Tuesday 5th. March 2013

After spending yesterday in chainsaw gear , the third day running and with the weather taking a turn for the better , I couldn't wait to get out this morning , and headed for Old Lodge Reserve on Ashdown Forest . Too early for migrants yet , so I made my targets Crossbill and Wood Lark , with anything else being a bonus . A cold but bright start , but as I crossed from Kent into Sussex , that brightness had gone and I was in a veil of fog . I had visions of another foggy visit , like the ones I had last year , but fortunately , as I neared the reserve , the fog lifted and the blue skies returned . 8C was the reading on my arrival and that soon started to rise . Walking along the top track there was plenty of birdsong , but nearly all Chaffinch , with the odd Song Thrush and Wren . A pair of Coal Tits calling to each other in a pine and the odd Blue and Great Tit were also heard . As I approached a small water filled ditch , several small birds could be seen on the ground and flying into the surrounding trees . These turned out to be Reed Buntings , the males already adorned in their

breeding plumage . Things went quiet again , until I almost reached the corner to go downhill , when two birds flew over heading the way I had come . I watched them land in a favoured area of Wood

Lark , so made my way back there . Sure enough , the pair were feeding and I managed to get a few shots before they moved on again . As I headed downhill towards the little stream , one of the few

raptors seen during the visit , a Common Buzzard passed by over the tree line at the top of the reserve . No sign of any Stonechat in the valley of the stream , but having crossed the bridge and climbing the other side , a singing Wood Lark could be heard from the nearby MoD land , but I could not find it .Another scan from the top failed to find the singer , but it was a very pastoral scene with

several ponies grazing . Levelling out at the top , I could hear the 'cronk , cronk' of Raven , and headed in that direction . On the way , I came across a few female Fallow Deer , who posed nicely at

first , then showed the other side of their character , and then scampering off . I finally got the area where all the 'cronking' was coming from , and then spent an hour trying to get a decent sighting of the bird . I did get a couple of glimpses at a bird flew between trees , but that was all . I was about to pack up , when the sound of wings above my head , and a Raven flew from behind the trees , right over my head and away , calling a couple of times . I got a few rushed shots , this being the most

reasonable . The remainder of the visit was very quiet , often the way there with lunchtime approaching , and without any sign of Crossbill . I had my lunch in the car park , and decided to revisit the reserve where I had been working at the weekend , now that the sun was out . On the way between the two site , I saw three male Brimstone butterflies flying along the verges . When I arrived at the second site , the feeders were almost stripped , but there were still plenty of birds about . The sunshine really brought the Siskins to life , these two caught waiting their chance to get on the

feeders . I couldn't match the 11 Common Buzzards seen on Saturday , but there were five riding the

thermals overhead today , but I only managed to get four of them in the viewfinder at any one time . Also seen were three juvenile Great Crested Newts , out of hibernation and warming up under a piece

of felt . I didn't have my macro lens with me , so had to stand off with the zoom lens to get a shot of them . Walking around the rest of the reserve , a Comma butterfly feebly flew past as if it was still

half asleep , another first for the year . Last shot taken before leaving was another Common Buzzard . Back at the car , the temperature still 14C .