Sunday 3rd. February 2013

A catch up post on the last three days , started with a search on Friday for two small flocks of Waxwings in the Croydon area . Despite a good look around the areas , not a single bird was seen . On the way home , I went to check on the juvenile Common Buzzard , with the bonus of the sun coming out on my way there .No sign to begin with , but after a short time , it swooped down for a worm , but flew straight back into the trees at the back of the horse field . More waiting and another couple of worms brought it a bit closer , but still too far to photograph . I must admit , I was about to

give up , when it flew straight towards me and landed no more than 15 mtrs. away . Another worm

and then it flew onto one of the fence posts , and posed . Chatting to one of the local residents earlier , he had asked what it was eating and suggested Pheasants , as there were plenty about . I said that I had only seen it eating worm , and had never seen it attempt to take anything else . This was proved to be the case , as just before I left , it flew back to the trees at the back of the field and landed in a

tree , in which two female Pheasants were already perched lower down , and they didn't bat an eyelid .
With wall to wall sunshine promised for the morning , I left the house early to see if I could get some Hawfinch shots in better light conditions . I arrived at 0730 , before the sun rose and before the magical half hour when the birds are most active according to Adam / East Malling , Ditton and Barming , and he should know as they are almost on his doorstep . I wasn't the first there though , Nick , who is a fellow reptile surveyor up on the Greensand Ridge , had been there for some time already . There was some cloud about , but as the sun showed for the first time , it wasn't long before one then a second Hawfinch flew in , perching right at the top of the Ash tree . Not the best lighting

 situation , but better than being just a silhouette . During the morning a possible third bird was seen , and by the time Adam got there , it was already a mini twitch with 8/10 birders in attendance . It was just as Adam arrived that I got probably the best shots that I managed , but would loved to have got

just one without twigs in the way and not looking upwards . In all , about 15 birders arrived whilst I was there , probably more through the afternoon . Don't be fooled by the blue sky on the last shot , there was a lot more cloud than blue sky around , but at least I was lucky enough when I took those shots . By 1130 it was all clouds , so I headed back home for lunch .
This morning , I did the Down House bird survey in overcast and chilly conditions . Not a good result , with just 15 species recorded , but bankers such as Blackbird , Greenfinch ,Starling , Wren Dunnock and any species of Thrush failed to show up , which would have made it more respectable .
On my way round , a few signs of Spring were found , Dog's Mercury / Mercurialis perennis , a

member of the Spurge family , already in flower , if you can call it that , and also pushing through the

leaf litter on the woodland floor , Bluebells . A quick look at Keston Ponds on the way back found nothing apart from the usual species , and no sign of the Buzzard either , but there were several

Redwings , I haven't often said that this Winter , in the horse fields along with the Mistle Thrushes and local Corvids and Woodpigeons .
This afternoon whilst on a walk with Carol , we found the first Lesser Celandine flowers on a roadside verge , along with two yellow Crocuses , probably dumped with garden rubbish in the past , and in a front garden , the first Daffodils of the year in full flower .