A horrible wet and very windy day today, although it was very mild, . The whole area looks as if it is going to be flooded again with all the rain and meltrd snow.
2 Lesser Redpoll were on the feeders again which is nice to see .On the patch itself the main thing was a large flock of 400 plus Fieldfare with 100 plus Starling and 50 plus Redwing . There was more Woodpigeons of late with 400 plus, including a large 300 plus flock flying northeast. A new species for the patch list was found with a flock of 7 Red Legged Partridge .Apart from that 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Buzzard, female Kestrel, and a flock of Skylarks were heard going over .
The patch list now stands at 54

What a difference a day makes ! today was mild very windy and even the sun came out for a while ,mind you this was after torrential rain overnight which melted all the lying snow and left the ground saturated again.So it came as no suprise to find 47 Lapwing on the adjacent fields , but what was a suprise was the flock of at least 1000 Lapwings which flew over from the now flooded river meadows, a great sight.
The other main featurec of the day was the start of the northward movement of Skylark , with the winter flock of 47 plus birds still on pasture and another at least 19 seen heading directly north. There seems to be only 2 Meadow Pipits left now ,the others having moved on.Winter Thrush 's totalled 85 plus Fieldfare and 20 plus Redwing, and a Mistle Thrush was noted.
The best of the rest were 5 Stock Dove ,just 100 plus Starling, and a Buzzard
So perhaps the first hints of Spring or am I being over optomistic?
The patch species remains the same.

A couple of days worth of updates.Yesterday was really cold with a searing east wind, pressure from work and general stuff meant that I only managed a quick trot around the top part of the patch, but even so I managed to see a few nice birds .There were a larger number of Lapwings about with 74 on pasture  with 30 plus Fieldfare, also 600 plus Starling .
Anyway back to today still very cold but  there  is a thaw on the way, still under time pressure so again a quick visit around the top of the patch a cracking flock of 45 plus Skylark and about 100 plus Common Gulls  were feeding on the frozen pasture. The Lapwing flock has decreased to 15 and winter thrushes consisted of 5 Redwing and 15 Fieldfare. Just 2 Meadow Pipits today .The usual Kestrel was on station and a Buzzard passed by. I was pleased to hear a Tawny Owl calling at 5am this morning when I was working ,it sounded as if it was on the roof of the house !
A year tick for the patch was a pair of Mute Swan which pushs the patch total to 53 

At last something to write about, the weather has been cold with snow over the last couple of days, but today although cold with snow flurries there were
 at 4 signs of a thaw .With the weather becoming milder with rain, I fear floods maybe our next problem, there is alot of water on the land at the moment.
There were some good birds on the feeders today amongst the common species, Lesser Redpoll, Nutatch, Coal Tit, and a great bird in the form of a Brambling.
On the patch 33 Lapwing on the frozen pasture were kept company by 40 Common Gulls and a Raven .Fieldfare(30plus), and Redwing(20 )were feeding on the thawing snow .A really good count of 47 plus Skylark was the highest of the winter so far.
There are still good numbers of Starling with 800 plus about today. There were 8 Meadow Pipits flitting about and a Green Woodpecker was heard. There was a flock of 10 Goldfinch over and a Stock Dove passed over.
The patch list now stands at 52

Willow and I ventured into the snowscape today with a light snowfall . It was beutiful with the snow and ice and it did not feel that cold .It was however hard going on the bird front ,but an estimated 30 plus Blackbird and 10 plus Song Thrush along with 20 plus each of Redwing and Fieldfare showed that it is hard for the birds at the moment .
This can be seen by just how busy the feeders are at the moment, with all the common expected birds around in numbers.
On the patch 2 Kestrel were hunting the fields and hedges and a flock of 7 Skylark were feeding in the snow covered stubble. 2 Buzzard were sitting out the snow storm in an oak tree but were mobbed by a flock of 13 Magpie.
Around the fields 14 Lapwings were scattered about and 3 Meadow Pipits and 2 Pied Wagtails were flitting about .There were only about 250 plus Starling today the rest having moved on The only odd thing today was a Greater Spotted Woodpecker which was drumming away as if it were a spring day, except it was in the middle of a snow storm .
A lone Stock Dove over and a few Common Gulls drifting over the fields looking for a morsel were all that was about, lets hope for better things in the near future.

The promised snow and cold weather arrived yesterday but the only cold weather refugees were a flock of 120 plus Lapwing heading down river.Anyhow Willow and I and  ventured into the snow this afternoon (only 1 inch) , and there were just a few notable sightings . A flock of 9 Lapwing on pasture with 15 Fieldfare. 2 Buzzard called to each other and there was a single Meadow Pipit .The best sighting was a flock of 23 plus Skylark flying low over the snow fields.
 The feeders were busy with 2 Lesser Redpoll ,although one bird was much more buff /frosty coloured with 2 wing bars and what looked like a thinner beak, could it be a Mealy Redpoll ? I do not claim to know enough about the populations of Redpoll, so I will ask some advice ,I will keep you posted.

Winter arrived today with a harsh frost , and forcasted snow as from FridayTh e feeders were busy as you would expect lots of common species as well as Lesser Redpoll, Coal Tit and our first ever Nutatch.
The patch showed a few hard weather migrants with 55 plus Redwing, 25 plus Fieldfare on pasture ,also lots of Blackbirds and Song Thrush in the hedges. The usual Kestrel weas about and a Buzzard flew across being chased by the local Corvids.
Only 9 Lapwings headed downriver but that was made up for by a cracking flock of 54 Golden Plover heading over.There were 550 plus Starling and 3 Meadow Pipit with 2 Pied Wagtails. A good sight was of 20 plus Skylark in a flock .
Another species was added last night with a Tawny Owl calling at 7pm.
 The patch list now stands at 51

The artic blast arrived today with 6 degrees and rain, what a bunch of tits the weather forcasters are ! My boys were devastated as they were expecting a snow day .As for the patch, that was just awful today, with only 2 Lesser Redpoll on the feeders providing any quality.
The rest of the birds were a Bullfinch ,6 Meadow Pipits, 5 Pied Wagtails ,2/3 Mistle Thrush, 4 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing , Buzzard and 2 Kestrel ,male and female which have been wintering here . That was about as good as it got today, oh well things can only improve from here.
The patch list remains on 49

Well today dawned after overnight rain in a very cold manner with a raw easterly wind The Lesser Redpoll was still on the feeders amongst a whole throng of the usual suspects . The weather had an  effect on the local birds with some making themselves scarce and others reappearing .
There was still a good numbers of Gulls on the now disappearing floodwaters, with 200 plus Black Headed Gulls and a few Lesser Black Backed , Common and Herring Gulls for good measure.
A small flock of 3 Pied Wagtails were feeding nearby and 2 Buzzards were calling to each other. A good count of 8 Stock Dove were about.
It is nice to report that winter Thrush"s were back with 27 plus Fieldfare and 100 plus Redwing .
A flock of 115 plus Lapwing flew over low heading south west .
The patch count remain the same.

The cold weather has not arrived as forcast, but it supposed to arrive over the weekend ,so it should provide a few new birds if there is any cold weather movement. The big thing at the moment is the amount of birdsong and the complete absence of winter thrush"s, they were really pentiful not but two weeks ago, they must of moved on having used all local food supplies.
Anyhow the garden came up with a Lesser Redpoll on the feeders again ( yesterday there were 2 along with a Coal Tit but no sign of the latter today), and plenty of the usual suspects.
 The patch is still generally quiet , but there was a flock of at least 2700 Starling and 575 plus Lesser Black Backed Gulls with Common(10 plus), Black Headed (50 plus) and Herring Gulls (20 plus) on the wet pasture.There was a flock of 11 Meadow Pipits with a flock of 17 plus Skylark nearby.
A year tick came in the form of a female Yellowhammer ,not such a common bird on the patch.The rest of the hightlights were Greater Spotted Woodpecker, male Kestrel, Buzzard, just 4 Redwing, 1 Fieldfare and a very grey continental Song Thrush, no doubt he or she has flown over here from northern climes .
The patch count now stands at 49.

The first bird  I heard this morning was a Little Owl calling at 4am ,just as I was getting up for work, I suppose it"s one of the benefits of the job.The Coal Tit and a Lesser Redpoll came to the niger feeder again, considering I had not recorded Lesserc Redpoll on the patch till this year I seem to have seen quite a few this year,although I suspect that all the records relate to the three birds I found at the back end of the year. I also have a niger feeder this year so that may be the difference ,as they say in Waynes World ""If you build they will come"".
A flock of Long Tailed Tits were buzzing around in the garden as well ,so when I left the house I was sure it would be a productive walk, just shows you how wrong you can be.The major numbers were 800 plus Starling and at least 1000 plus Assorted Gulls ,Black Headed ,Lesser Black Backed ,Common and a few Herring Gulls on the now receding floodwaters.Its easy to forget that many of these Gulls would of come from the Baltic and Northern Europe . A small flock of 3 Pied Wagtails had 2 Meadow Pipits tagging along. The rest of the list was made up of Kestrel, Buzzard ,Green Woodpecker and a single Redwing.

Back out today on the patch , but first a little bit of news from Saturday afternoon which was the return of the 3 Lesser Redpolls and the Coal Tit to the garedn feeders.
Anyway back to today, it was another grey very mild day ,but rain set in later.The birds were today very much reduced in numbers but we still managed to see a few nice bits and bobs. A large Raven flew over calling , we seem to have a pair around for most of the year nowadays .
The floodwaters are receding but very slowly,  so a large flock of Black Headed Gulls ,Lesser Black Backed Gulls, with a few Common Gulls are still feeding on the wet pasture. A good sighting was of a flock of 180 plus Wigeon which flew upriver.
There were 5 Buzzards and the local Kestrel was hunting over the fields.Winter Thrush"s amounted to just 20 Redwing and a single Fieldfare, although a stonking male Bullfinch was nice.A Greater Spotted Woodpecker was calling but I did not see it.
The weather is due to turn colder so maybe things may pick up a little bit, ,it can be hard patch birding but it seems to be a slightly addictive thing. Perhaps  I am just a bit sad I suppose.
Species count for the patch is 47. 

Sunday dawned overcast and misty , but still very mild, although the tempretures are to drop from the middle of the week onwards. Willow and myself were not expecting much and in the end we were pretty suprise by what we saw, it still feels as if spring passage has started with drumming Greater Spotted Woodpecker and plenty of bird song now, especially Song Thrush .
Starlings were still plentiful with 600 plus seen as were Fieldfare 150 plus and Redwing 145 plus. A rather lonely Common Gull stood by the floodwater and 2 Pied Wagtail and 3 Skylark made themselves known.Just 2 Meadow Pipits today so the rest seem to have moved on.
A Green Woodpecker was new for the year and the local Kestrel flew over chased by some Jackdaws . A female Bullfinch called from the hedgerows and a Buzzard sat overlooking a field .
The best birds were the last ones seen when a flock of 12 Golden Plover made 3 circuits over before heading towards the river meadows .Really great to see these northern travellers as they will spending their summer on the northern tundra in the far north.
Species count for the patch now stands at 46.

It was like bird porn this morning looking out of the window there were 3 Lesser Redpolls on the niger feeder with a Coal Tit , a good start I thought . The thing about patch birding is it is about ups and downs , so today was the latter.
7 Stock Dove was more normal, but 1500 Starling was down on yesterday, but still good to see.
Fieldfare numbered only 7 and Redwing around 90 plus. 2 Buzzard were soaring around.
There were more Pied Wagtails of late with 4 present and a count of 15 plus Meadow Pipits were many more than of late. A Raven passed overhead
 The species count now stands at 44

On another very mild day Willow and I went for our stroll around the local patch, it felt like early April rather early January.
The birds seem to be around in greater numbers than of late, with over 3000 plus Starling feeding around the retreating floodwater, with 200 plus Fieldfare and 100 plus Redwing in the nearby hedgerows and pastures . A nice suprise was finding a female Reed Bunting in some rough ground, not a bird we see around here very often although they are quite common at nearby Ashleworth and Coombe Hill meadows, is this the first spring migrant?.
A female Sparrowhawk cruised over checking out the Starlings and the wintering Kestrel was on its usual telephone post .A Buzzard made up the cast of the birds of prey.
The best birds for me were  the record  number of Lapwings that were flying upriver and in the direction of Ashleworth at least 1400 were counted. really great to see so many ,it"s such a shame that hardly any remain to breed, most of these birds will be from northern and eastern Europe.
The patch species count now stands at 41.
Lets see what the weekend brings.

A calm day, with a gentle southerly breeze really made it feel like late March rather than early January ,it should be cold but it is anything but, will we get a cold snap I wonder ? .
The birds were not exciting but a flock of 200 plus Redwing with 60 plus Fieldfare with a few Song Thrush and the odd Mistle Thrush were nice to see , it is wierd to think I saw them on the Finish/ Russian border last May.Talking of Russians there are still a good number of Starling knocking  about 350 plus by Town Street Farm.
At least 50 plus Lesser Black Backed Gulls over towards the estuary and the 3 Meadow Pipits are still wintering here, there numbers are much diminished from last wintertime.A female Bullfinch was nice, and the years first Greater Spotted Woodpecker was welcome. A female Kestrel was hunting low over the fields and one of the local Buzzards was about .4 Stock Doves made up the best of the rest.
A garden Coal Tit on the feeders was nice addition to the year patch list.The total patch list now stands at 37.
  With the weather looking set for the next few days  it may stay fairly static as far as the birds go, but who knows ? 

January 2013,
OK lets get it out of the way ,what a crap effort at a blog ,I ran out of steam ,so this year it"s not gonna happen .At the end of the year I had managed to find 91 species on the patch. Bird of the year came in late October in the form of a cracking Great Grey Shrike .
So this year I will keep the blog updated with all the juicy bits and keep you updated with the total species count as we go.
So the frst thing this morning was it was not raining although there is still plenty of floodwater and the ground is still saturated. In truth it was pretty quiet with a few hightlights 7 Meadow Pipits is a higher count than of recently, and 25 plyus Skylarks is the high count of the winter so far.
There has been good numbers of winter thrushes this year ,so 100 plus Fieldfare and 50 plus Redwing was not unexpected although the former has numbered 600 plus in the last few days.
The only other highlight was a flock of 150 plus Black Headed Gull with 10 Common Gull on floodwater and at least 1000 Starling around Town Street Farm.
At he end of the walk we had managed (that is Willow my faithful bird dog and myself), to find 35 species ,not bad really ,heres to a great new year.