It was still blowing a gale this afternoon, making it difficult to find much in the way of birds, but I persevered and had a wander over to the lakes, there just might be a different species on the water and so set a new January record, alas, I found only MALLARDS, MOORHENS and a CORMORANT, where's that feral Barnacle Goose when I need it!

I searched through the Wet Woods, hoping to find a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker or a Firecrest, but I was really clutching at straws now! I did stumble across a party of busy LONG TAILED TITS whilst there though, with them were a few BLUE and GREAT TITS, plus 2 GOLDCRESTS, I may of heard a Treecreeper call, but with the noise of the wind I wasn't sure. I found myself some shelter out of the wind, where I then heard one of the Great Tits give its spring call, and a MISTLE THRUSH sang from nearby, the sun peeped out from behind a cloud making it seem springlike for a few moments  :-)

My next best chance of adding a new species for the January list was hoping to find a Grey Wagtail over at the Greenhouse Grounds, I found two PIED WAGTAILS, but not the Grey unfortunately, GREEN and GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS were also seen, along with a couple of BULLFINCH, but nothing more exciting than that.

A brief sky watch was had from my seat in a last gasp attempt at finding that one new species needed, but the wished for Golden plover or Brambling, both of which were possible candidates, didn't show up today  :-( In fact all I saw were a loose flock of HERRING and BLACK HEADED GULLS.

So the month ends on 68 species, 3 better than the mean average for the last 5 years, and as I said on a previous post its the joint best January tally. The combined 12 year January list was incremented by one this year, that was thanks to the Gadwall, that list stands at 84 species now.

I was back at the Garden feeders later this afternoon, but not much came in, I think the wind spooks the birds, however it was fun to see 11 Long Tailed Tits on the fat feeder, one of which did pose for a photo  :-)

Long Tailed Tit

Long Tailed Tit

Here's a few 'Tit' images from yesterdays efforts -

Great Tit

Great Tit

Great tit

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Yesterday, the poor weather prevented any meaningful patch visit, but this afternoon things had brightened up a bit, although a strong and blustery wind was still blowing.

I took a walk over to the Lakes again, via the Small Holding and Wet Woods, however very little of note was seen, in fact very little was seen at all! A couple of GREEN WOODPECKERS and a single REDWING fed in the Small holding, while in the Wet Woods the wind in the tree tops was so noisy I couldn't hear a thing  :-( the pools were scanned for a Teal but none were seen today.

Over at the lakes it was also quiet, but it is here that I am most likely to add a new species to the months list, so its always worth a quick visit, today though there were just 3 pairs of MALLARD and a few MOORHENS, once again with the noise of the wind in the trees, nothing was heard in the adjacent Scrubby Woods.

I spent a little time over at the Tree Nursery, where there were a few more Redwing, a couple of MEADOW PIPIT and a few SONGTHRUSH. As usual the KESTREL hunted over the area, but even the sky was devoid of birds today  :-(  All a bit frustrating really, as I need just one more new species for the month to set a January record, a flyover Grey Wagtail or maybe a Mandarin on the lakes would do it!  :-)

I was back home by 15:30hrs, after spending just 90 mins out, but there was still light enough for a few Garden photo's, the evenings are slowly getting that bit lighter now  :-)

I was hoping for some finch photo's, but they are few are far between at the moment, so I had to make do with the Tits again, plus the Nuthatch and Green Woodpecker! Here's a few of the images I took, i'll post the rest tomorrow  :-)

NUTHATCH

COAL TIT

Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

Green Woodpecker

After a bright and frosty start to the day, cloud soon built up and the wind strengthened, by the time I got home from work this afternoon spits of rain were being blown around by the increasing southerly wind.

I decided to venture out anyway, and paid a short visit to the now ice free lakes via the Tree Nursery, which only provided me with a glimpse of a pair of GOLDCRESTS and a GREEN WOODPECKER. I battled my way through the wind and was relieved to get to the cover that the lakes provide, but was rewarded for my efforts with very little, just 5 MALLARDS, 2 MOORHENS and a CORMORANT sitting atop a bankside tree  :-(

As I was seeing very little and hearing even less I called it a day, but not before a quick scan around the pools in the Wet Woods, where the visit was made worthwhile by finding (at last!) a TEAL (68) to add to the years list, a superb drake  :-)

Teal are found here in the Wet Woods in most winters, they can arrive as early as September, and stay as late as April, but records are getting increasingly scarce now, mostly due to disturbance from the off leash dogs. Lets hope this Teal stays and attracts a few more down  :-)

Todays record of the Teal brings the months list to 68, this is equal to the best ever January species total achieved in both 2009 and 2011, so ive got 3 more afternoon visits to set a new January record, although tomorrow looks though it could be a washout  :-(

No photo's from this afternoon, and the 'blog photo folder' has run dry again - the only dry thing around here at the moment!

The final full patch walk of the month was nowhere near as productive as yesterdays walk, mind you, it was blowing a near gale, with showery rain being blown through the area. The rain and cloud did disperse after 10:00hrs, but by then I was finishing my visit!

Only 37 species were recorded in the 3 and a half hours I was out, with very few highlights, one of those was seeing that the Lakes had finally thawed out, attracting a pair of MALLARDS and 3 MOORHENS. Of the more scarcer Woodland species, only GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, BULLFINCH and COAL TIT showed up, but the latter was at least singing  :-)

KESTREL and SPARROWHAWK were up hunting around the Tree Nursery and Greenhouse Grounds, and over at Migrant Alley FIELDFARE, STARLING and REDWING had gathered on the sheep pasture along with a few BLACK HEADED GULLS, the only species noted flying over today were LESSER BLACK BACKED GULL, HERRING GULL, SKYLARK, SISKIN and MEADOW PIPIT. What a change from yesterdays visit, no two days are the same at this time of year!

The Garden Feeders were also strangely subdued in the less cold weather, but I did at least get my only photograph of the day here, when a MOORHEN wandered in, this was a different one from last week, this was a younger bird, not yet in its full black plumage.

Moorhen

Moorhen

The penultimate January full patch walk this morning turned out to be one of the better ones this month, a very good total of 49 species was recorded, in some much improved weather.

Early on in the walk I crossed Migrant Alley, which was full of FIELDFARE, maybe 200 birds in all, with just as many STARLINGS with them as well as a few REDWING, also there, seen on the sheep pasture, were 8 BLACK HEADED GULLS with 3 LAPWING, however all these birds were flushed more than once by this SPARROWHAWK!

Sparrowhawk

A new species for the year list was found along the drainage ditch that runs along the NW edge of Migrant Alley, a COMMON SNIPE (67) flew up, called a few times, then circled round before flying off North, a good species to get on my patch  :-), it puts this months species list just one behind the record  January tally of 68.

The College Grounds was busier than has been for some time, and it was good to see a few GREENFINCH'S, some of which were singing in the sunny conditions, also heard to sing here were TREECREEPER, CHAFFINCH and DUNNOCK, all adding to the springlike feel of the morning. A flock of LONG TAILED TITS moved through the gardens, but proved difficult to photograph, also of note in the gardens were BULLFINCH, COAL TIT and GOLDCREST.

Long Tailed Tit

Walking back out over Migrant Alley, to get to the Greenhouse Grounds and Tree Nursery, flyovers from GREY HERON, CORMORANT, GREYLAG GOOSE and COMMON BUZZARD were had. At the Greenhouse Grounds a small flock of SISKIN were seen in the Alders there, plus a couple of PIED WAGTAILS along with the regular BLACKBIRDS, SONGTHUSH, ROBINS, WRENS, CHAFFINCH, GOLDFINCH and 3 more Bullfinch.

Siskin (Male)

Siskin (Male)

Siskin (Female)

Blackbird

The Tree Nursery was given a thorough search, and once again I flushed up a JACK SNIPE which plonked back down 30m away, 3 MEADOW PIPITS and two GREEN WOODPECKERS were also found here, plus the resident KESTREL pair.

Over at the lakes I was surprised to see them still frozen over, so nothing was found on them, but the adjacent Scrubby Woods had 4 more Bullfinch, a NUTHATCH, and the MARSH TIT, a singing Coal Tit along with a drumming GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER continued the spring theme for the morning.

The Wet Woods was home to a mixed feeding flock of BLUE TITS, GREAT TITS, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, and Treecreeper, while in the background a STOCK DOVE was heard to sing its simple song :-)

Treecreeoer in the Wet Woods

The feeling that spring is just a few weeks away was confirmed by this sighting of my first Butterfly of the year - a Red Admiral, it was a real pleasure to be out today, no wind, rain, cold, or gloom  :-)

Red Admiral

Two TAWNY OWLS and a LITTLE OWL were being very vocal as I walked to work this morning, then on the walk back home I noted at least 80 FIELDFARE and 150 STARLING on the sheep pasture at Migrant Alley, as well as a couple of MEADOW PIPIT. I checked the sunflower hearts I put out along the hedgerow yesterday, but nothing had been attracted down to them, and they lay where I left them  :-(  Both KESTRELS were up hunting over the Tree Nursery, and a SPARROWHAWK flew past me as I walked along Ashes lane.

Whilst at home eating lunch I noticed 2 male SISKIN at my garden feeders, so I decided I would forsake a patch walk and instead try to get some photographs of the Siskin. I nearly froze as I sat in my shed waiting for them to return - which they didn't! Oh well, maybe tomorrow they will return and i'll have another go, after my full patch walk. I did take take some shots of the usual regulars, but the light became very poor though.

BLUE TIT

Blue Tit

COAL TIT

Coal Tit

GREAT TIT

Great Tit

CHAFFINCH

ROBIN

NUTHATCH

A very grey and dismal afternoon brought very little this afternoon as I visited the Tree Nursery, Pub Field and Greenhouse Grounds. I scattered of a few kilos of sunflower hearts along the hedge bordering the Greenhouse Grounds and Migrant Alley, maybe I can attract down a few finch's, or Buntings, maybe even a Brambling  :-)

Whilst scattering the seed I heard the chatter of SISKIN in the Alder trees, I was trying to count them but got to around twenty when a SPARROWHAWK flew through, panicking the flock which flew out in a tight formation, I reckon 75-100 birds were there, although some were GOLDFINCH and no doubt had I finished being able to check them through, a couple of Redpoll would have been found with them too. The Greenhouse Grounds were again disturbed by continuing work to clear the old soil from the pots of raspberries, which are now piling up outside the Greenhouses, making good foraging habitat for the WRENS, DUNNOCKS, ROBINS, BLACKBIRDS and SONGTHRUSHES. Next year the old soil from the pots will be covered in nettles and wild plants, ready for the Butterflies and insects :-)

Looking out on the sheep pasture at Migrant Alley there were a couple of dozen FIELDFARE, around 200 STARLINGS, plus 7 REDWING, they have all returned to the fields now the snow has thawed, along with a flock of around 70 ROOKS. Nothing but a few BLACK HEADED GULLS were seen passing over against the leaden sky.

Over in the Tree Nursery things were quiet, of note there were 2 MEADOW PIPITS, 3 GREEN WOODPECKERS and a GOLDCREST, but not the hoped for Common Snipe for the year list, the KESTREL pair hunted busily, and a few more Fieldfare, Redwing and Songthrush dashed about amongst the shrubs.

The Pub Field for some reason still had a covering of snow on it, frustratingly, and as such not a thing was seen on it, all the other fields are virtually snow free now, strange!

Time was had for a look over my Garden Feeders, but here too it was very much a case of no change, although the MOORHEN was back again  :-)

My 'blog photo folder' is running dry now, so here's the last of the weekends images.

Starling

Robin

Robin

When I arrived home from work this afternoon I flushed a MOORHEN from my garden feeding station, the 28th species to use my garden this year  :-)  I thought that it had set the record for the most species seen in my garden in any one month, but looking more carefully at my stats, I see that that honour in fact goes to the December of 2010, in which 29 species visited, so I still need two more new species to set the record! Still, the Moorhens arrival has set the record for January  :-)

Whilst I ate my lunch, it crept back into my garden again, so here's a few images of said Moorhen, unfortunately in poor light and through the double glazing again.

Moorhen - species No.28 for my garden year list   :-)

Moorhen

Moorhen

After that little bit of excitement, I headed off out onto my patch. I went over to the lakes, mainly to see if they were still frozen, stopping on the way to check the Tree Nursery I watched a BUZZARD hunting, as well as a SPARROWHAWK and the KESTREL pair, so not much passerine action was seen, apart from a GREEN WOODPECKER.

The lakes were indeed still frozen when I arrived, but did at least show some signs of thawing around the edges, it will be a day or two yet before they are free of ice, giving that we get no more frosts. I decided to give the nearby Scrubby Woods a look through, and heard GOLDCREST, COAL TIT, BULLFINCH, and NUTHATCH calling, but the excitement for this afternoon was provided by a WOODCOCK (66) that flew up just yards from me, it danced its way through the tree branches and dropped back down deeper into the woods, a great bird to find here, they are seldom found without a bit of hard weather about.

I moved on into the Wet Woods, where the pools of water are showing better signs of thawing, but are still mostly frozen over, so there wasn't much about apart from a few REDWING, GREAT TITS, BLUE TITS and a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER.

My last port of call was the Greenhouse Grounds, I wanted to check out the newly scraped muddy area, but there were workers there today, I did see lots of BLACKBIRDS on it though, with a few SONGTHRUSH, FIELDFARE, ROBINS and DUNNOCKS. I'm hoping a Grey Wagtail will drop in here at some time this month, this is just about the only species left i've got a real chance of adding to the January list now, which is up into second place out of twelve, 2 behind the January totals of 2009 and 2011. I might just get a flyover Golden Plover or  maybe a Mandarin Duck if the lakes thaw out, so it might be a record January yet  :-)

I was back at work this morning and feeling a bit better than I did at the weekend, so after work this afternoon I was back out on my patch  :-)

Knowing that after another hard frost last night the lakes would still be frozen over, I decided to walk the Tree Nursery, Pub Field and Greenhouse Grounds, as well as putting in a bit of sky watching. I could hear a large vehicle with it's associated loud reversing ''beebs'' over at the Greenhouse Grounds, so decided to visit there last in the hope that it would soon be finished. On entering the Tree Nursery I was confronted with a snowy landscape, and although it was thawing slowly, there was still a good snow covering there, the first birds I saw were the KESTREL pair, they were working the area intensely in the hope of finding some food to keep them going over this cold period. Two GREEN WOODPECKERS flew up, as did a number of BLACKBIRDS, SONGTHRUSHES plus a couple of DUNNOCKS, then, as I crashed through a large ice filled ditch, (for the tenth time! ) A whir of wings went up right in front of my face, it was another JACK SNIPE (64),  maybe it was the same one I saw here last December, either way it's a cracking find, just the third record for my patch - brilliant!  :-)  I watched it fly off and drop down about 40 meters away, but didn't go and flush it again.

I continued my exploits through the Tree Nursery, carefully negotiating the water and ice filled pot holes and tractor ruts, but didn't find the hoped for Common Snipe or Woodcock, but that was being a bit greedy perhaps, however, another new species for the year was forthcoming when a superb cock REED BUNTING (65) dropped in and called loudly from one of the small saplings, a scarce bird here  :-)

After that initial excitement things calmed down a bit, a scan over the adjacent Pub Field proved fruitless, except for a few BLACK HEADED and HERRING GULLS quartering the half thawed filed, the call of LONG TAILED TITS came from the hedgerow that divides the Pub Field and Tree Nursery, they then appeared, and I counted 8 of them, along with 3 BLUE TITS and 2 GREAT TITS.

I left soon after and went to the Greenhouse Grounds, where the I found that the large pile of old soil that had gathered from a few years of emptied raspberry pots, had been leveled out ready for the next lot to be dumped, all that disturbance meant little was seen, but on the very wet and torn up soil a pair of MEADOW PIPITS had already found easy pickings, along with a ROBIN and a few Dunnocks, it looks ideal for a wader to drop in here now, - we shall see!

Photo's today come from yesterdays garden photo session  :-)

Starling

Starling

Songthrush

Songthrush

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Great Spotted Woodpecker

The 3in of snow that fell yesterday was still very evident this morning

View from my upstairs window over to the Greenhouse Grounds

Feeling not too well today, I took the day off work, the school was closed anyway due to the snow, so I spent a good part of the day watching the Garden feeders. However, I did spend 40 minutes out at my seat at Migrant Alley, just to get some fresh air  :-)

I was hoping to pick up some hard weather movement, and there was just a small bit going on, as well as the usual WOODPIGEONS, ROOKS and JACKDAWS moving around the local area, I also noted a few HERRING, BLACK HEADED and COMMON GULLS, all looking much smarter than usual in the light reflecting of the snow cover. I also recorded a flock of 16 LAPWING going through, and lastly, of more interest was a nice flock of 33 SKYLARK (63) the first seen this year.

I was soon back at home, not wanting to get chilled and make myself feel worse, and started to watch the comings and goings at the garden feeders, I was surprised by the lack of of Tits and Finch's, but they were made up for by the amount of Thrushes coming in, 14 BLACKBIRDS, the FIELDFARE plus a remarkable 3 SONGTHRUSHES. The first visit from a HOUSE SPARROW this year was most welcome, the 27th species to visit the garden so far this month, which is the best monthly figure achieved in the 12 years of recording my garden birds, it is a record jointly held with the December tallies of 2009 and 2012, plus march 2011, so just one more species this month will take the title out right  :-)

Visits from the likes of WREN, JAY, JACKDAW, MAGPIE, GREEN and GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKERS, NUTHATCH and WOODPIGEONS as well as all the regular stuff, made the days list up to an outstanding 21 species for the day - much better than the whole of most months!

I of course got lots of images today, here's a few, i'll post the others up on the slower photographic days this week  :-)

Songthrush

Songthrush

Green Woodpecker

Blackbird