NEW HYTHE TUESDAY 4TH JAN

Although it brightened up a bit this afternoon, my walk around the lakes this morning was almost always in semi darkness. I apologise for another Robin picture but apart from ice bound Coots, they are the only thing that stops flitting long enough for a picture at the moment and personally I think they look nicer than the poor old Coots.

Talking of ice bound, the eastern side of Brooklands lake had refrozen this morning, a bit of a bummer for the three or four fisherman who had woken up to find their line stuck in the ice I should think. Still, much of the lake was unfrozen, so life must be a bit easier for some of the birds now, including the two Goldeneyes which were still in residence today.

Other nice sightings included 26 Lapwings lazily heading south along the river and a Redshank making the most of the last piece of muddy bank as the tide rose quickly. A Kestrel, not seen for a while, which swooped down from it's pylon perch in the sunken marsh. Four or five Bullfinches who's doleful calls accompanied me, almost always out of sight, as I walked the river path. A total of three Goldcrests and three Great Spotted Woodpeckers scattered across the site. Two Green Woodpeckers, and a Bittern which was seen flying across the top end of Streamside lake and landing in the 'usual' Bittern reedbed. A single Fieldfare down the Brook house track along with the usual flock of Siskins, calling noisily and only quietening down when stopping to feed on the Alder seeds. But probably best of all were two Treecreepers who revealed their presence in the west scrub with their short high pitched trill. I haven't seen them in the scrub before and I enjoyed watching them chase each other around through the trees for a while, accompanied by singing Great Tits which gave the scene an almost Spring like atmosphere, apart from the fact that it was still nearly dark of course, which is why there's no photo's of the event.

A total of 46 species recorded today which included four that were new for the NH year/month list, Redshank, Kestrel, Wren and Treecreeper. A couple of Jackdaws and some House Sparrows were also added from the garden this afternoon which brings the total so far to 56. I suspect it's going to slow down somewhat now!