THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING

Well sort of.
Arrived over Thames Chase earlier to hear Skylarks high over the visitor centre and over Great Barn,an area of Grassland with new woodland either side,a very nice area indeed,promises to be even nicer once it matures in quite a few years,as most of the site will.
I made my way to the Scrape but it took me a good hour to get there as the chase was a flurry of activity.Its one of those places that can be as quiet as a mouse one minute and explode into life,this morning it was full of life,the snow has now all gone and i feel its only a matter of days before the first signs of spring are seen,so with the temperatures hitting 11c today,some 25c higher than Saturday night and the sun shining,i am declaring "Spring has arrived on Thames Chase".On the way to the scrape i had yet more Skylarks over great barn,6 Goldfinch then a flock of around 40 Redpolls in the Alders followed by a golcrest then further down 8 or 9 Siskins darting in and out of the plantation.
On arriving at the Scrape,with it now ice free it is apparant that it needs a bit of a clear up,not too much but being next to the M25 it will collect rubbish from time to time,probably just needs a litter clear up every 3-4 months,the birds like it though,they love mud,water and bits of grass etc,the Green Sandpiper was very flighty this morning and it was nice to see 3 Snipe back with brief views of the Grey Wagtail,with a Pied.Once again in the Farmland backing onto the trees behind the scrape were more noisy Skylarks and a Male Kestrel hovering,as they do.
I had to dissapear to Gatwick for a job,which took a few hours,on the way i had Buzzard x 3 and the bird of the day,just as i was coming onto the M23 was a Raven,not sure if they are regular in the Area but if so then it was right at the edge of its range.A year tick for me,so me was happy,get in.
On the way back from Gatwick,i went back along the roadwork stretch of the Eastern M25,there are quite a few of these scrapes popping up on the motorway,one of which on the anti clockwise side,which has more water than the thames chase one,but was still shallow as i picked out a Green Sandpiper wading in there,obviously as i was driving i couldn't make out everything but there was a good 50-70 birds in there,most Lapwings and Moorhens but if i could get to it i am sure i could find more...
I went back to Thames Chase from 3.30pm-4.45pm,visited the scrape with the same birds minus the wagtails,then back to the visitor centre where i had a few redpolls in the Alders and a distant kestrel over Pike Lane,got a nice photo,well niceish with my phone lol