Tuesday 16th. April 2013

An 0430 alarm call , and I was off to help fellow hedgelayer Roger with a bird survey on farmland around Bewl Water Reservoir , near Lamberhurst , Kent . No sooner had I got on the road , drizzle started to fall , and it continued intermittently all the way down to the site . Added to that , the wind was really gusty , and cool . We set off on a three hour survey in some really good bird habitat , a mixture of water , farmland and woods , but as I say the conditions were not conducive to birding . In all , 33 species were recorded , with many expected species missing . Good numbers of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were recorded , but these were the only migrants that were . There were a few highlights , including a drumming Lesser Spotted Woodpecker that was very difficult to spot in the gloom , but Roger managed to get it in the binoculars just before it flew off . My contribution was a

flyover Red Kite , at distance and in the gloom , the shots I quickly fired off produced just a silhouette of the bird , but no question of the species . In the woodland areas , large areas were

carpeted with Wood Anemones - Anenome nemorosa , a member of the Buttercup family , but with no sunshine , their flowers were closed tightly . Amongst the Bluebells , 10/15 spikes of Early Purple

Orchid - Orchis mascula  , not yet in flower were a good find as they hadn't been recorded before on site . By the time we finished the survey , conditions had hardly improved from when we started . As I would be almost passing , I called in at the 'Tree laying' Reserve for a look around . The area around the feeders were much quieter , with just a single male Siskin seen , and Tits , Chaffinches and

Goldfinches taking the opportunity to gorge on the food provided . A look under the refugia produced a juvenile Smooth Newt , A Common Shrew that didn't hang around , and three juvenile Great

Crested Newts together with a juvenile Slow Worm , all warming up together . The best sighting was an all too brief glimpse of a Stoat . It appeared to go into a wood pile , which I staked out for quite some time , before moving on without another sighting , perhaps next visit . A sub adult Grass Snake

was little compensation . A male Pheasant was strutting around the place as if he owned it , but he did

look very dapper in his breeding plumage . A bit more colour on the flower front , with the yellow Lesser Celandine being joined by the first Common Dog Violets - Viola riviniana that I have seen

this year . By the time I left , there was very little improvement in the weather , and that was born out when I stopped on the causeway at Bough Beech on my way home . The wind was coming straight down the reservoir , and it was chilly . I did find some shelter around the Visitor Centre and also saw

my second Swallow of the year , being blown past me . Apart from that , just two more Grass Snakes that slither quickly away before they got into the viewfinder , and as I returned to the car , a very

confiding 'cock Sparrow' , one of several that are usually found at the entrance . Heading home over the Greensand Ridge , the skies began to brighten , and I arrived home to sunshine , that Carol informed me had been out since lunchtime . Can't win them all came to mind .