Wednesday 6th. March 2013

Weather nowhere as good as yesterday , but at least it was dry and reasonably mild . I set off this morning to do the bird survey at Down House , and after a couple of very poor returns , was pleased to record 22 species , which for the site is above average . The pick of the bunch were a pair of

Bullfinch , a male Yellowhammer who found the top of the highest tree around to sing from , and a

Nuthatch in the formal garden , that would have benefited from some of yesterday's sun . The list would have included Skylark , if one of the birds above the field on the other side of the lane had drifted over .
My usual quick look at Keston Ponds produced nothing out of the ordinary and even the juvenile Common Buzzard was nowhere to be seen around the horse field . But the Rooks didn't let me down ,

with 7/8 nests in the one tree , and a good possibility of more to come . With a bit more brightness and a rise in the temperature early on this afternoon , I set off for the Greensand Ridge , to search for reptiles , as Common Lizard , Grass Snake and Adder , had all been recorded during the recent couple of sunny spells . The first two eluded me today , but 10 Adders , all males as expected so early in the emergence , some singles , twos and a three were recorded , once again the multiple sightings usual
now , but not as breeding time approaches . A few of the new arrivals .

But , having seen the forecast , I think they will be getting back down below ground again , in the near future . On the way back home I had a quick look around the Common , finding a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly and , just 2 mtrs. away from where they nested last year , a pair of LTTits were busily constructing this year's home . Last stop was at the horse field , and this time found the juvenile Common Buzzard on one of the

posts , but as soon as I raised the camera , it was off , heading for the large trees at the back of the field ,

and there it stayed . And finally , I thought that I had had a good day yesterday , but an email from John , one of the stalwarts on the reserve , who I met up with whilst there , informed me that about an hour after I left , he had a Red Kite circling overhead , and got some cracking shots . If you would like to see what I missed out on , the link is , http://www.flickr/x/t/0095009/photos/plumberjohn/8531347563/ and click on Chid birds .