Is spring early?

In the garden this morning, hen Blackbirds are gathering nest material so to are Magpies, and Blue Tits are prospecting the nest boxes. By the amount of song and noise, Song Thrushes, Great spotted woodpeckers and Robins are plentiful. On the lawn which is frozen this morning at least 20 Yellowhammers and a solitary Reed Bunting are feeding on corn. And back-up on the feeders a handful of Goldfinches and 2 Siskins fight it out over the Nijer seed. Thats it for a week Lanzarote here we come!

Departing Brent Geese

Barmy warm sunny clear weather at Dungeness (February 28th)made it feel more May than March. On the sea by the fishing boats, a broad thinly populated raft stretching east to west of Great Crested Grebes fished leisurely. This flock must number thousands of birds and is considered the highest numbered winter flock in the British Isles. There are also a few Auks and Red-throated Divers mixed in too. A one hour sea watch saw two flocks of 40 -50 Dark bellied Brent Geese heading up channel on their first stage back to breeding grounds in the Siberian Tundra. A few Common Scoter were seen flying west, presumably rejoining the larger flocks in Camber Bay. On the ground, by the fishing boats, 20-30 Turnstones loitered on the foreshore and a pair of Skylarks were chasing around the boat and net area.

Mid-Feb snow

Red-legged Partridge prints

Pheasant in the garden snow

Just a modest amount of overnight snow was enough to bring in an excellent array of garden birds. Green woodpecker, Reed bunting, Goldfinches and a large Yellowhammer and House Sparrow flock have spent most of the day feeding in the garden. And, to great relief , all the all 5 Partridges are present again. It would appear than one bird has decided to roost (and also feed) away from the rest of the flock.

Partridge calling

The talk of the village is where have the Partridges gone - there is now just one remaining with the other five now disappeared for for a couple of days. Our one remaining Partridge still dutifully patrols the garden and at dawn calls in vain from the top of our chimmney for his missing flock. This bird had a near escape with a fox this morning and we had seen previously the local black Cat taking an interest too. Maybe the other Partridges know when good times are nearly at an end and have moved on to pastures new.

Fox on the run

Just managed to catch this fox sniffing around the garden whilst we were having breakfast (so we all managed to see it). Our one remaining Partridge (more about that later) was in the garden at the same time and pushed itself tight to the ground and froze.

Winter garden Reed Bunting

A welcome addition to the annual garden list was this male Reed Bunting. Historically we always find a couple of Reed buntings in February. And so with 20+ Yellowhammers feeding daily in the garden it was nice to find this first bird of the year. With luck it will stay around, and in the coming weeks we can watch its black glossy summer plumage reappear. With little disturbance, (boys at school!) this bird came right up to the window decking. I find they can be quite docile, the last to fly when the Sparrowhawk is around. Images shot through double glazing (so, sorry they're not very good).

Grey Seal - Dungeness

This Grey seal loafed off the beach yesterday afternoon at Dungeness. We've seen the odd Seal throughout the winter and I wonder if this is the same individual as the one which visits Rye harbour regularly to? These pictures show the long 'roman' nose that distinguish it from Common Seal.
On what was a sunny and calm (at sea) afternoon we also saw one Porpoise accompanying Kittiwakes and Little Gulls feeding inshore.