The last couple of days have been really sprkinglike, with the sun shinning and pleasent tempretures. With these factors it is beginning to feel like early spring and there has been a few subtle changes in the birds on the patch.
Saturday dawned clear ,cold with bright sun., The local Kestrel was scanning the area from on high and a Raven passed overhead calling. Two Buzzards were also about.
Winter Thrush were 22 plus Fieldfare and 55 plus Redwing, but Starling were much reduced to only 300 plus.
A great sight was the flock of Wigeon which were flying around the floods with 350 plus today. They will soon be heading north to their breeding grounds in Russia .A few Skylarks were about with a couple singing ( 4 in total ). There was also a mixed flock of Gull feeding on sheep fields with 50 plus Common Gull, 15 Black Headed Gull, and 8 Lesser Black Backed Gull .
A nice sight was a mixed flock of 15 plus Goldfinch and 20 plus Chaffinch in one of the upper fields.
The best of the rest were 5 Stock Dove, Mistle Thrush, Green Woodpecker and a Pied Wagtail.
Suday dawned crisp and clear and the first birds I saw were 3 Lesser Redpoll on the feeders .On the way up to the fields a Greater Spotted Woodpeckier was drumming and later another was seen feeding on a dead tree.
Only a few Fieldfare today with only 7 being seen.On the floodwater there were 180 plus Wigeon and a Brown Hare put in an appearence.
A small passage of Skylarks  was apparent with a flock of 6 heading due north , 3 were singing in a total of 11 birds seen.There was also a small flock of 8 Meadow Pipit , more evidence of the first early spring migrants on the move.
The best of the rest were 5 Buzzard, Pied Wagtail ,Green Woodpeckier, 4 Stock Dove, Red Legged Partridge and a mixed flock of Gulls on a sheep field with 70 plus Black Headed Gull, 5 Common Gull, and 5 Lesser Black Backed Gull.

After work on a spring like day it was a pleasure to be out and about. I was only out for 45 mins but it felt very spring like. I was wodering what I may have missed from earlier in the day. There were a few highlights .There was only 2 Redwing and Starling were down to 300 plus. There were a number of Gulls were about with 69 plus Black Headed Gulls and a flock of 40 plus Common Gulls which were soaring high to the north east.
There was a flock of 68 plus Lapwing which moved down river but this was eclipsed by the 300 plus Wigeon which flew over the patch ,they must have been disturbed from the flood meadows .
The best of the rest were Pied Wagtail, 2 Buzzard and the wintering Kestrel and 2 Stock Dove  

After a few days working in Holland it was great to have time to walk around the patch. What a difference ,it felt almost spring like today with the tempreature being around 9c.
The star bird today was a fantastic Barn Owl that drifted down the lane at 5.40pm , a year tick and agreat bird to boot. The numbers were provided by a staggering 4200 plus Starling which were feeding on stubble and wet pasture
Fieldfare numbered 84 plus and Redwing 24 plus .A male Sparrowhawk hunted the hedges and a couple of Stock Dove were feeding in one of the fields. There was also a couple of Buzzards around and a Pied Wagtail on a dung heap. In a couple of weeks I will be looking for the first spring migrants.\
The patch list is now 57

The first chance of having a proper walk around the patch for a week showed the ground still saturated although the floods are now almost gone.It was still cold and we have the chance of snow again tonight.
 On the feeders CoalTit, Lesser Redpoll and a male Blackcap were the best visitors, the Blackcap being the second bird of the week (the first being a female ).
On the patch itself it is much the same as the previous days with 750 plus Starling and 100 plus Black Headed Gulls on the wet pasture.
The number of winter Thrush"s is still decreasing with 50 plus Redwing and 24 plus Fieldfare today, also 1 Mistle Thrush was noted. Overhead a Raven soared over and a local Buzzard called as it hunted the fields.
It was nice to note a Yellowhammer ,the first for some weeks, also a flock of 7 Stock Dove was seen.
The first good sized flock of Chaffinch was seen since October with 54 plus in one of the hedges still a long way short of the 150 plus earlier in the Autumn.
The best of the rest were Pied Wagtail and just 1 flyover Skylark

Just a quick update, very cold with a biting north wind , however a new year tick appeared in the form of a female Blackcap which was on the feeders. These birds are from Eastern and Northern Europe and are part of the population that has started to winter in the UK, they will migrate back to Germany etc for the breeding season only to be replaced by migrants from North Africa for the summer .There was only 1 Lesser Redpoll today .
The patch itself was still very quiet with the only hightlights being 1500 plus Starling 75 plus Black Headed Gulls both feeding on the receding floodwater. Apart from 5that 120 plus Fieldfare and just 6 Redwing made up the best of the rest.
With the addition of the Blackcap the patch list now stands at 56.

The weather has turned cold again, as a result the number of Lesser Redpolls has jumped to 8 yesterday and 7 today . It is the first time I have recorded them on the patch in 11 years and to have them in the garden is a bonus.
 Generally it is all a bit samey really, with Redwings and Fieldfares numbering 120 plus each and Starling at the 300 plus mark.
A small group of 4 Meadow Pipits were in the company of a Pied Wagtail . The female wintering Kestrel was in the usual place ,in a short while she will be off to her breeding territory.On the flooded meadows the odd Mallard was bobbing about and a group of 25 Black Headed Gulls with a couple of Common Gull fed on the waters edge.A year tick was added when a flock of 12 Shelduck flew north upriver .
The patch list is now at 55

With the pressure of work this week this is a two day update .The weather has been mild and very wet with the river in full flood again. The birds have been a bit samey really with flocks of 400 plus Fieldfare and 80 plus Redwing being noteworthy. The wintering Skylark flock has been seen with a max of 30 plus. Starling were numerous onThursday with 1500 plus over. The odd Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails on the fields were scratching a living .
 It was sad to see a Lapwing on its own with a broken wing .Theqwintering female Kestrel is still with us and 1or 2 Buzzards have floated over.
On the feeders we have had 4 Lesser Redpolls on the niger feeder.
 Just a small note that it was great to see so many Red Kites on the M40, with at least 20 being counted between Reading and Oxford, but the iceing on the cake was seeing one near Chedworth over the Gloucestershire county line. We usually see one or two on the patch around mid May