Lapwing. . . it has hit hard . . . it brought Beddington 14 Bean Geese and 3 Grey Plovers as well as Waxwings for various sites around London. Banstead wasn't as great . . .
Common BuzzardNot surprisingly, it was a snow day at school today so I decided to see if I could get a piece of the action down at Canons Farm. The S1 was not running to Banstead so I had to walk through the middle of Banstead Downs plus a bit more to get there, taking me about 45 minutes. After over-sleeping, putting together my lunch, finding sufficient woolies and undergoing this walk I got there disappointingly late, just before 11.00am. Once I got there I had a relatively brief skywatch before walking the farm and having a more prolonged skywatch afterwards. Birds were quite thin on the ground today so I ended up taking photos of signs and the countryside with my SLR which enjoyed its 5th trip outdoors this year (if that).
YellowhammersAll I got for my efforts was my first patch Lapwing of the winter, a couple of suspicious-looking 'Starlings', a Common Buzzard, a Little Owl and a numb pair of feet despite several layers of socks. The highlight was watching a flock of gorious Yellowhammers feeding in the snow - the lighting really complimented their plumage very well. Sunday at the patch was better with my first Marsh Tit there for about three years as well as my first Woodcock of the winter.
There is again no school tomorrow. I have revised the battle plan: get up at 7.30am, leave (hopefully) at around 8.00am - get there by 8.20am. Skywatch until 11.00am then walk the farm, resuming skywatch at 12.30pm before finishing at 3.30pm.
