Sunday dawned cold and windy  and few birds around, the hightlite being 2 Golden Plover which flew north.The Stock Dove invasion continues with 25 plus . The wintering Kestrel is still on station and a couple Buzzard were soaring about. An odd thing was a flock of 9 Magpie .
The best of the rest 100 plus Starling, 5 Fieldfare, Greater Spotted Woodpecker.
Today was milder and less windy, The Starling flock had increased to 400plus and Stock Doves to a massive 40 plus. There were more Redwings with 59 feeding on damp pasture ,but just 1 Fieldfare.1 Skylark passed over and the Kestrel was scanning her winter home from on high . Roll on the spring 

A last something to write about, the patch came up with the goods with a cracking Red Kite which drifted southwards at 10.15am , an annual visitor in usually May so a bit earlier than normal .
On the feeders 2 Coal Tit and 5 Lesser Redpoll were today joined by a male Reed Bunting. On the  patch 18 plus Stock Dove were seen , we seem to be having a little bit of an influx at the moment..
Winter Thrush"s were about with 38 plus Redwing and just 8 Fieldfare. A flock of 140 plus Lapwing moved downriver. A few more Meadow Pipit were about with 15 plus , a sign of a few early spring migrants.
There were good numbers of Rook (55 plus), and Jackdaw (80 plus ), feeding on the manured fields ,
The best of the rest were Pied Wagtail, 2 Buzzard and a flock of 7 Magpie and a drumming Greater Spotted Woodpecker.
The patch list now moves to 59

Any thoughts of spring have fanished as winter is back with a biting cold wind, the benefit is that it has dried alot of the standing water away and for the first time in months it is dry under foot, even the river meadows have drained.
The bird life is stuck in the winter doldrums  although today I managed to find one year tick for the patch in the form of  a flyover Grey Heron which was being mobbed by the local corvids.
On the feeders there were 5 Lesser Redpoll and a Coal Tit and a flock of 25 Chaffinch .On the patch there was a flock 500 plus Lapwing which was a fine sight, with small numbers of Fieldfare (10), Redwing (10), and 100 plus Starling.
 There appears to be an influx of Stock Dove with 13 been seen today, and the first Linnets were seen for quite awhile with a small flock of 4 heading north.
A Raven was feeding with good numbers of Jackdaws and Rooks on the recently spread fields (now all the fields are covered in cow shite.
The usual Raptors were present with the wintering Kestrel still in situ and there were 3 Buzzards dotted about.
  A Greater Spotted Woodpecker put in a brief appearence.
The patch list now stands at 58 

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