Chiltern Birder

For a variety of reasons I have only been putting out fat blocks this winter. In the recent very cold weather there has been a total lack of birds in the garden. One bright spot this morning was a wren hopping into the ivy at one corner of the back wall. This is the first wren that I have seen in the garden for quite a while. On Christmas day I had to drive over to Essex for a family visit and was lucky to get a glimpse of a fieldfare on the bushes by the Magic Roundabout in Hemel. Before Christmas I was in Thame and there were about a dozen kites over the town. The concentration of kites over inhabited areas in the snow was quite striking.

Not much to see in the garden recently. I have fat bars hanging at both front and back but only very small quantities are being taken. The only thing of any note was a flock of long tailed tits in the garden a few days ago. However, driving between Latimer and Ley Hill today I did see a small thrush fly into a roadside tree. As it landed it fluttered its wings to show a flash of red. I have seen thrushes in flocks which might possible have been redwings already but that was my first positive identification of the winter.

Taking my usual walk today it was striking how the autumn colours had come on in the last few days. When the sun came out I really regretted not having the camera with me. There wasn't much to see in the way of variety or numbers of birds. A couple of probable skylarks put up on a cultivated field but the gem was naturally a red kite. Circling over the fields behind my house at tree top height it finally came over my head as I reached the edge of the field. Living where I do I suppose that I should be blasé about them by now but when one comes overhead there is no choice. I still just stop and say "wow!"

Suddenly, in the last few days, the leaves have turned red or gold. It had seemed that autumn was heading for a season of sludge colours until then. Locally I haven't seen much. Goldfinches briefly visited the garden and a flock of long tailed tits were working along a hedgerow nearby. Although I have never seen another pheasant in the garden one has been calling close to the boundary. Over at Hemel yesterday I saw a trio of cormorants flying close to the line of the canal above Boxmoor, heading up the valley. That isn't an area where they are common. Today a last minute decision was made to go to Fishers Green in the Lee Valley Country Park which meant that I was without a pair of bins. I never got around to putting a spare pair in the glove box after I changed the car earlier this year. There was a fairly standard selection of birds on the water including mute swans, black headed gulls, pochard, tufted duck, gadwall, great crested grebe, lapwing, dabchick and coot. On the fe...

Despite the frequent bright sunshine the weather has turned very crisp and autumnal in the last few days. When taking some exercise this morning it was quite a suprise to see a swallow zooming across a freshly ploughed field. As the trees are pretty well in full leaf that was the only thing of any interest that I noted. In the garden recently I have had a flock of long tailed tits pay a brief visit and a very quick glimpse of what looked like a linnet. In the village a jay looking for acorns on the verge made a colourful change from the magpies

For a variety of reasons I have neglected the birds since the spring but travelling to East Anglia by train last weekend I did pay attention to what I could see out of the window. Between Stowmarket and Ipswich I was suprised to see an avocet flying alongside the train over some rather marshy looking fields. At Manningtree there is a lovely view of the estury, the train was a little fast for identifying most of the waders but there were several egrets there. These are the first that I have seen on the east coast but as I haven't been birding in the area for many years that doesn't say much. At home the garden has attracted the basic collection of blue and great tits, robins and wood pigeons. At night the tawny owls have been very audible.

An interesting few days. On Thursday I paid a visit to a small music club on board a barge on the Grand Union near Uxbridge. It was rather nice to have a swan drift past the window, not something you that happens in the typical pub back room. There was also a heron on top on a nearby boat and my first tern of the season was circling the area for a while. Today I had to make a visit to Essex. There was a pair of red kites over Ley Hill Common which was unusual, I see singletons around there regularly but not normally more than one. Driving along the former M10 I saw a buzzard and going through Epping Forest a brief glimpse of something large. I would love to definitely have it down as another buzzard but I can't be 100% sure. A pity as I have never seen one in Essex before. At the RHS garden at Hyde Hall I heard a cuckoo while loading the car up. Another customer also commented that it was the first that she had heard this year.