Friday 11th. February 2011

How I wish that I hadn't been volunteering , finishing the hedgelaying on Tuesday , the only day of decent weather this week . Even yesterday's work up on the Common was cancelled due to rain all day , but it did mean that I could catch up with processing the photographs from my recent trip to Dungeness . With more miserable weather this morning , I finally finished the job and managed to do a few outstanding around the house . At lunchtime , breaks appeared in the cloud and the odd ray of sunshine appeared . That was enough to get me out , heading once again for Sevenoaks Reserve . Half way there , as I drove down Polhill , the sky went dull grey again and the sun disappeared . Even the traffic was against me as I got caught up in a queue , as a skip lorry blocked both lanes of the road , as it delivered an empty and took a full one . Really I should have turned back then . Eventually , I reached for the reserve and headed straight for the Willow Hide where a Bittern had been seen earlier in the week . There was already one birder scanning the reedbeds on the far side of the lake and I joined the scanning . After a while he spoke , saying that yesterday afternoon , he had watched a Bittern for well over an hour , but there was no sign of it today , the story of my life . With little else of interest around that lake , I went for a look around the large lake , which I must admit looked very quiet as well . The only saving grace was that the Black-necked Grebe was showing again , so I got behind a large tree and waited for it to get closer . As I waited , it started to drizzle , which turned into rain , which turned quite heavy , great . After about 20 minutes , the Grebe came slightly closer and I fired off a few shots . The problem , apart from the light conditions , was that the bird hardly stayed on the surface for any length of time , before diving again . Consequently I did get quite a few 'rear end' shots . I decided to head home , and on the way back to the car park , did find a very mobile Goldcrest , and just off the main path , a female Reed Bunting .
By the time I reached the car , it was pouring again , and it was lights on on the way home .
Hedgelaying again tomorrow near Guildford . Keeping fingers crossed that the day will be as dry as last Saturday .