Birding Braunie

I say this at the start of every new year, the first trip out is alway great because every species sighting is a tick for my year. 2016 was no exception. With two bird races kicking off, The Rainham Marshes one created by Howard Vaughan and a smaller more private affair in the Lee Valley with Roy Woodward and Dave Hutley. Lee Valley, particularly around the Fishers Green area held a good number of Lesser Redpolls through January. These were mainly seen around the Longlands Hide occasionally coming to the feeders. A pair of Coal Tits also enjoyed the feeding station while large flocks of Fieldfare and Redwing could be found on the outlying fields. A Lesser spotted woodpecker was also sighted near the hide by my friend Brenda. Lucky lady! Up at Holyfield Farm, regulars included Grey Wagtail , Chiffchaff and a pair of Stonechats , often sighted on the pathway towards the farm. Common Buzzards , Kestrels and a couple of Red Kite were in the area. Nightingale Wood had a good nu...

Hooray! We are now in March but the idea of spending a day at the Bittern Watchpoint is a bittersweet one. On the one hand, we will shortly lose the enigmatic Bittern from the reedbeds but on the other, well actually both hands will now not be frozen solid and painfully numb. Before I open up the watchpoint I like to get around parts of the park to see what’s about. Yesterday I picked the walk up to Holyfield Hall farm. With a species list for the year of 99, I was hopeful of getting a Green Woodpecker at least but this bird has eluded me since Jan 1st and although I heard a couple, I didn’t see any. Overhead, I saw a Carrion Crow mobbing a Sparrowhawk and the edges of the goosefields had noisy House Sparrows arguing about clearly important matters such was the cacophony  coming from the hedgerows. In the trees gathered 30+ Redwings and a few Fieldfare , getting ready to leave for the Spring. The Goosefields had as you might expect, a few flocks of geese, including Greylag ...