Sunday February 12

With a dodgy forecast and overcast skies I was't too surprised to hear from Dave that he was going to try his luck at Marsh Lane Gravel Pits.

In fact, although there was some light drizzle and a bitingly cold easterly breeze, it wasn't too bad. I decided to head off along the road, but I hadn't gone too far when I managed to see my target species, a Marsh Tit.

With that under my belt I returned to Netherstead and headed out across the fields. At the hedge by the pool I counted 57 Yellowhammers emerging from the stubble field, while the pool hosted a not entirely unexpected first Mute Swan of the year,

At around the same time there was a huge cacophony of sound as approximately 500 Jackdaws and maybe 50 Rooks exploded into the air to the west of the patch. I scanned to see if I could see the cause, and instead picked up a number of gulls heading north, including an adult Common Gull. I typically only get one sighting of these per year.

The field also contained 140 Linnets, but with no wires for them to perch on they remained largely out of view. I pressed on to the flash field and was pleased to see it contained 130 Black-headed Gulls and the Common Gull.

The adult Common Gull

This is the one time of the year when it is possible to see substantial numbers of gulls here, and a prerequisite seems to be the presence of poor weather and lots of standing water.

The Black-headed Gull flock

Also present were nine Wigeon, two Lapwings, and at least 25 Teal, although most of the latter were in the wetter parts of the field and so were largely obscured by grass stems.

There was one more year-tick to be had, but I cannot be too specific about where it was because the edifice involved is strictly off limits. Suffice to say I was very pleased to get a shot of a Barn Owl cowering at the back of a barn without the bird being aware I was looking at it.

A Barn Owl sleeps in the gloom

A very satisfactory morning.