Friday 3rd December 2010

An early morning visit down to the River Medway in Barming turned up 10x Snipe, a Lapwing and Grey Wagtail crouched down in one the streams that ran down to the river just west of Barming Bridge.  A Cormorant fished on the river and a male Sparrowhawk sitting in a tree next to the railway bridge at the bottom of South Street eyed up the Blackbirds and Song Thrushes (x3) that were flitting back and forth on the road.

Back to work today after spending an enforced day sledging with the kids!  The snow had really collected in Oaken Wood, 16" or so, which made it hard work to walk in but had left lots of tell tale signs of what had been around.  It was absolutely silent - not a bird to be seen, no Redpolls, no Bullfinches, nothing.  By Kiln Barn Farm Barn a couple of Pied Wagtails and Chaffinches fed around the hay that had been left out for the cattle, and with 2x tolerant Robins....a tolerant, non-territorial Robin - things must be getting desperate!

At lunchtime I checked out the orchards on the East Malling Research site.  Plenty of Woodpigeons, Chaffinches, Starlings, Blackbirds and Fieldfares but not in numbers I'd expect in such harsh conditions. The churchyard held high numbers of Redwings feeding in the Yews and Goldcrests were heard calling.

I then met a couple scanning the genebank at the church and asked if they'd seen anything of interest.  They told me that there was a big flock of what they thought were Chaffinches feeding to the west of the road to Park Farm.  Hoping for a Brambling amongst the flock I set off and quickly located the birds they had told me about feeding in a weedy plot to the west of the road.

There were a number of Chaffinches (20+), but also a few Goldfinch (5+) and lots of Linnets, probably 60-70 birds.  However, alongside the plot and on the road were a collection of birds I didn't instantly recognise, but one of the birds took the air and sang....Skylarks!  I'm not sure if it was because they were away from their usual habitat or just the sheer number of them, 52+ but I was completely thrown out!

Some of the large exaltation of Skylarks feeding on one of the Research station roads (click to enlarge)

Walking alongside the fence, checking the finches I noticed what I thought was the back of a hen Pheasant crouching in the weeds, I walked closer and up flew a Woodcock!  It flew silently (apart from it's wing beats) across the plot and round the back of me towards the Bullock Yard.  At last - I'd heard a few reports of one on site, I was just glad to connect with one at last!  Suddenly a Sparrowhawk glided low from the east and put everything up in the air, and had me wondering if it was me or the Sparrowhawk that had flushed the Woodcock.

Sparrowhawk spooking Skylarks

I carried on towards Bradbourne House, skirting the stream to check for Snipe...and bingo, a Snipe took flight from the edge of the waterfall pool - a species needed for the East Malling Tetrad (BTO Winter Atlas).  I thought today would be the day with so many Snipe being reported from around the county.  Bradbourne Lake had the usual Coots, Moorhens, Canada Geese and Black-headed Gulls as well as a pair of Gadwall, an infrequent visitor to the patch.  The last part of the patch was to check near the bridge to the Pavillion at Bradbourne where I expected a Grey Wagtail or even another Snipe, but was extremely surprised to flush another Woodcock sitting out near a Yew at the side of the bridge - this one shot across the boundary wall, over New Road and towards the Clare Park Estate.

The day was just getting better, but was topped off by a Lapwing drinking from a puddle in the Bradbourne House car park, an occasional flyover species but quite rare on the deck.  What a day!

Friday 19th October 2010

Nothing in the mist this morning about from a flock of calling Herring and Black-headed Gulls near Kiln Barn Farm.  With the fog lifting mid-morning I made a concerted effort at lunchtime to get Coal Tit on the East Malling Atlas Tetrad.  I reckoned my best bet would be the yews/conifers in and around the churchyard in East Malling, but after 30 minutes, with various near misses with Blue and Great Tits I realised it wasn't going to happen today!  Still I managed a nice brace of Thrushes, with 2x Mistle Thrushes, 5x Song Thrushes (amazing number!), 2x Redwing and 30+ Fieldfare and even better for the patch - a Grey Wagtail on the roof of Court Lodge in Church Walk - not the the most obvious place to look for one, perhaps I should have gone looking down the stream for the Coal Tit!

A Sparrowhawk flew into the churchyard and perched high up and partly obscured, but his bright eyes gave him away!  He managed to put everything into the air so finally putting a nail in the coffin for my Coal Tit....but I've got until the end of February so no rush.

There is a Sparrowhawk in there...honest!

Moving into the next Tetrad to the west, Mill Street and West Malling, I hoped to  pick of a Greenfinch or Goldfinch or two - again another species missing off the Atlas and within 10 minutes got 3x Greenfinches, 12x Goldfinches, 1x GS Woodpecker and 2x Jay - all gaps on the winter distribution map.  I'll get the East Malling area dark green before the winter's out!

Friday 1st October 2010

The calm before the storm this morning as I walked into work from Barming to the East Malling Research Station.  A couple of Swallows on their way south dipped over the houses in appropriately named South Street, a largish charm (25+) of Goldfinches followed soon after.  Not much else to report in the blustery weather apart from a Sparrowhawk opposite The Redstart Pub (which has a female Black Redstart illustrating their menu and an American Redstart on their sign!).  In the hedgerow alongside Gallaghers Gallop there were still some Chiffchaffs, four today, dipping and sitting out on the newly trimmed hedge alongside a pair of Dunnocks and a couple of Linnets.

Wednesday 24th March

Two Chiffchaffs were singing on the eastern edge of Oaken Wood, Barming - at least another migrant had dropped in and I managed a slightly better photo of one of the birds.  Zipping down Gallagher's Gallop I half expected to find a Wheatear on one of the fence posts, but it wasn't to be, and I had to be content with the drumming of a couple of distant GS Woodpeckers and the Little Owl which took flight in response to my squeaky brakes as I passed Kiln Barn Farm. 

Willow Warbler - unexpectedly early

Instead of carrying on down Kiln Barn Road, and into work, I decided to take a slight detour across the footpath that runs east from Kiln Barn Road (almost opposite Potts) to The Rocks Road and Paris Farm in East Malling.  The greatest part of this footpath is bordered by paddocks on the north side and always looked to have potential, but I'd rather negelected it as it added about 20 mins on my journey into work.  A big pile of stable manure steamed and I was suprised to see a small bird making fly-catching sallies out the adjacent hedgerow - a Willow Warbler!  Of course I thought it was another Chiffchaff until it sang, but I was pleased to see that a few had turned up at Dungeness and Warren had one on his Pittswood patch today as well (http://pittswoodpatch.blogspot.com/), certainly a lot earlier than I would have expected - after all my Chiffies were only in 2 days ago.

How much fencing does a migrant need?! 

Looking north across Paris Farm Paddocks (Aylesford Newsprint spewing out steam in the distance). 

Further along I scanned in vain amongst the eastern-most paddocks - so many fence posts, so little migrants!  It must have 10 times as much fencing as Warren's Migrant Alley, but he gets 3 Wheaters at a time, I get none!  Then.....oh joy.....a Wheatear hopped into view, an immaculate male.  He remained distant, and although I enjoyed good views with the bins, photographing him proved a bit tricky.  I managed some record shots (below) just to show what a smart little chap he was.   At last I think I've found my own 'Migrant Alley'!

Carrying on to work (slightly late) I notched up a Yellowhammer and a couple of Song Thrushes in the final paddock, and a healthy number of House Sparrows in a hedgerow just west of Paris Farm Barn. On site Skylarks sang, Pied Wagtails wagged and a couple of Collared Doves copulated...and showed signs of prospecting nest sites.  Another Song Thrush struck a pose on top of the main lab buildings. Twenty plus Fieldfares 'chac-chacked' over from the orchards, not long now before they're gone.

I managed a quick sortie out to the Paris Farm paddocks at lunchtime and was pleased to see the Wheater still around although a few paddocks further on.  A couple of Greenfinches flew overhead, displaying.

Leaving work at dusk, I was pleased the Little Owl looking a bit more alert - sorry for more photos but he just sat there waiting to be snapped!  On one of Gallagher's Gallop fenceposts a male Sparrowhawk sat silently.  He was hunched up and his underparts, puffed out and startingly white had me thinking I'd found a Barn Owl for a couple of seconds!  A couple of the 70+ Carrion Crows that loitered nearby started to harass him and he was off, low across one of the fields and into the trees surronding Gallagher's Quarry.  A good day all told.

Friday 29th January

Another training run at lunchtime, 4.6 miles from the research, out past Kiln Barn Farm, past the water tower in Barming and then through Oaken Woods, down Rocks Farm and back into East Malling and the research. Almost immediately after starting out I noticed a flock of c250 Fieldfares go up, and then I noticed a bird continually flying into the wire fencing alongside the main entrance track ahead of me. A couple of Crows were harassing it and initially I thought it was a Wood Pigeon with a broken wing. Eventually I caught up with it, a male Sparrowhawk with a Fieldfare in it's talons. It was trying to fly over the fence but the weight of the bird must have kept pulling it down. Eventually it lifted over the fence and landed on the steps of Ditton Lab to pluck and consume the unfortunate migrant. I continued on my run but cursed the bird for posing so well on the day I didn't have the camera with me! Past Kiln Barn Farm I was pleased to see the Little Owl sitting out by the cattle barn. 300+ Fieldfares covered one of the meadows. Through Oaken Woods I noticed a new area of coppice that will be worth checking out for Nightjar and Tree Pipit in the summer. A pair of Bullfinches briefly flew ahead of me. When I eventually got back to the research I grabbed the camera and went to see if the Sparrowhawk was still about. Unfortunately not, but the remains of his prey were evident, gruesome I know but feathers, beak and innards, that was all that was left!

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Sunday 20th December

Another inch or so of snow fell overnight, refreshing the stained snow of the last couple of days. The number of bird species in the garden looked to have increased when I looked out the window at breakfast; Starlings (very irridescent today), Woodpigeons, Jay and Song Thrush (always good to have in the garden) were all present, picking and feeding on anything they could find. I managed some snaps through the kitchen window of the braver birds that fed on my homemade cheese-lard-sultana-breadcrumb treats (brave to eat anything of mine that was homemade or brave to come so close to the house!).

I don't know what was going on with the Woodpigeons; they were having a feeding frenzy in the ivy at the back of the garden, probably on seed I guess (unless a misplaced shot by one of the neighbours had deposited half a loaf of bread in there).

I still couldn't get my car off the drive in South Street, Barming, so I walked my lad up the road for a lift to a birthday party he had been invited to. I glanced at the Silver Birch at the top of the road and immediately picked out a Redpoll, though I couldn't make out if it was Lesser or Common. I quickly dropped James off and rushed back for the camera. By the time I had returned to the tree there were 3 birds; 2 were Lesser, the 3rd I could quite make out. I tried to get some record shots but failed miserably.....grrrrr. The birds suddenly took flight with some Redwings and so I decided to check out the nearby churchyard and orchard. The churchyard held more Redwings and the orchard was full of Fieldfares and Blackbirds (21 individuals in one row). One Fieldfare had the misfortune to end up as a Sparrowhawk's breakfast; I got a quick glimpse of the raptor on the orchard flew before it flew off with Fieldfare in it's talons. I looked through some of the plucked feathers that littered the ground, black and grey, a sombre combination reminiscent of a guardsman's great coat (see pic below), but smart when they're still attached to the bird!

I managed a glimpse of Barming Bridge through the apple trees, there seemed to be a large flock of Canada Geese milling around the bridge - where there's people there's food I guess! Going back to collect James I checked out the South St Silver Birch again - 6x Redpolls now. I managed some pics but no sure that Common (Mealy) was in there with them; most views were of the undersides which glowed persil-white in the snow-reflected sunshine.

I know I harked on about this yesterday but the icicles today were fantastic - drip, dripping everywhere.


James snapped one of the church porch (just after I'd told him not to) - it was about half the size of him.

The fresh layer of snow looked beautiful, I took more pictures knowing that it would all probably be washed away tomorrow. The evening light on the snow made it look almost like a foaming sea, I've got pictures like the one below from my holidays in Cornwall!

We finished the day with more sledging until it got too dark, the last rays of sun catching the River Medway below our sledging slope.

Friday 4th December

A long-awaited walk into work this morning, with no rain or wind to contend with. Peering over the wall to the orchards, opposite the pedestrian crossing on the A26 East Barming I quickly racked up 10 species, including 10+ Redwing, 15 Fieldfare, Green Woodpecker and Sparrowhawk...not bad sightings just off a main road! The rest of the route was alive with birds again; Bullfinches (by Pea Field), GS Woodpecker (opposite Heath Road) and a noticeable increase in Redwing numbers, with birds being seen in two new locations for the winter, and five individuals being picked out feeding in a single tree halfway up North Street. Seven Stock Doves were an unexpected addition, sitting out with the Crows by Gallagher's Gallop. The Little Owl was the last tick of the morning, huddled in it's usual spot in Kiln Barn Farm Cattle shed. Twenty-four species in total, but lacking regulars such as Jay, Pied Wagtail and both Goldfinches and Greenfinches.

Checking the plots mid-morning I was glad to see a Kestrel hunting over the west side of the site, and nine Skylarks and a Pied Wagtail took to the air as I walked down one of the strawed alleyways. The sun was still shining at lunchtime so I did a quick sortie over to Ditton Court Quarry. More Redwings, accompanied by too many Blackbirds to keep tabs on, were feeding on the ground, but were extremley shy and flighty. Eight Lesser Redpolls were still feeding on the Alder trees with the charm of Goldfinches.

3rd December 2009

Only managed to birdwatch doing the monthly East Malling Research Running Club handicap race at lunchtime. Covering 4.9 miles of research land, housing estate and countryside I was pleased to notch up Little Egret (Bradbourne) and Sparrowhawk amongst all the commoner species. The new route took me past Four Acres and Easterfields at the back of East Malling that look to have potential!

Sunday 29th November

During a break in the rain I took the kids to jump in puddles at Barming Bridge. The river was almost breaking the banks, I'm sure it'll be in full flood tomorrow if the rain continues. I stood on the bridge for 15 minutes while the kids entertained themselves in the mud/puddles and was quite pleased with the number of species I saw:

Kingfisher
Moorhen
Mallard
Long-tailed Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Fieldfare
Redwing
Blackbird
Starling
Crow
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Wren
Goldcrest
Dunnock
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Green Woodpecker
GS Woodpecker
Sparrowhawk

There's something to be said for just standing around in the rain!

Sunday 4th October

After a relaxing holiday in Cornwall (poor birding though this year with only a single Balearic Shearwater and Baird's Sandpiper), and taking a phone call from Eddie Denson telling he was looking at Tufted Puffin as I walked the coast path from St Ives, it's taken a bit of time to settle back into Kent (and work!). A trip down to Dungeness for 5x Glossy Ibis is as about much birding as I've managed.

A fantastic sky this morning over Barming (also recorded by Warren on his Pittswood Patch), clouds eventually turning into 'cotton-buds' I was pleased to hear a GS Woodpecker, and a Jay and Sparrowhawk over the garden. Meeting a neighbour over the park he told me how he'd heard birds calling last night - I couldn't think what they might be , unless they were Redwings on the move? As things warmed up a Hummingbird Hawkmoth and Peacock butterfly visited the garden - summer's lingering on...just about.

Holly Hill, nr Birling produced a couple of Common Buzzard this afternoon; one being mobbed by crows, the other completely ignored! 2x Red Admiral and Comma and a Hornet all added interest.