the buildings.  This can be approached from East Malling village by following the footpath through the church, past the genebank (where the Waxwings were seen last year, but which is currently disturbed by new road construction and grubbing) and on towards the main lab buildings approx 0.5 miles away.  The orchard can be viewed from the footpath where the windbreak ceases (just beyond the signposted 'Pear concept orchard').  Please remain on the footpath as the orchards themselves are private property.

Late this afternoon I heard that a 'few' Waxwings had been seen in nearby West Farleigh - I hope they hop the river and come my way!

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. 

Monday 22nd March

Lots of skywatching today - hoping for that first hirundine to zip by.

A sunny, but brisk day, and with expectations high of a migrant.  I wasn't to be disappointed, a Chiffchaff- the first of my year, on the eastern edge of Oaken Wood and trying to claim territory over every available branch.  The Little Owl peered over the parapeet at Kiln Barn Farm again.  I took a slight detour, taking the footpath from Kiln barn Road across to paris Farm, East Malling, scanning all the fences and posts around the extensive paddocks hoping for a Wheatear.  Everything about it smacked Wheatear but I didn't have any luck - getting impatient like my friend Warren!

Chiffchaff (in the shade...or is it the middle of the night?!)

Back out at lunchtime and checking the same area as this morning in case I'd missed anything, but again no luck.  However in the field to the SW of Kiln Barn Farm I was pleased to see the full collection of corvids; 100+ Crows, 5 Rooks, 8 Jackdaws, 2 Magpies and a Jay. 

A couple of Rooks, such a rare sight on patch that I took the pic in soft focus, brought a tear to my eye!

Three Mistle Thrushes took flight and I managed 20+ Fieldfare and a Redwing.  The Jackdaws and Rooks are real rarities at this end of my patch - almost as good as getting a Wheatear!  Maybe tomorrow?!  Maybe the photos will be better as well.

Woody (also staring towards the skies for hirundines) and Fieldy (should be thinking about going East rather than West)

Monday 8th March

Two Jackdaws over the potting shed on the East Malling Research site (scarce here) was a good omen of things to come.  I got out at lunchtime and off to the field that I'd seen the tractor and plough heading for first thing this morning.  I was rewarded with a massive flock of gulls, 150+ restlessly lifting and dropping along the furrows - predominantly Black-headed Gulls, with a few Common Gull scattered in for good measure.  I frantically searched for a Med, but just could keep up with them.  Glancing north I saw a white mass on the sports ground - more gulls.  I made my way, across the plots, to the sports ground, disturbing a large number of Redwings that were picking through the windbreak clippings.  Both flocks of gulls suddenly lifted before I'd got to the Sports Field and circuled en masse (and like something from a Hitchcock film) and drifted high and west, I heard a Med call, but they were now flying off towards West Malling. 

Med Gull on patch....with my trademark twig in the foreground

Well my luck was in, and they turned and slowly drifted back and down onto the lake - and there, amongst the masses, and in all their glory, were two summer-plummaged Mediterranean Gulls - lovely.  I managed some better shots than on Friday, although they didn't tolerate me getting too close.  Then without warning they were off again - off west - I wouldn't be suprised if they dropped down on Clare Park Lake or even Manor Park, West Malling.

Most of the East Malling site is PRIVATE LAND, although the gull flock on the ploughed field can be viewed from the public footpath that runs from East Malling Church to Ditton Church.   

For comparison to Black-headed Gull (Med Gull on the left, BH Gull just moulting into sum plum on right)

Thursday 15th October

3x Jackdaws over Kiln Barn Farm, Ditton this morning - not the commonest of birds on this patch. Jays are guaranteed everyday at the moment as they dementedly collect acorns, and Woodpeckers are more evident than at anytime of the year. The Green Woodpeckers spending all day picking and probing away at the short turf in the paddocks just of Kiln Barn Road and Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming more incessantly in Oaken Wood, Barming. No sign of Black Redstart today.