A few vocal Fieldfare and Redwing around S edge of W paddock this a.m. but highlight was great views of 2 Water Rail scuttling along the ditch on the RHS as you enter the park, by the low concrete parapet. No. 72 for the year I think.

5 poss 6 Buzzards circling at Cosmeston this morning. A pair were cirlcing together again over Cogan Wood. A Peregrine whizzed past one of the circling pairs.

Late morning circuit of Cosmeston as usual. Took some sunflower hearts to put on a stump in Cogan Wood, and the Marsh Tit appeared. First time I’ve seen it there since 2019! Images are a bit ‘noisy’ as they are big crops at 1000 ISO. A pair of Great Crested Grebes in full regalia were displaying on W lake and an adult Common Gull was on the posts. There were 32 Pochard. The Crow is ‘Beaky’ who hangs around the park entrance and the car park, so named due to the extended sharp hook at the end of his or her upper mandible. He/she is very confiding.

Just the usual wildfowl today, with small birds not being very showy in the strong v cold easterly. Only interest was a drake Shoveler in with the Tufties and Pochard, all sheltering on the lee side of the mile road, on W lake. A pair of Great Crested Grebes there were displaying. Three cob Mute Swans were doing some ‘busking’. Got a nice shot of a Song Thrush by the site office, although when I processed the image I found that it had lost its tail [cat?]. Highlight was a very confiding Wood Mouse right by the side of the exit road.

On 2nd I watched a female Great Spotted Woodpecker chipping away at a tree in the wooded area behind the bird table. Today, 7th Feb, in a very cold easterly wind a quickish circuit round both lakes. There were 22 Pochard on W lake in nice light so managed some nice shots of a couple of drakes. They were closer than usual but still needed a biggish crop. Two Little Grebes were in the bay and there were 3 Gadwall. A lone Redwing was in leaf litter by the high path at the back of W lake.

Nothing too exciting at Cosmeston this morning. An adult Yellow-legged Gull was on E lake way out in the middle, and an adult Common Gull was a bit closer[see pic]. There are currently 2 prs of GC Grebes, 1 pr of which were displaying although I missed the crucial bit. W lake had 3 Gadwall, 2 drake Shoveler, and 21 Pochard of which only 4 were females. One GCG was diving near the main bridge.

A late morning figure-of-eight walk round the lakes to avoid the mud! An adult Yellow-legged Gull was on E lake, and there were 2 Common Gulls on W lake, an adult and a 2nd winter. There were 2 pairs of GC Grebes, a pair of Gadwall and the usual Tufties and Pochard distributed between both lakes. Too cold to stand and count them!

Before the drizzle set in this morning, 3 Hawfinch flew back & forth over the trees behind the dragonfly pond but didn’t settle. A Green Woopecker was in the same area.

Bumped into local birders Mathew Meehan and Alex Bevan [not literally!]. Matt informed me that the Hawfinches were still around [now c.10 birds]. After a few minutes standing in the rain, 3 suddenly appeared in the tree tops, then dropped out of sight, then 5 more appeared and sat in the top twigs of a tall tree. I managed to fire off a few record shots. They were at the top of 40-50ft high trees and about 100 – 200m distant, and against a light sky. So 2 ‘as taken’ shots below and 2 mega crops from effectvely the same shots. Camera was at max Zoom [600mm DSLR equiv]. One crop shows a bird just as it dropped off its perch, showing the very distinctive broad white wing bars. The cropped perched in the open shot shows the charateristic short tail with a white terminal band. Apologies to those familiar but if you’ve not seen one before these are features to look out for if and when you get the chance. Also present on W lake were a pair of Wigeon, a pair of Gadwall and 2 pairs of Shoveler. Very thin sprinkling of snow.

Nothing too exciting but a nice sunny walk. The House Sparrows in the clifftop bushes were enjoying the sun, and a Common Gull flew by as we walked along the esplanade. So clear that both bridges were visible – the first time in ages.

Late morning before the rain. No show by any Hawfinches this morning, although I didn’t linger very long. Couple of Rooks in field beyond far end of W paddock was a year tick. W lake had 1 drake Wigeon and 1 drake Gadwall by the posts and a Common Gull on the posts. Little Grebe was whinnying frequently. There were 40 Pochard – 35 on E lake and 5 on W lake, all drakes exc 5. It was sunny, but dark clouds to the NW had a rainbow which was reflected in the dragonfly pond.

Walked along Sully shoreline to walk the dog. There were 17 Curlew feeding on the sports field, and 15 confiding Turnstone amongst the seaweed at the top of the beach. About 15 distant Shelduck on Sully Island topped up my year list [as did the Curlew as it happens]. The grassy path is very muddy so we walked back along the rocky shore and came across a smart tail-less Pied Wag which I’ve named Short-tailed Wagtail [Motacilla alba brevicaudatus :-)]. A couple of Rock Pipits and normal wagtails were on the cricket pitch and as we got back to the cricket clubhouse start point, a smart male Stonechat was posing on top of the concrete posts there.

Nice surprise this morning, when I met Graham Smith and Matt Meehan. They’d seen a Hawfinch, found earlier by Alex Bevan. Not showing when I arrived but after c.20 mins Matt refound it and I got flight views until it landed at the top of a tree. It then almost immediately flew back again and was joined by two others at the top of a tree in the eastern fringe of Cogan Wood. Viewing was from by the muddy track beyond the dragonfly pond. Also in the same trees a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew out and a Green Woodpecker showed briefly. A pair of Great Crested Grebes displayed briefly on W lake, where there were the usual Tufties and 32 Pochard, plus a drake Shoveler hiding in the edge of the reed bed.
Lavernock Road was very busy and there must have been at least 80 cars, probably more, in the car park, so not many people are obeying the exercise from your front door rule.

There were 40 Pochard in total this morning, split roughly 50/50 between the two lakes – my highest count of Pochard here since a count of 37 in Feb 2019. The Tufted numbered about 200. There was 1 drake Wigeon on W lake, calling quite frequently and a couple of Teal skulking along the reed edges. In the snipe enclosure a pair of Bullfinch flew across one of the cut ‘rides’, a new bird for 2021, and there were 2 Green Woodpeckers there too. Loads of Blackbird in the park [I got up to about 20] and there were around 50 Redwing in and around W paddock.

On 10th a walk round and complete list produced 31 species. I added Reed Bunting for the year, and other highlights were all 5 thrushes incl 2 Song Thrush, 4 Mistle Thrush, lots of Blackbirds and a sprinkling of Redwing and Fieldfare, and 6 Greenfinch. Green Woodpecker as usual in W paddock, 13 Pochard, and a Common Gull on the W lake posts. The S end of W lake was partly frozen and had a bunch of Black-headed Gulls sitting on the ice.
On 11th there were 23 Pochard with the Tufties on W lake.