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!).

Tuesday 12th October 2010

After yesterday's excitement today was always going to be a bit quiet.  I walked across to Ditton Court Quarry at lunchtime and was pleased to see my first Redwings of the autumn, two initially that became eight - they keep themselves tucked away at this time of the year, but give it a couple of months and the orchard floor will be full of them!  A new Quarry tick in the form of two flyover Jackdaws was an added bonus, and a long time coming.  A GS Woodpecker and mixed flock of Blue and Long-tailed Tits added interest, as did increased number of Chaffinches, but no 'white-rumps' amongst them. A fresh crop of Field Blewit (?) mushrooms had emerged - fantastic coloured gills.

On the way home another fantastic sunset - it's been a good week for them. On the final leg down South Street, Barming there was a tight swarm of 20+ House Martins working their way south.

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)

Tuesday 9th February

A session in The Bull, Barming with the newly returned Bald Birder (http://baldbirder.blogspot.com/) and JC (not Jesus Christ as has been suggested!) left me with a sore head - it was their reminiscences of twitching past and antipodean adventures, not the beer that left my head spinning! So I set out into the crisp air and biting winds at lunchtime to try and clear my head of Fairy Prions, Pied Shags, the '66 Brown Thrasher and the revelation that one of the pair suffers from the same medical condition that afflicted Hitler (or did I dream that?).

View from the back gate (note winter thrushes on the football pitch and feral pigeons over oast cowels in the distance)

There were 50+ Fieldfare hopping around the orchard alongside the Kiln Barn Road entrance to the research station. A male Green Woodpecker poked at the ground, occasionally casting a steely stare at me with it's light blue eyes (never noticed they were that colour before, or is it just a trick of the light?).

I had intended to visit Ditton Quarry, confident the Redpolls would be on show in this cold weather, but I got a phone call from my wife asking to be picked up from work. Dropping her back home to Barming I noticed a large flock of winter thrushes drop down onto the playing fields at the back of my house. Peering over the gate I saw a carpet of birds covering the length and breadth of the football pitch. My estimate was 150+ Fieldfare, 60+ Redwing, but always difficult to count as they leapfrog each other (as Warren of Pittswood has commented before).

I've added some more posts today from last week - see below.

Sunday 31st January

A lovely crisp, frosty morning. I went for an early morning run from Barming Bridge to Teston and back. Only a couple of Canada Geese on the way out, but I managed to flush a Common Sandpiper from one of the streams by the railway line on the way back. I've seen this species on the river edge but never on one of the streams.

After lunch I took the lads out for a walk - we decided to explore the footpath to Upper Fant, Maidstone. The orchards in East Barming were pretty much devoide of winter Thrushes, but when we eventually reached Fant I realised why! At Fant Farm, just off Upper Fant Road a large orchard still held some fruit below their boughs - the place was alive with Redwings and Fieldfares. I estimate there must have been +1000 Fieldfares, with perhaps +300 Redwings. Walking back along Rectory Lane we stumbled upon a dead Common Shrew which wasn't there when we had passed earlier. It was a tiny little thing, immaculate, and the kids were fascinated. As we looked it over a lady walked by and we started to chat. It turned out that Linda, who lives in Barming, was a reader of my blog (so someone does!) - my youngest started to have a crying fit so we did talk as long as I would have liked to, but Linda nice to have met you and keep leaving those comments, promise I'll read them! Linda drop my an email at adam.whitehouse@emr.ac.uk if you get a chance, interested to know more about the finches you were talking about!

Monday 18th January

Quick sortie for Woodcock in Barming Woods at lunchtime. Only enough time to check out northern perimeter, but all very quiet in misty conditions. Three GS Woodpeckers drummed out their territories, all very close and at one point I had two birds in view at the same time. I n fact it was so quiet I could hear the birds' wingbeats as they flitted from tree to tree. On the paddock near Kilon Barn Farm over 200 Fieldfares were hopping around, interspersed with a few Redwings. A Pied Wagtail and Meadow Pipit picked around the perimeter of a muddy patch on the adjacent field.

Wednesday 13th January

The Fieldfare feeding frenzy continued on the Research Station site. Numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings have built up to huge numbers, I counted 50+ Fieldfares in a single, short orchard row, times this by the numer of rows, 15 and you have 750+ birds, and that's just from one small orchard. There must be between 2,500-5,000+ birds on site at the moment. Note all the apples on the trees that appeared in earlier photos (http://dittoneastmallingbarming.blogspot.com/2009/12/monday-21st-september.html) have now been eaten as there's so many birds around. Snow on snow again this morning. A small flock of Redpolls (7+) were still gracing the Silver Birch in South Street, Barming, feeding in the lower branches so affording good views. Quite a pleasure to meet these each day on the way to work. The roads were pretty atrocious, and after helping to push three cars up the hill I finally reached Heath Road where the sign seemed to sum it up! I took the track off North Street towards the research station and was suprised to see no other human footprints in the snow, although I quickly picked up the track of a fox that had lazily walked and sniffed along the path in the night. Rabbit footprints criss-crossed the track as wellas numerous birdtracks, including those of Blackbirds, Pheasants and Pigeons had been searching out morsels to eat. A female Kestrel sat out in an Oak surveying the snowy scene, a Green Woodpecker flew from the ground and a Grey Heron flapped high overhead. Twelve Blackbirds were seen on this short patch of bridleway and a Bullfinch called, unseen from the hedgerow.


Later, after attempting to count the winter thrushes in the orchard I took in the flock of 200+ Greylag Geese feeding in a cereal stubble field. A Greenfinch caught my eye, it appeared to have a very orange breast unlike the others in the flock - quite striking.

Monday 11th January

Winter Thrushes on the cane supports of the concept Pear Orchard

(bit washed out, but click to enlarge)

Back at work, masses of Fieldfares and Redwings at usual and another feeding frenzy brought on by the snow - it really is something to behold, the noise of hundreds of Fieldfares and redwings squabbling over fallen fruit is quite something. The ratio of Redwings to Fieldfare seemed to have changed with more Fieldfares than of late. Opposite the Great East Hostel I was pleased to see a small parcel (13) of Linnets with 5+ Skylarks pecking amongst the same herbs. In the orchard alongside I was suprised to see a gaggle of 90+ Greylag Geese, picking over the apples that the winter thrushes had been feeding on last week (see Monday 4th January blog). The Genebank (orchard at back of East Malling Church) held good numbers of Blackbirds, and the orchard nearest the main Laboratory building held a few Song Thrushes, Chaffinches and Green Woodpecker amongst the assembled flocks and crowds of Fieldfare and Redwing. A male Kestel was also about.

Sunday 3rd January

Looking after the kids again so a stay at home day. A pair of Coal Tits visited the garden feeders, I'll have to get a box up for them soon and keep my fingers crossed. Quite a common bird to other bloggers but I just can't get enough of this sprightly little gems. The olive-grey mantles and wash of orange on the flanks really stood out out in the sunlight. The snow soon arrived, and I took the kids out snowballing in the nearby orchards. Masses of Fieldfares and Redwings as usual and a couple of Cormorants over, battling against the snow. I also finally got a chnace to check out the Redpolls in the Silver Birch tree at the top of South Street, Barming. Before Christmas I'd found a 'Mealy' after looking up into the tree to see where the drift of seeds was eminating from. With scope in hand I set up and spent a good hour observing the flock of Redpolls taking care not to point the scope towards the windows of the neighbouring houses! There were 12 individuals, separating in 2 distinct groups of 4 and 8 birds

.

Spot the Redpolls (Lessers) - I've become adept to spotting them from the car as I drive past now!

The birds all appeared to be Lesser with the exception of 2 birds in the smaller group which seemed to show some characteristics of Common; paler overall appearance, distinct white wing bar with no buff colouration, pale cheeks, white eye stripe, pale rump and distict white tramlines on mantle, lack of buff colouration on flanks. However they didn't appear much larger or bulkier than than their companions and didn't have the frosted appearance of the birds I'd seen in Ditton Quarry in early 2009. I give up, real hard one to call! I'll keep an eye on them to see if they wear through to 'frosted' plummage. Some poor shots below:

Friday 1st January

All attention was on the garden again (in Barming) - my wife was working and the kids wanted to stay around home today so I found myself staring out the window (hoping for Hawfinch). We'd made some fat balls yesterday and I was interested to see what would be th first to feed on them. A Coal Tit! This is a bit of a garden Mega for me, I managed a poor record shot of this very smart and unexpected bird as it moved onto the seed feeders - a good start for 2010. I'll be looking out for it tomorrow and hopefully get some better pics. Later we visted the orchards, masses of Redwings (300+) and Fieldfares, and a quick scan of the South Street Silver Birch showed up 6+ Redpoll, all looked like Lesser to me.

Monday 21st December

Looking towards the derelict Ditton Laboratory building on Kiln Barn Road from the public footpath.

The snow lingered, and was refreshed by a light powdering overnight. I still couldn't get my car off the drive so missed out on the Research Station Solstice run. An eccentric tradition relived each June and December by some mebers of the Research - the rules: one circuit of Bradbourne Lake as the sun rises on the solstice......but only one item of clothing allowed....trainers count as one item! Its pushed some people's imagination to the limit, it's certainly effective in waking you up before work! I could set up a 'separate' blog with photos of this event if there's enough interest.

I walked into East Malling from Barming, in places the snow covering was completely unblemished. Checking the Silver Birch at the top of South Street at I counted 8x Redpolls in two groups (6, 2). The group of six flew down into one of the gardens on the east side of the street, but looking into the rising sun, and conscious that I was pointing my bins towards bedroom windows (!) I had to presume they were Lessers. Five Bullfinches were seen along Gallagher's Gallop (just north of the Water Tower off North Street), along with a couple of Jays. The Silver Birch wood at the bottom of the hill looked quite startingly, almost like a black-and-white photo. A pair of GS Woodpeckers jumped around a tree on the corner of Kiln Barn Road/Winterfields (very appropraitely named today).The cloud started to break as I reached the research station site revealing briefly the adonis blue sky.

Winter thrushes on trees, canes and on the wing (click to enlarge). Snow on North Downs beyond.

The orchards near Kiln Barn Road that have been full of Fieldfare were deserted, the fallen apples totally covered in snow. I knew where the birds would be, in the orchards that hadn't been picked; the genebank at the back of the church in East Malling (where the Waxwings were seen) and the orchard viewable from the public footpath just west of the main laboratory complex. I ventured out at lunchtime to check out my theory and was amazed at the shear number of winter thrushes that were in the process of what could be called a feeding frenzy.

Redwings which have been relatively scarce on site up until now outnumbered the Fieldfares by about 2 to 1. Lots of Blackbirds and Chaffinches picked around on the ground, while the Fieldfares and Redwings stabbed away at the apples left on the trees and Starlings, Woodpigeons, a couple of Green Woodpeckers and a lone Song Thrush joined in. A Sparrowhawk swept threw and was suprisingly unsuccessful despite the density of the flocks. The genebank was the same, although there seemed to be a greater proportion of Fieldfare here. It was hard to keep track, let alone count the birds. I scanned through as much as possible to see if I could locate a Brambling or even a Waxwing (for Greenie!), if there were any in this swarm then I didn't pick them out. An amazing sight, all viewable from the east-west public footpath on the Research Station, but probably will only last while the snow does.


A special train was passing through East Malling this evening - Tornado, the newly rebuilt steam locomotive on it's first run down this line. My lad's madder on trains than I am on birds, and as it was the shortest day I wasn't confident we'd get a very good view as it sped through East Malling, so we caught up with it at Maidstone West. I was impressed!

Wednesday 16th December

Another fine frosty start, I noticed Redwings moving about as soon as I stepped out of my door in South St, Barming. Most were dipping in and out of a Holly Tree near the top of the road, I tried to get a few photos, but I needed to move on as I was already running 10 minutes late. As usual I scanned the surronding shrubs and trees to increase the daily species count, I can usually manage 9 or 10 by the time I reach the A26.

In a Silver Birch I picked out 2x Chaffinches and a Redwing, and then 2x Goldfinch flew in, a bonus species on this stretch and then another, slightly smaller bird...a Redpoll! This is the first time I'd seen one in this area of the patch despite regularly scanning the Italian Alder windbreaks that are prevalent in the surronding orchards. It was feeding quite contently on it's own, so I managed to get good views, my immediate impression was Mealy (Common). It looked bulky (although it was about -4.C so may have been fluffed up!), clean with no evidence of any buff wash across the breast or flanks. It had pale/grey cheeks and bold, broad well-defined streaks along the flanks. The wing bar was prominient and very pale. Face-on it looked pretty mean, bulging eyes with bull-neck and broad black bib and very dark lores. It was quite high in the tree but I spent about 10 minutes trying to get some photos, a selection of the better ones (!) below. I'm happy to call Common, but welcome comments/discussion (adam.whitehouse@emr.ac.uk). Seems to be the winter of Redpolls for me this year-I do tend to latch onto species!

Running very late now I effectively ran the rest of the way into work, not adding much more to my morning total; although 6x Black-headed Gulls sitting in the Redstart pub car park was another first, and a Little Egret fly-over Kiln Barn Road was a real bonus. I was 10 minutes late for work!