Just another day for me...

Well not really,i climbed out of bed around 7.30am and made my way down to Thames Chase,Broadfield farm,Upminster,my usual haunt.It was cold and very windy but i thought i would head out for an hour or so to see what was about,birdwise it was very quiet in comparison to yesterday when all i could hear was birdsong everywhere i went,today,all i could hear was the wind and the odd bird,trying to force themselves out and about.

I walked over towards the golf course where something caught my eye popping up from a hole,a weasel (i thought it was a stoat at first but it appears to be a weasel)I took a couple of snaps of it,was happy with one,not too happy with the others but there you go.
I walked around for the next hour,seeing the odd Green Woodpeckers,jays seemed to be more active than normally and the Golf course Mallards were very busy.I had a couple of siskins and a few Chaffinches,lots of magpies and a snipe fly over.
At 10am i made my way to the visitor centre for a pot of tea,which was much needed,they do all sorts of food there from Soups,toasties,eggs,sausage sandwich to top quality large cookies (white chocolate ones rule!!),lots of muffins & cakes,well worth a visit.Anyway,my main reason for visiting the visitor centre was because i had been asked to attend a meeting between the people who run Thames Chase,Broadfields Farm and others who help out.The meeting was about improving the site mainly for birding/photography to get more people on the site to see what the site has to offer,it was a good meeting,very relaxed with people who are obviously pulling in the same direction.At the end of the meeting i was asked if i would like to become the Broadfield Farm Wildlife Liason Officer,honoured i took the position and hope to help those visiting the site with any queries or help required with any knowledge on wildlife mainly birds & mammals that i have.After the meeting i bumped into another local birder who gave me his sightings,he had seen a Buzzard & a Female Bullfinch so i added these to the sightings board.I hope that more people bird this site as it has plenty of promise and half way through a 40 year plan the site is maturing very well indeed.

After a spot of lunch i had another walk around,initially to look for a suitable tree for a Barn Owl box,may of found one,who knows.... Then i did a bit more birding,just off site down Pike lane i had a pheasant,not the best photo but you get the idea.
After this and back on site,it was now raining,not hard but enough to make photography for a newbie pretty worthless,i set up in the hide overlooking the pond,didnt really see much and by now it was pretty gloomy,a few fieldfare moved into the bushes,crows,magpies,the odd Chaffinch and a Greenfinch,a few Jays were knocking about.I decided to call it a day at about 4.30 as it wasn't really Barn Owl weather and on my way back to the centre i heard female Bullfinch right next to me in thivk undergrowth,i searched but couldn't see it,despite a good 25 mins,eventually it went silent,must of gone to sleep but 2 possible females were reported on site to add to the 2 i saw Sunday.Back over there tomorrow as it promises to be around 17c and hopefully the birds will be more active than today,just hope i get up early enough for the morning madness.