Monday 3rd January 2011

To cut a long story short I located at least 64 Waxwings at East Malling Research - there were more, I saw four flocks of birds but I only managed to get a count on three of these.  They were very confiding and were feeding voraciously on the apples on the trees.  Occasionally they'd fly off, and at one point I watched them until they landed in the trees on the western perimeter of Ditton Court Quarry (a new Quarry tick!).  I'll let the photos do the talking (see below)! Also CLICK HERE for a video of some of the birds.
As I left the site at 11:15 I saw a flock of Waxwings (20+) land in Ditton Court Quarry but couldn't relocate them.  John Clements pointed out a Siskin flying over.  Both John Clements and James Bushnell reported seeing a single male Brambling in the same orchard as the Waxwings.

I also had a Lesser Redpoll feeding with a lone Goldfinch in a Silver Birch tree on the Tonbridge Road, Barming.

NOTE: 

East Malling Research is a PRIVATE SITE with access to the public restricted to the use of the public footpath that runs across east-west the site.  Under NO circumstances should anyone trespass into the orchards or research land or block the public path or private roadway.  The Research Station reopens tomorrow after the Bank Holiday and there may be some disturbance in the orchards due to field operations.

If your visiting and get cold or hungry then check out Bramley's Restaurant next to the Conference Centre which serves hot and cold food and drink until 14:00!

Mixed flock on the wires (looking West towards East Malling Church), including Waxwing, Starling, Fieldfare and Redwing

Friday 31st December 2010

Back in Barming after the Christmas tour.  I was confined to the house most of the day, but still managed to see huge flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares that were spooked by a Sparrowhawk that made at least four passes down South Street.  A couple of blog followers had emailed me while I was away with reports of Waxwings locally and late in the afternoon I followed up the lead from Donna. 

The Barming Dozen - reduced to silhouettes in the glum of the last day of 2010.

I was really glad she'd contacted me because when I arrived at the location she'd told me about I saw 12x Waxwings perched together in a tree.  Sorry if all this Waxwing talk is getting boring, but these were the first Waxwings I'd seen on the Barming section of the patch and even more satisfying that they were only a few minutes walk away from home. The birds were constantly dropping down into a private garden and conscious that the area is PRIVATE I knocked on the door of the garden owner to ask their permission to take some photos from outside their house.  The owner was very interested in the birds an invited me to go into their back garden to take some snaps.  The birds were feeding voraciously on a Rowan tree not 10ft away but the light was absolutely awful and most of the 'perfect' shots suffered from camera shake (not helped by my excitement).

The birds were even drinking out of the guttering at the front of the house as I bade farewell to Colin, the owner.  I've posted a few record shots and wanted to thank Colin, the owner, for allowing me to see these birds so close up and Donna for alerting me in the first place, a great way to finish the year!

I so wanted this one to turn out OK!  Oh well, New Year's Resolution - persuade someone to buy me a better camera (always blame the tools!).

A Happy New Year to one and all!

Sunday 26th December 2010

With some many Waxwings being reported locally I'd thought I'd check out a couple of locations on my travels with my two lads.

I stopped off briefly to check the orchards at East Malling Research - lots of Redwings but little else.

Onto New Hythe where I only managed to get to the East Scrub from Brook House as the kids wanted to throw stones on the ice and break iced-up puddles!  12x Siskins flew overhead and I noticed the familiar figure of Mike Easterbrook  emerging from the scub.  We chatted briefly as the dinner at his daughter's was going cold!  He had also had some Siskins earlier but also a Bittern in flight near Millstream.  He asked if I'd seen the Waxwings that Phil Sharp had seen yesterday, I was just about to reply no when seven Waxwings lifted from the East Scrub and landed in an Alder tree on the periphery of New Hythe Industrial Estate.  Two other birders, Den and Doreen appeared and as we moved towards the flock, Terry Laws emerged from the other side of the Scrub...quite a crowd!  The Waxwings flew off south into the industrial estate, briefly drinking from the guttering on one of the warehouse rooves.  I made my way back to Brook House and saw three Waxwings feeding in the Hawthorns along the track.

As I drove home I amazingly spotted another Waxwing a top of a Field Maple in the garden of one of the Preston Hall bungalows at the north end of Hermitage Lane, Aylesford.  Quite how I spotted it when you look at the photo above I don't know (may be the huge arrow had something to do with it?!), but conveniently there was a lay-by opposite so I could stop to get a couple of record shots in the dying light.

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!).

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.