Chiltern Birder

We have had very hard frosts for the last few days and I have been twice to Rickmansworth. Yesterday was simply a walk around Bury Lake but today was some serious birding on Stockers Lake. Parts of the lake were frozen and with a bright sun mist was rising off the ice. As usual in the middle of the day it was difficult to identify anything on the water from the north side of the lake with the sun so low although the wigeon were audible. Once on the south side with the sun behind things were much clearer. A red crested pochard was beautifully illuminated to show all the plumage and the bright red beak. There was a party of the birds among the islands as well as shoveller close to the shore. On the open water there were the usual mallards, gadwall, mute swans, tufties and coot as well as the flock of wigeon.

Activity has picked up a lot over the Christmas period. Suddenly the blue tits are out in force. A group will perch on a bush and one after the other will make the short dash to the feeder, grab a sunflower seed and return to the bush. The goldfinches and starlings dominate the feeders but we have also had brief visits from greenfinch, chaffinch, great tits and long tailed tits. Robins, blackbirds and dunnocks are regulars on the lawn and flowerbeds although the wrens haven't been seen for a little while.

After days of dank misty weather it was clear and crisp today, autumnal rather than wintry so I decided that some exercise across the fields was in order. Just for once I remembered to pick up the bins. There wasn't a lot going on at first apart from a lot of noise from the rooks but on the return leg I was walking along Bottom Lane and looking up towards Cowcroft Wood I could see a small party of deer grazing on the late summer planting of brassicas. The field glasses revealed five roe does. From the Cowcroft and Ladies Wood sides they were well concealed in dead ground but visible in the long view from the valley. They were far enough away not to be disturbed by me especially as the wind was in my face. This is the only the second time that I have been able to study roe deer in daylight and as they were unaware of me I could get views at all angles as they moved. Further on I left Bottom Lane to walk along the path on the ridge towards Tylers Hill. Apart from another view on ...

I happened to find myself near Rutland Water yesterday and decided, on the spur of the moment, to stop for a look around. Naturally I chose totally the wrong location for birding. With few people about there was a large flock of wigeon grazing on the short grass between the car park and the lake. Rather than frighten them I took a walk along the tarmac path that was set back from the shore. A good decision as I found that there was a flock of fieldfares in the hedgerow. Back home there seems to be a lot of thrush sized birds around staying too far away for identification. Judging by the behavour these were probably redwings. Nothing exotic has been happening in the garden although the wrens must have bred well this year as I keep seeing them in both front and back gardens. When seen close too they seem, if anything, to be even smaller than when observed from inside the house.

With the mild weather we are not seeing a lot of birds in the garden yet. The fat feeder in the front garden is seeing very little activity. In the back the starlings are busy with the fat feeder and goldfinches are regulars on the sunflower seeds. There are random visits by blue tits and this morning I was lucky enough to see a coal tit pay a very brief visit. At ground level a pair of wood pigeons stamp over the plants and a dunnock and a wren occasionally come out of hiding. Not far away in the fields there is a lot of activity. A flock of skylarks was busy among recently sprouted brassicas while yellowhammers were flitting through a hawthorn hedge. It was pure chance that one was still for long enough to be identified with the naked eye. Normally I only see them from the car when they find singing posts on roadside hedges in the spring. Away from home the River Chess is in a fairly poor way, at the moment rising from the spring by the Water Meadow car park in the town. It is sh...

The fat block on the feeder in the front garden has been taken very slowly and it was only this week that I actually saw a blue tit feeding although that probably has more to do with the fact that I normally do the washing up in the evening. I did decide that it was time to order my winter feeding supplies (fat bars, sunflower hearts, dried mealworms and raisins) and start feeding in the back garden. The first fat bar went out yesterday and I was rewarded this morning by the sound of squabbling starlings (are there any other sort?). There were four or five, this years brood judging by the state of the plumage, on the fat feeder. I returned to checking my emails, sitting with my back to the window when a large shadow swept across the screen. At the same time the noise was cut off. Looking out of the window I could see one hiding under an overhanging branch in the hedge and one on the fence looking up at the sky. It had since gone quiet but I returned to the window before hitting the...

I had quite a suprise driving back from the garden centre this afternoon. In the road between Latimer and Ley hill was a flock of ten juvenile pheasants, 7 cock birds and 3 hens. They proceeded to run down the lane away from the car milling back and forth across the road. One eventually ran down the side of the car and some of the others made for the hedgerows. As I carried on at walking pace the rest ran in front of me, one or two finally diving into the verge and the rest finally remembering their wings and taking flight.