A Cold Wet Happy Afternoon in the rain

Popped over to Parklands lake around 1ish today,just to see if anything unexpected had turned up on the lake,nothing,so decided to have a little walk around the small areas of woods at either end.On the lake were 2 cormorants,Grey heron,plenty of mallard,coot and moorhen but nothing else.Bird of the day at Parklands was a firecrest in the car park which just narrowly beat a stunning male brambling which was the other end of the lake by the bridge,along with 24 ring necked parakeets.Other birds seen at Parklands were blue tits,great tits,chaffinch,greenfinch,blackbird,robin,3 wren,dunnock,2 jays,black headed gulls,2 green woodpeckers,1 great spotted woodpecker.Firecrest and Brambling are two birds i have never seen here before but saying that,i only pop over there probably 2 or 3 times a year so maybe others see them on a more regular basis.
I then crossed over the road into the Thames Chase Site,Bonnetts Wood which i bird a bit more frequently,the site has thrown up Barn,Tawny & little Owl for me before,as well as Woodcock (not Tony) and snipe but today i just had 15 Linnets,14 long tailed tits and 18 Lapwing in the adjacent fields.Other wildlife seen was a Stoat,3 rabbits and 2 foxes all pretty much minding their own business.I decided to call it a day at about 3pm as the rain was quite heavy so i got back into the car to drive the short journey home,in which time it stopped raining,so i swung a left hand turn at the white hart and decided to give Berwick Ponds a quick once over in the hope of seeing Bittern.
Berwick Ponds,Rainham
Just a bit of drizzle in the air when i arrived so decided to venture to the viewpoint overlooking the reedbeds,after about 20 minutes i heard the familiar PING of the Bearded Tit,but it took me a good 2 minutes or so in fading light to locate the bird,although i am pretty sure there was another,i couldnt locate it.Still,a cracking bird anyhow,also heard 3 cettis warblers,saw 3 green woodpeckers,Great spotted woodpecker,3 linnets,8 long tailed tits and a water rail just as i was leaving so a good afternoon in all,which could of been alot worse with the weather,no Bittern but may give it another go at first light tomorrow when i have more time.Am now going to settle down for the evening with a bit of Europa League footy on ITV4,Oh how i long for Sky Tv