Thursday 11th. April 2013

Two more problems to contend with regarding the computer . The weekend before last , the computer was getting really sluggish , and I noticed that the blue indicator showing how much capacity was left on 'Local disk C' , the internal hard drive , had turned red . showing just 26GB free out of 223GB . Fortunately , we had a family get together that weekend , and took the laptop along to show my brother , whom I had bought it from . We didn't manage to solve it on the day , but after a couple of evenings on the telephone , and him directing me to areas of the computer that I didn't know even existed , the reason was found . I download pictures into Windows Photo Gallery , and process them from there . The ones I want to keep , I copy to an external hard drive , then delete all into the Recycle bin , which I empty when I remember , thinking that was the end of them . But , Windows Photo Gallery keeps the original image in another file that is not deleted , and builds up , eating up the Local disk C space . When I found the file , there were some 28,000 images in it , from both my and my brother's snapping . No wonder the computer was sluggish . Thanks to my brother , cheers John , the computer now runs much quicker , and I now have 170GB free of the 223GB . If anyone has a similar problem , I'd be only too happy to point them in the right direction .
No sooner was that sorted , getting on line became almost impossible , and the phone had a constant loud crackle on it . Yesterday morning , the engineer arrived and found a bad connection up the pole in the road outside the house . That solved the crackling on the phone , but hoped for better performance with Broadband is still a long way away , with the Broadband connection constantly dropping out , or taking ages to engage .
Catching up on the last few days , on Saturday afternoon a look up on the Common found things very quiet and after failing to find a Brimstone or Peacock butterfly on the wing , I went to see how the Long Tailed Tits were getting on with their nest , that they started some weeks ago in a thick clump of Gorse . They must have stopped building during the cold weather , as the nest was not much further on . It was obvious that the pair were very selective with the materials , as after every visit , they flew well out of sight and didn't return for several minutes . This time away gave an opportunity

for a close up view of the nest , once again an amazing creation , held together by spider's webs and decorated with lichens . Whilst watching the nest building , a pair and a singleton Common Buzzard

drifted over the site and back several times , the pair displaying once when they passed high overhead . On the way back home , the juvenile Common Buzzard was sitting again in the tree by the

lane , and by staying in the car , managed to get a better shot . In reply to Malachite 11 , the bird can be found in the horse field on the right hand side of Fox Hill , heading downhill from  Keston village . Look on any of the fence posts that divide the field , or on the posts and trees surrounding the field . His favourite posts are those opposite Heritage Hill , where I usually park . It's still showing well , so hope you are lucky . Sunday morning , with the frost just starting to melt , I arrived up on the Greensand Ridge to look for Adders . It turned out to be

a good visit , finding three pairs of males and two singletons . No females seen as yet , they have more sense than to come out in these conditions , they will wait for the temperature to rise . On the way back home , I again called in on the Common and again headed for the LTT nest . Since yesterday the roof has been completed , and work on the entrance hole has started . I do hope that they are successful after all their hard work . As I mentioned before , they are probably the pair that raised two successful broods last year , within a couple of metres of this year's nest . On my way back to the car , I had my first very mobile singing Chiffchaff . Whilst having breakfast over the last few

days , as well as constant visits from the local Jackdaws , a very nervous Jay was also attracted . On Wednesday morning , one became two , and the second bird appears much more layed back , feeding

on the top of the barbecue , just 3mtrs. from the kitchen window , and not bothered by myself and the camera in full view in the kitchen . If only it had been in the sunshine , and no double glazing in between . I later had a look around South Norwood Country Park , hoping to find some migrants in some hazy sunshine , but the only ones seen / heard during the visit were two Chiffchaffs . I must say

though , that the song of this male Dunnock was doing his bit to make it seem springlike . But , alongside the lake , this Moorhen seemed to be suffering from 'Spring fever' , having flown 3-4

metres up into a Goat Willow , to get at newly emerging catkins , which it seem to be enjoying . Another visit up onto the Greensand Ridge in the afternoon , as the first signs of rainclouds appeared , proved to be the most successful so far , with 11 Adders , all males were found , including

these three , snugly tucked together against the lowering temperature . A very quick stop on the

Common on the way home , found the LTT's nest completed , fingers crossed for them , and they will

probably need it , as this male Kestrel was perched very close by .
Just before publishing this , I got a call from my ISP to make sure all was well with the telephone repair . I confirmed it was , but also told them the Broadband problems . They say it could take 72 hours from the repair for the Broadband signal to settle down , we'll see . Can't say when the next post will be , the Broadband connection has failed about six times whilst trying to do this one . Hope  things pan out soon .