Scores on the doors

 I did my one hour (09.15 - 10.15 hrs) stint recording the garden birds and have to admit that I rather enjoyed myself, however predictable the visitors were. The weather was kind and I was able to stand on the patio, outside my study door, to conduct my observations. This is what I recorded:-

Herring Gull - 14 to bread on the lawn, many more attracted but unwilling to join the battle.

House Sparrow - maximum count of 43 was a little disappointing, but there were other flocks visiting gardens a few doors to the north.

Goldfinch - maximum count 19

Greenfinch - adult male (the female was recorded later in the day, after my hour was up!)

Great Tit - 2

Blue Tit - 5

Blackbird - 1 adult male

Robin - 1

Dunnock - 2

Collared Dove - 5

Wood Pigeon - 1 (very unexpected - landed in the boundary Elder)

Magpie - 3 - as above

Jackdaw - 2 coming to the mealworms

Sparrowhawk - adult male twice creating havoc amongst the feeding throng

Rose-ringed Parakeet - just a single, right at last knockings

All in all, not a bad return for an hour stood watching the feeding station. Nothing new for the BWKm0 list today, although I did see Raven, Common Gull and Cormorant whilst I was outdoors. The most obvious absentee from this garden list is that of Starling! At this time of year they are very sporadic visitors, using both fat balls and mealworms when they do turn up, but sadly not today. With the weekend forecast being fairly dire, I might give it another bash just to see how it compares. Nothing better to occupy my time - so why not?

Getting ready

 "Fail to prepare - prepare to fail!" It's a saying that has accompanied me throughout my adult life, yet remains as valid today as it did in the late-1970's. I've been perusing the BBC weather forecasts and it would appear that tomorrow (Friday) offers the best conditions for me to conduct my "Big Garden Birdwatch". One hour of my time to assist in the biggest citizen science project in the UK. I can submit my results on line, so there's no reason not to be part of this celebration of garden birds and do your bit to assemble data that reflects the status of our common species within this "green & pleasant" land. Being in lockdown mode just makes the 2021 effort that bit more relevant, in my opinion. 

Knowing that I would be partaking in this RSPB initiative, one day over the weekend, our garden feeding station has seen much attention during the preceding week. All six feeders, four sunflower hearts and two fat-balls, have been topped up every morning, plus there has been additional mealworms and bread on offer. The only thing I have not been able to provide is halved apples, a favourite of the local Rose-ringed Parakeets, but they still visit the sunflower feeders so don't go without. We've got to get Bev's Mazda over to Perry's for it's MOT, between 08-09.00 hrs tomorrow, so I'm planning to do the count as soon as we get back from dropping the car off. 

I finish early (20.00 hrs) on a Friday, so will hopefully be able to post my results after my shift has ended? I've added another four species to the BWKm0 effort, over the past couple of days.

No. 38 - Long-tailed Tit - three very quickly moving along the boundary hedge

No. 39 - Meadow Pipit - a single flying west early this morning

No. 40 - Common Gull - after a series of "possible" sightings, I finally managed to add this species due to a nice group of three adults flying, very leisurely, westward thus allowing me clinch the id.

No. 41 - Peregrine - a stunning adult male, right over the garden whilst I was scoping the, ringed male, Greenfinch!! If it wasn't for the local Herring Gulls, I'd have missed it!

Fishing this weekend? I won't hold my breath.

Greenfinch bling

 Another decent morning spent out in the back garden, coffee and binoculars to hand, with a nice selection of species to keep me entertained. It kicked off with the second Grey Heron, of the lockdown, which pitched down atop of Arthur Burbridge's conifers very briefly before being seen off by the local Herring Gulls. It was then the turn of a splendid Mistle Thrush to fly along the gardens before dropping down to seek a meal out on the stubble beyond the garden hedge. Three more species made it onto the BWKm0 list and are as follows:-

No. 35 - Great Spotted Woodpecker - one flying west towards St. Lawrence College sports ground - probably a breeding bird from the Ramsgate Cemetery population?

No. 36 - Green Woodpecker - a calling bird over in the Newlands Farm compound area.

No. 37 - Cormorant - a flock of 25+ birds flying south towards Pegwell/Ramsgate Harbour

I then spent some time concentrating on the activity around the feeding station, as a warm up for the RSPB "Big Garden Birdwatch" initiative which takes place between 29th - 31st January. It will be a bit of an anti-climax this year as I won't have the grand-kids for company, but I will still do my bit in order to provide some data for this citizen science effort. House Sparrows are present in very high numbers, regularly in excess of one hundred individuals, whilst Goldfinches also occur in fantastic flurries of colourful action at the four sunflower heart feeders. Two Greenfinches (male & female - too early for them to be a pair?) were seen yesterday, the male again present this morning and, to my surprise, it is ringed. Hopefully, now I'm aware of this situation, the camera and/or Kowa TSN 823 might be useful in recording the details. A female Chaffinch appeared, very briefly, at the feeders and is, as such, the first of this species to be recorded in, as opposed to over, the garden since the lockdown started. 

The pair - the female just visible behind the base of the feeder.

Robin, Dunnock, Great & Blue Tit, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Collared Dove and Jackdaw were all recorded "in" the garden, thus countable for the RSPB project. Not too sure on what day I will undertake the survey, it will be weather driven I imagine, but what I do know is that Herring Gull will also feature in the count - I've got a stale loaf awaiting the designated hour, game on!

A shocking, hugely cropped, image of the male Greenfinch taken in the gloom of the 
early morning light today. The only redeeming feature is the fact that
it is possible to discern the BTO (?) jewellery on its' right leg.

Gaining momentum

 Unable to sleep, due to trolling by the "back gate repair police", I was up early doing my best to meet their ridiculously high standards. The embarrassment of making such a childish error being a huge stain on my reputation amongst my neighbours, all of whom have back gates which conform to regulation. If you've made it this far and believe a single word of this dribble then you're thicker than Donald Trump! 

Yesterday's Grey Heron

It is true that I took on board the advice offered by Gavin Haig and have, indeed, repositioned the lower brace to match that which he mentioned. I am, therefore, grateful because it was another good morning for garden birding with a further five species added to the BWKm0 list. 

No. 30 - Greylag Goose - a single, flying west, is the first garden record and only the second for the "patch". White-front, Pink-foot and Tundra Bean Geese are all more regularly recorded around Newlands Farm!

No. 31 - Linnet

No. 32 - Redwing - at long last, four flocks, totalling 29 individuals, all moving east.

No. 33 - Chaffinch

No. 34 - Rook

Goldfinches still remain the second most numerous visitor to the feeding station, numbers continue to build with 28 being counted mid-morning. I imagine it would require a ringing project to establish exactly how many birds are using this food source each day? The female Greenfinch appeared, very briefly, and a Robin was picking up scraps below the feeders, allowing me to grab a few images.

With a week of late shifts about to start, I feel sure that there are more opportunities to add further species to the garden list as the seasons play out their annual cycle. With so many very common species still required, any time spent outside will offer potential for adding to my tally.

Job's a good'n

 This is probably the saddest post I've ever made?  Worry ye not, no-one's died or anything similar. Oh  no, this is about repairing our garden gate. I feel like one of those morons who post pictures of their breakfast on Twitter and/or Facebook. What I will say is that it's a good job I don't earn my living undertaking such tasks, we'd be living in a tent! Five hours I spent, obviously  having no idea what would be required until I got started, but rather enjoyed myself making it up as I went along. To be perfectly honest I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. Basically I repaired the original gate but used the fixtures and fittings, plus some odd bits of timber, from the gate that Gavin had given me on Thursday to complete the repair.

Being outdoors provided opportunity to add more sightings to the BWKm0 garden list and I was not to be disappointed. Three more species were spotted whilst I was fannying about pretending to be a chippie!

No. 27 - Grey Heron

No. 28 - Kestrel

No. 29 - Skylark

The feeding station was incredibly busy with 100+ House Sparrows being the peak count. Green Finches were present (heard not seen) and I counted a maximum of seventeen Goldfinches, perched up in a neighbouring garden, before they dropped down into the Budlehia above the feeders. A couple of Rose-ringed Parakeets joined a small group of Collared Doves but, Blue Tits apart, very little else was attracted to the sunflower hearts. Weather is all over the place, sleet and snow forecast for tomorrow, so I might be having a stroll around Newlands Farm to see what I can find? Certainly not enthused to get back out with the rods, that's for sure.

Just what the doctor odrered

 If I hadn't taken a day's holiday, I would still have been out of the bungalow for a similar period due to my shift pattern being earlies this week. I planned to spend around six hours fishing the drain so as to get back home at the same time of a normal work day. Give or take ten minutes, it worked a treat. Although I got the van loaded in plenty of time, things didn't get off to a very good start as it was nearly five minutes before the windscreen cleared of a thick covering of ice which seemed oblivious to my Perspex scraper. I was parked up, by the stables, just before 06.30 hrs and had got my tackle laden barrow to my chosen stretch by 07.00 hrs. A thick frost coated the vegetation and cat ice covered the many puddles as I made my way. The highlight of the walk was a "shooting star" type occurrence which manifested itself as a luminous green ball speeding across the sky in the pre-dawn half light. Probably nothing more than a speck of dust entering the atmosphere and burning up, it was taken as a good omen by this long-haired individual. All three rods fishing before 07.25 hrs and was grateful for the flask of steaming coffee as I watched the dawn break.

As mentioned yesterday, my binoculars and scope came along for the trip and I set about recording the birds that crossed my path whilst remaining in close proximity to the rods. 07.50 hrs and my middle rod was away, one of my brother's "back-biter" alarms alerting me to the situation. A beautifully conditioned pike, of 7 lbs 6 oz, came grudgingly to the landing net so a blank session had been averted. Coffee number two was poured, pike returned to the drain, I recast the rod and repositioned the rapidly freezing landing net. It was good to be alive and being able to watch the natural world embarking on another daily ritual just heightened the enjoyment of being outdoors. 

The sun shone brightly from a lightly clouded sky and the temperature slowly crept up which, in turn, meant that the frost disappeared and the bank became a slippery mud bath. Still, no point moaning as you can't have it all?  At 11.00 hrs, just as Neil and a friend (sorry I don't know your name) came wandering along the bank, my right hand alarm, a Siren R3, signalled a bite and I was landing the pike as they reached my swim. In similar condition to my first, although slightly smaller, it was quickly unhooked and returned to the drain. We had a good chat about the local birding, none of us expecting miracles at this time of the year. They reported seeing a couple of Yellowhammers, which I hadn't, but had spotted little else of note. Saying their good-byes, they continued on their way leaving me to continue to scan the surroundings for whatever birds I could find. I ended the session, packing up at 12.50 hrs, with a grand total of forty-one species. This included White-front and Brent Goose, Peregrine and Grey Partridge; not too shabby a selection for a fishing trip? However, it wasn't what I'd seen but, instead, what I hadn't which was most strange. Wood Pigeon and Jackdaw were glaring omissions, I didn't see a Mallard, Little Egret or hear a Curlew. No Marsh Harrier, Redwing or Stonechat, all species which could be realistically expected in this flatland location. With nothing better to do, I'm going to continue this type of listing whenever I'm out with the rods and just see what happens. The garden BWKm0 effort will remain the main project while the Covid restrictions prevail and, as a consequence, the Royal Military Canal is out of bounds.

So that's what I got up to with my day off. Quite how fishing is exercise, not leisure, I don't know but am grateful that it is allowed due to the mental health benefits involved with being outdoors in such wonderful surroundings.

Staying positive

 Just to put the tin hat on it, Storm Christoph has savaged huge swathes of the, Covid beleaguered, UK. The utter carnage, left behind, testament to the incredible forces of nature that were unleashed. Our neighbour, Barbara, has lost two fence panels, whilst our own back gate was snapped, like a carrot, as the winds raged between the buildings. At 02.30 hrs, on Wednesday morning, I'm outside attempting to close a smashed gate in order to get some sleep. The noise of the shattered frame smashing against the gate posts reverberated through the bungalow like some annoying, irregular, drum and bass track; sleep was impossible until I got it sorted. Bleary eyed, I made it into work, and was supping a pre-shift coffee, recalling the events of the previous night when Gavin, one of my shift colleagues, said "I've got a gate you can have" We had a quick chat about measurements and logistics but, as it worked out, the said gate is now in my back garden awaiting my efforts to replace the previous item. Let's get this right, a broken gate is but nothing compared to the devastation that has occurred in other areas of the country and I readily acknowledge this basic truth. Still won't stop me swearing a fair bit as I attempt to repair the damage. DIY doesn't feature particularly high on my CV of domestic abilities. I'll leave it there for the time being and give an update in a later post - maybe a photo - when the task is completed?

I'm having a day off, tomorrow, knowing that the forecast is crap for the coming weekend. Now there will be many thinking that the back gate ain't worth a day off and they're dead right! I'm going pike fishing. With five days carried over from 2020, needing to be used by March, I decided that a break from the nonsense at work (I will only be able to blog about it when I've retired) would be a good idea. I'm typing this already thinking that the day out on the bank will be enough without needing to catch a pike. The heavy rainfall, coloured water and ridiculous extremes of air pressure and temperature will all have an influence on the feeding behaviour of the fish I seek. However, if I haven't learnt anything about tempting pike, over the past fifty years, then I deserve to blank. I'm taking the full camera kit, plus my binos and Kowa TSN 823 scope, in the hope of making the very most of my time on the bank. I'm really looking forward to the session and will, hopefully, have something to blog about when I get back home? 

The only other bit of news, worthy of sharing, is that of a superb adult male Greenfinch, at the feeding station, this afternoon, and the BWKm0 addition No. - 26 Common Buzzard which flew south over the garden just after 14.00 hrs today.