28th Feb - cloudy, haze, 11C, light Westerly, few spots of rain at times

Willey; I checked my feed station this morning, at least 10 Tree Sparrows again, plus Chaffinch and Yellowhammers.  A male and female Reed Bunting too, first of the winter (just).  Several Greenfinch are in the area singing.
Nearby about 25 Redwing and a few Fieldfare were chattering/singing in the trees, a sure sign they are getting ready for the off.

Frolesworth Manor Lake; a few Tufted Duck and Great-crested grebe pair on the lake. A few Chaffinch and Yellowhammer on the game crop area.  Overhead I heard birds calling and looking up 46 Golden Plover were flying round, high. They turned back and as I followed them another larger loose flock joined them, circling and calling, in V-formations eventually flying off, high, WSW.  I estimated about 180 in total.

Other sites;
A quick look at another site where a Peregrine was flying high and circling, good to see one back here again.

27th Feb - sunny, light SW, 17C

Cottesbach landfill; a look here after lunch, a good number of Gulls but they seemed pretty lazy and very few coming and goings between the sandpit and landfill itself.
7 Red Kites were overhead, usual Teal, Shoveler and Mute Swans on the pools.

Stanford Reservoir; a beautiful afternoon continued, however the weather has not caused much new to show up. Still, it was nice to see a pair a Grey Wagtail, a Green Sandpiper and Kestrel near the dam.  50+ Shoveler, but only 4 Goldeneye were seen.  A Great White Egret flew around, eventually settling on the very far side.  I tried a photo but the heat haze and distance were not good, they are photogenic though.

26trh Feb - 19C, sunny, light ESE

Yes, 19C for a while this pm.  Temp records being broken over the UK again.  One more day expected before normal (wet) westerly weather systems return.

Bitteswell area; A visit here after lunch to conduct the BTO winter bird survey, nothing spectacular to report.  A Green Woodpecker was feeding on the ground in one field, a Great-spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming. Only a few Fieldfare and Redwing (<5 each) were found.

25th Feb - touch of frost last night. Sunny, 16C, light SE

Willey; several Common Gulls on the pasture to the east and a Goldcrest singing in the Long Spinney near Muswell Leys. plus a vocal Nuthatch.

24th Feb- mist clearing quickly, sunny, 16C, light SE

Willey; early, in the mist several Redwing could be heard calling as they left their roost in the church lane thicket.  A little later couple of Mute Swans flew over towards Newnham Paddox lakes.  I checked out the feed station  later, at least 10 tree Sparrows plus all the other usuals.  Two Goldcrest were in the Church yews, one singing.
A distant butterfly, possibly a Small Tortoiseshell flew over the paddock.

Stanford reservoir; a walk around here after lunch.  the weather is far to nice for much bird movement to be occurring, so very much the same species as normal.  3 Jay along the by-pass, 3 Redwing and 5 Fieldfares too.  A Grey Wagtail on the dam and Green Sandpiper at the outlet area.  A Great Egret flew over east and settled in the field near the river. Plenty of Shoveler, 8 Goldeneye, 7 Teal and a good number of Tufted Duck were on the water.

A Red Kite flew over, Skylarks on adjacent fields were singing, plenty of Black-headed Gulls were hawking insects high-up.  At least 5 Stock Doves were flying on to the fallow field.

I was expecting early butterflies and found 3 Comma flying.  The wild plum tree was in flower and has plenty of Bee (unknown spp.) feeding on it.

23rd Feb - misty, slow to clear, then sunny pm, 16C, light SE

Cotesbach landfill; I managed to get here mid-afternoon, there weren't many Gulls around so not surprisingly I did not see a 'white-winger'.  However, Theo dropped in and showed me a photo of the (usual) juv Glaucous Gull that he saw during here the morning.
3 Shelduck and the usual Teal and Shoveler were on the pools.

Stanford reservoir; I then moved here to have a look along the dam and south side.  Most notable were 2 Pink-footed Geese on the water with Grey Lags.

Other sites; I came across a couple of Hares which were feeding, I was able to digiscope a few photographs.

22nd Feb - sunny, light SSE, 14C

Cotesbach Landfill; a look late afternoon, plenty of Gulls, no ‘white-wingers’ found.
A Shelduck pair and a lone female.  20+ each of Teal and Shoveler and a few Mallard.   A Red Kite overhead.
A Green Sandpiper flew in and was feeding and preening.

21st Feb - mostly sunny, light SW, 14C

Willey; this morning the very mild Spring weather had the birds singing and many resident species in territory/partner disputes.  A small number of Redwing and Fieldfare were flying around.

A look at the feed station late afternoon produced at least 10 Tree Sparrows, 4+ Yellowhammers, plus Chaffinch and Nuthatch plus other usuals.

20th Feb - mostly cloudy, 12C, light SW

No obs today.

19th Feb - sunny spells am, cloudy pm, light- fresh SW, 9C

Willeu; a busy day however I did notice this morning a flock c 50 Fieldfares fly SW over the village, a Goldcrest was singing in the church Yew trees.  Mid- morning a Raven flewover low, north towards the Sheep fields, calling.

A quick check of the feed station produced c15 Tree Sparrows, several Yellowhammer and Chaffinch.

18th feb - cloudy, opdd light shower, 9C, lightmod-SW

No obs today.

17th Feb - mostly cloudy, moderate bvreeze SSW, 12C

Shawell lagoons; looked here this morning, counting the duck, nothing unexpected.  c120 Lapwing were present.
Along the lane at the 'old' sandpit 2 Green Woodpeckers were heard.

Stanford reservoir; a walk around here after lunch.  All the usual species including a Treecreeper, Willow Tit and a pair of Bullfinch - eating new buds..

On the water a single drake Goosander, 13 Teal and c200 Wigeon, plus Pochard, Shoveler, Tufted and Goldeneye - only 2 seen.

A Raven flew over SW calling and a Red Kite drifted south. A couple of Little Egret at the inlet.

One small section of hedge had lovely looking new green leaves shooting.

16th Feb - cloudy,light-fresh SW, 12C

Willey; a Pied Wagtail has returned and was sitting on the old shed roof calling, like in recent Springs waiting for a mate - hopefully they will nest under the pan tiles again.

Misterton; a look here this morning, plenty of Nuthatch activity and 3 Song Thrush were singing. About 15 Goldfinch were feeding in the leaf litter.  10 Moorhens were on the grass next to the lake and my first record here of a Little Egret.   Two Raven flew over, low, calling as they went.

Cotesbach Landfill; A look in the sandpit area after lunch , Carl was already viewing a juv Glaucous Gull, the same one as the other day.  We continued to search through the numerous Gull present, Carl found a near adult Caspian Gull and a little later a 1W Caspian, then an adult Iceland Gull.
9 Red Kite were over the landfill area.

Stanford reservoir;  I then decided to visit here to check out the Gull roost, when I got there (1630h) very few Gulls were on the water, but most were heading off westward (Draycote water?).  However, a flock of Black-headed Gulls were flying over the field next to the reservoir and I spotted a 'white-winger', a Iceland Gull.  It looked very white and an apparent all black bill suggesting a 1-winter.  it flew off westward too.

Also, of note were 12 Goosanders in Blowers Lodge bay. 

A pair of Muntjac were feeding on the rough area in the adjacent field.

15th Feb - frost last night. Becoming sunny, light S, 11C

Willey; a check of the feed station produced 20 Tree Sparrows, the most I’ve had for a couple of years. Other usual birds were present - Nuthatch, Yellowhammer, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Magpie, Jackdaw plus Blue and Great Tits.
A Goldcrest was heard early morning in the Church Yews.

14th Feb - frost -2C, quickly going as the day became sunny and warm, 11C, light SSW

No obs today.

13th Feb - breezy SW, 10C, high broken cloud

Stanford Reservoir; afternoon visit.  A buck Muntjac was along the path, briefly before slipping into cover. A Willow Tit was seen nearby.

3 Little Egrets at the settling pool and single Grey Heron along the Reservoir edge.  A single male Goosander, good number of Shoveler, Pochard and Tufties but no Wigeon seen.  6 Goldeneye were together, the males getting frisky.
A couple of Kestrel and Buzzards were seen. A few Redwing feeding in the leaves along the by-pass and 85 Fieldfare feeding on adjacent field.

Cotesbach Landfill; I received a message from Carl that an adult Iceland and Glaucous Gull, plus a juvenile Glaucous Gull, so I popped in on the way home. The two birders who had reported these were still present and showed me some photos they had taken.  Fortunately, one Juv Glaucous was still present, a dusky looking one seen previously, and I managed some photos of it.

12th Feb - ground frost then sunny spells, 9C, light. SW

No obs today.

We have a ridge of high pressure that is expected to given above average temps for at least the next week - hoping we don’t get a ‘beast from the east’ again this year. The very cold weather started end of Feb last year and continued well in to March.

11th Feb - a touch of frost, sunny spells, light SW, 9C

Willey; at least 16 Tree Sparrows on feeder late afternoon.

Cotesbach Landfill; this afternoon there were 8 Red Kites in the area.  Gull numbers were good, again disturbed by a falcon with Jessies, although the falconer was not seen.

A couple of colour rings were read,
LBBG blue/red DUN which was last seen here in December, it was ringed in Gloucestershire in 2008 and a Herring Gull Ydot368 which is a new sighting from Harewood Whin landfill site near York.

Also present were Teal, Shoveler, Mallard and 16 Lapwing flew over but did not land.

10th Feb - rain all morning, slowly clearing to give brief sunny spells, 5C, light- mod NW

Willey; mid-day a check of the feed station showed 16 Tree Sparrows, the most so far this winter. Also, several Chaffinch and Yellowhammers with other usual birds.. The birds were feeding well after the wet morning.  A small mixed flock of Redwings (20+) and Fieldfare were flying around the trees.

Theddingworth; mid-afternoon - it was good to see 4 Tree Sparrows on a feeder here, plus a male Great-spotted Woodpecker. Shortly afterwards 2 Red Kite flew over, low, northwards to the hills.

9th Feb - blusterly SW, 20-40mph easing pm , sunny intervals, 10C

Willey; a Coal Tit was heard singing first thing.

Misterton; a look around the church and lake area, very breezy keeping birds tucked in mostly.  However, Blue and Great Tits were busy in territorial activity.  2 Nuthatch were calling loudly.

Stanford reservoir; a look here after lunch. a flock c 50 Stock Doves were feeding on the adjacent field. A couple of Red Kite were flying nearby, plus a Kestrel and several Buzzards were around.  On the water a few more Goldeneye, 6, had returned, usual numbers of Pochard and Tufted Duck, 54 Shoveler was a good flock.  A single Little Egret and Grey Heron were present, whilst 16 Lapwings and a Sparrowhawk flew over.

About 20 Redwings were around but only 1 Fieldfare. A flock of Long-tailed Tits was working the Willows along the by-pass and a Treecreeper called near the hide.  On the fallow field several Meadow Pipits and Skylark often flew up, one Skylark was singing. On the spillway a female Grey Wagtail was feeding.

8th Feb - windy day 20+ mph with gusts 40 mph, with showers, S-SW, 10C

Willey, mid-morning c50 Redwings zoomed over In the wind to the NE.

Not a nice day to be out.

7th Feb - windy am, easing late pm (20 mph), cloudy, sunny spells later, 9C, feeling cool.

No obs today.

6th Feb - sunny initially then clouding over, light SW, 9C

Stanford Reservoir; yesterday evening Chris found a Glaucous Gull in the roost, so mid-afternoon I went to wait for the Gull roost hoping to see the Glaucous.  For some reason very few Gulls came in to roost, some which were in then left heading off towards Draycote, so why tonight was not in favour I don’t know.
C400 Lapwing were flying over and settled on fields to the SW.  A Yellowhammer was on top of a bush along the by-pass.  Plenty of Teal and Shoveler were on the Reservoir, 2 Goldeneye today - compared to none the other day when mostly frozen.  A Kestrel was also along the rough area.  A calling Raven flew over northward.  8 Little Egret and 2 Great Egret were seen a dusk flying to roost.

5th Feb - mostly cloudy, cool, 7C, light S, becoming damp late pm

No obs today, but casually there seemed more Redwing and Fieldfare on the immediate village fields.

4th Feb - sunny spells, 9C, light SW

Cotesbach Landfill; a look at the Gulls after lunch, things looked promising with plenty in the sandpit area and even more feeding at the landfill itself.  However, it soon became apparent that the Falconer was again on site to scare off the Gulls from the landfill.  This causes the Gulls to be very mobile and don’t settle easily until the falcon (looks Lanner like) clears off.  So, ‘Gulling’ was a bit disappointing.
c 30 each of Teal and Shoveler were present on the pools, some still partially frozen. 2 Red Kites were over the landfill.

3rd Feb -0 frost last night -6C. sunny am, sunny periods pm, slowly warming 5C, light-mod SW

Stanford reservoir; a look here after lunch, hoping for the Pink-footed Geese that were seen this morning and have been associating with the Grey Lag Goose flock for the last couple of weeks, but evading me.  Then Grey Lag flock was mostly on an adjacent cereal field feeding, after a while of scanning through ther flock the Pink-Feet were found.  They seemed to be walking a little oddly, then I realised it was because the thawing soil was sticking to their feet and they had to shake it off.

The reservoir was frozen over at both ends and the bay but the central area was free water and the wildfowl etc was concentrated there.  Pochard numbers were good, c60 Teal, 47 Shoveler, c 30 Gadwall and 12 Goosander. No Goldeneye seen today though.  A few Great-crested Grebes and a single Little Grebe.

A few Redwing and Fieldfare were feeding along the by-pass path.  A Green Sandpiper was feeding at the outflow spillway.   Over the far side to me I spotted a Great Egret searching along the waters edge, earlier a Grey Heron was present too.

By the time I left it seemed more free water was present, and hopefully the reservoir will soon be completely ice free.

2nd Feb - frost last night c -2C. Sunny, light-mod NW, 4C, but wind chill - cold

Willey; 15 Fieldfare feeding on sheep pasture to the west first thing.  At the feed station not too many birds, surprisingly.  Only 5 Tree Sparrows today, plus the usual visitors.

Brandon Marsh; I visited here after lunch, shallow pools frozen, east marsh pool 50% frozen.  The high light was that 2 Whooper Swans were still present. c 40 Shoveler, c 80 Teal, c10 Shelduck, 1 Wigeon, Gadwall, Tufted Duck. A Sparrowhawk flew over and disturbed the Gulls. A Kestrel and 6 Stock Doves were seen from the Ted Jury hide.
At the centre feed station Blue, Great and Coal Tit, Reed Bunting, Chaffinch, Nuthatch, Blackbird Dunnock and Song Thrush.

1st Feb - frost last night, not so cold -2C, mostly cloudy, 3C, mod northerly, chill factor high

The top frozen ground did soften slowly during the day, but the wind made it feel cold, especially pm.

Willey; this morning, about 20 Lapwing wereon the pasture to the east, these have likely come in from parts of UK hit by the snow and cold.  Late pm about 20 Fieldfare were feeding on the pasture.

Theddingworth; checked along the lane to the canal and a feed station.  Plenty of Rook and Jackdaw on the pastures, a flock c300 Wood Pigeon flew off a oil seed rape field.  A Red Kite flew westerly just below the hills and 4 Mallard were looking to land - perhaps on the canal after a narrow boat hade just travelled by, no doubt breaking up any ice.  c50 Fieldfare and a few Redwing were feeding on adjacent pasture. A small flock of Starlings were also nearby.

At the feed station, several Blue and Great Tits, a Coal Tit, 2 Long-tailed Tits were all visiting. A few Chaffinch were around and 4 Goldfinch flew in to the tree tops, a Great-spotted Woodpecker (male)  flew in but decided not to stay long.