Sunday 14th February - This Winter's frozen blast

 ... finished today with a warming to 2 or 3C having spent the last 5 or 6 days at temperatures below freezing.

We actually had some snow on Monday and Tuesday, although on the ground it never amounted to more than a dusting, but the near permafrost conditions kept an increase in the bird numbers in the garden for a few more days.

I had an astonishing number of finches, particularly Monday to Wednesday and in discussion with Mark Mallelieu, the SOS (Sussex Ornithological Society) County Recorder, I took some video, the best of which he kindly posted on the SOS youtube channel,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQvWK6plB8o

I've not tried videoing birds before, so I rigged up my old camera and lens and it seemed to work ok.

In terms of numbers, there were 40+ Chaffinch, a peak of 14 Brambling, 12 Lesser Redpoll plus the Mealy Redpoll until the 11th. 12+ Goldfinch up to 9 Siskin, 5 Greenfinch and a single appearance of a pair of Bullfinch. A male Blackcap also re-appeared for a few days. All along with 3 Pied Wagtails, a high count of 19 Blackbirds (generally at first light), a Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, one or two Redwing and the local Robin, Dunnock, 5 Tit species up to 10 Stock Doves, Pheasants, Woodpigeons, Jackdaws, Magpies ..... it was busy.

Having said that there had been no sign locally of any influx of Snipe, Woodcock, Lapwing, Golden Plover,  or Winter thrushes which had been reported in increasing numbers, that was until yesterday when I had 180 Lapwing all flying west in small groups over the course of an hour around midday.

Brambling

Siskin

Lesser Redpoll (left), Mealy Redpoll (right)

Brambling

Mealy Redpoll (left), Lesser Redpoll (right)

40+ Lapwing, one of the groups seen moving West

Common Buzzard

Monday 8th February - More birds than snow.

I think we re all kids at heart, well certainly in this household, and the strange excitement that existed on Saturday night when we went to bed, based solely on the un-doubting reliance of dodgy weather forecasts that the rain would turn to snow and be heavy throughout the morning dared to encourage thoughts about building Snowmen and snowball fights. So waking up on Sunday morning to a deflated household when the forecast continually moved the 100% chance of snow to two hours hence and then two hours after that, and repeated again... it never arrived.

The bonus, for me at least, was the birds did arrive and another increase in the finch numbers in the garden. Chaffinches number anywhere between 25-35, I normally underestimate. The Chaffinches prefer the cover by the Chicken pen and stick to the spilled seed and feeders in the cover of the hedge, they are further away from the house and there is a blind-spot looking from the Kitchen doors behind one of the veggie beds. With them today I counted 12 Brambling, an increase from 7 during the week, with a few smart males in their number. Goldfinch total 15-20 birds and have been frequenting the spilled seed underneath the couple of feeders near the patio, there were 9 Siskin today again closer to the house and in total 11 Redpoll, 10 of which were Lesser Redpoll and one was a good candidate for Mealy Redpoll, a much greyer, larger individual compared to the warm brown of the smaller Lesser Redpolls with distinct white wingbars and marked white edges to Secondaries and Primaries. I tried to get a shot of its rump, but I was never offered the view, so will be keeping an eye out for this.

A Sparrowhawk shot through earlier and a Buzzard has been sitting in the field. Plenty of other birds have made it a busy lawn with up to 9 Blackbirds, 5 Jackdaw, 10 Stock Doves , 2 Magpies, 3 Pied Wagtails, Blue Tits, Great Tits a single Coal Tit, 5 Long-tailed Tits and the March Tit was heard with the usual Dunnocks and Robin.

Watching the birds at spells throughout the day was thoroughly enjoyable.

Mealy Redpoll (middle) with Lesser Redpoll & Goldfinch

Mealy Redpoll (Right) and Lesser Redpoll

Mealy Redpoll

Mealy Redpoll

Brambling with Goldfinch & Chaffinch

Saturday 6th February - Spring before more snow.

Last weekend was the annual RSPB garden bird watch,  A single hour noting numbers and species of bird in that time. I couldn't do this on Saturday as it was so wet I had trouble seeing out of the windows, instead Sunday morning was chosen 10.30-1130am. The result was a fair average compared to previous years and much less than had been in the garden yesterday when it was wet, recording 27 Species (list below), the highest total previously is 29 with the lowest 24, Just before the hour started an Egyptian Goose flew over, which would have been a good addition but it missed the cut.  We went for a walk South of the village though the paths were still sodden with slippery mud, so not much seen. 

Garden bird watch list.

1. Buzzard 1

2. Red Kite 1

3. Sparrowhawk 1

4. Woodpigeon 4

5. Stock Dove 7

6. Collared Dove 2

7. Magpie 2

8. Carrion Crow 1

9. Jackdaw 3

10. Great Spotted Woodpecker

11. Blackbird 5

12. Redwing 1

13. Robin 2

14. Dunnock 2

15. Pied Wagtail 1

16. Blue Tit 4

17. Great Tit 5

18. Coal Tit 1

19.Marsh Tit 2

20. Chaffinch 17

21. Goldfinch 12

22. Greenfinch 3

24. Brambling 4

25.  Siskin 2

26. Lesser Redpoll 3

27 House Sparrow 2

There were 2 Tawny Owls making a lot of noise last night, either in the Beech or the Oaks near the garden. This morning had some early morning fog and then cleared to bright sunshine with a touch of warmth at 9c ! and was so nice to be outside with the feeling of Spring being just around the corner, a wander around the fields produced the first Firecrest of the year on the edge of the gully near the cleared area, it wasn't quite producing a song but was definitely thinking about it. I do wonder whether it has been in the gully all Winter. I'd seen one before Christmas but nothing since but it doesn't take much to hide a Firecrest. Approaching midday, the clear blue skies started to cloud up just a little, which felt perfect for raptors and right on queue I had 3 Goshawks in the same air-space together, my first sighting this year, I think 2 females and a male, with the females at one stage having a mid-air tussle. 4 or 5 Buzzards were also seen.

Heavy snow and ice predicted for tomorrow, so maybe the birds will increase.

Lesser Redpoll

Common Buzzard

Firecrest

Firecrest

Bit distant, 2 soaring Goshawk