Friday 1st February

It was a chilly morning today, with a light frost on the ground. The Sun was out in a clear blue sky, but it failed to make much difference to the temperature.

A Coal Tit sang from the top of a Yew along Laurel Walk, 5 Goldcrests were noted – with 3 of the birds singing, a Stock Dove was heard calling from up in an Oak, 1 Jay was seen, 2 Nuthatches were heard calling, 3 Treecreeper were heard – 1 of whom was singing, on the area of Park in front of Mote House were a group of 14 Redwing accompanied by a small number of Song and Mistle Thrushes, a small flock of Siskin were feeding in an Alder, and a pair of Sparrowhawk displayed over the eastern end of the Park.

On the Lake were 2 Mute Swans, 25 Canada Geese, 7 Pochard, 3 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Great Crested Grebes, and the countless Mallards, Coots and Moorhens. The gull flock on the Lake consisted of at least 27 Common Gulls, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull and 48 Black-headed Gulls. Also, in addition to these birds, a Grey Heron stood along the banks of the River Len, a Cormorant was seen flying west, and 4 Herring Gulls flew north.