Tuesday 10th. January 2012

Firstly , a quick catch up with yesterday's bird survey at Down House . Just 16 species were recorded , with needless to say nothing outstanding , but surprisingly just one Fieldfare and one Redwing , given the good numbers that were found just 3/4 miles away on the Common . Best find were three seed heads of Violet Helleborine , not noticed whilst in flower , and taking the total number of plants to look forward to next year to five . As usual , I had a quick look at Keston Ponds on the way back home , finding 3M and 1F Mandarin in their favoured place and another large flock of Redwings , again feeding solely on Holly berries . The Holly is so thick where they were feeding , it was impossible to get a number , but it wouldn't surprise me if the flock was as big as the one on the Common , especially given the noise of them all chattering . Having read Dean's / DDD post of finding female Hazel flowers already , I had a look around , having spent an age failing to get a

single shot of the Redwings . Well , I did get a shot of the female Hazel flower , and for once , down South is keeping stride with up North .
Today , I had a couple of errands to do and a visit to the tip / recycle centre , so in between two of them , I had a look around Kelsey Park in Beckenham , and actually managed to arrive in one of the few glimpses of sunshine to be had this morning . My arrival was announced by a Song Thrush ,

singing his heart out , high up , near the entrance . Before reaching the lake , a Grey Heron swooped

over and landed on top of a Yew , looking somewhat discheveled , a possible answer to the state was found later . This was just the first of many Grey Heron seen , as on the large island , at least 15 , probably more , nests are in state of construction or refurbishment , so there was much toing and froing as materials were brought in . No surprises waterfowl wise , with Tufted , Mallard , Coot ,

Moorhen , Greylag and Canada Geese all in good numbers , together with this 'Canlag' species , which , according to a local , turns up every now and again . Around the other side of the island , I

found this juvenile Cormorant , unusually , the only member of the species seen there today . Down where the lake become The Beck river again , I could see several Mandarin , tucked well away under overhanging Laurel , but not interested in venturing out . I arrived back in front of the Heronry , where activity had increased markedly , especially by one pair , the male arriving with fresh twigs for the nest on a regular basis and the female busily knitting them into the structure . He must have been

doing the right thing , because he then got his reward , noisily . Talking of noise , the sideshow on

the lake was when 4 Mute Swans appeared , two cool customers in front , followed by two on a mission behind . Each cool customer was hounded up and down the lake by one of the mission birds , but always able to stay at a distance to keep themselves safe . Even when the mission bird decided to

 fly rather than paddle , the cool customer once again manage to keep out of harms way . The local chap told me that the cool pair turned up a week ago and the scrapping has been going on constantly since then . It is believed that the cool pair could be the offspring of the mission pair from 2/3 years ago . Last years offspring keep well away down the other end of the lake , but no doubt will be driven off eventually . All this action seemed to inspire the pair of Grey Heron directly above the previous

pair , and they too got on with ensuring the continuation of the species , but they did have the courtesy to turn around . With lunchtime , and cloud approaching , I had one last look for the Mandarins , and found two males and one female that had been tempted out by bread being thrown

from the bridge over the waterfall at the end of the lake . They were very shy at first , but got used to me eventually . The colours on the males were incredible , and with the breeding season close , there

was much posturing from both males in front of the female . Here one of the males is just about to rise up and throw his head back in display . The female wasn't going to be outdone , looking very

prim and proper , and ready for the big occasion , when the males sort themselves out .