Thames Chase Again

Evening all etc etc.
Went to.....surprise surprise Thames Chase again,this time bright and early,well earlyish,around 8.30am.
It was freezing cold,no seriously absolutely freezing,but i was wrapped up warm and ready for a few hours birding.
On arriving at Thames Chase i was greeted by a small flock of Goldfinch,a good start to the day,a few Pied Wagtails were bobbing around the Car Park and the Thrushes were making themselves noticed,over the day i reckon i saw 1000 plus Fieldfare and a good 6-700 Redwings.
Making my way to the scrape i had a few more Goldfinch to go with the Thrushes but not too much else.
Arriving at the scrape,the Green Sandpiper was still there,it looks settled there and i can see it sticking around,i had 1 Snipe,then a second,then a third.Two Lapwings and 3 Pied Wagtail made up what was on show.
After an hour or so of watching,a couple more Snipe came onto the scrape but it was the quietest day on the scrape out of the last 3.I left around 11am and as soon as i did 16 Linnets,yes Linnets,positive id and all that lol,naughty robert (still reeling from that)
I made my way back to the Visitor Centre for a Pot of Earl grey,scrambled egg on toast and a white choc chip cookie,job done,on the way back to the centre i had 8 Lesser Redpollls feeding on the young Alders,would of made a nice picture if i had a decent camera.Was frozen but after wolfing the grub down and the tea i headed South to the Wooded area,higher up.To be honest i didn't see too much,a couple of Goldfinch,5 Greenfinch and the large numbers of thrushes was all but still nice.I had a walk around before going home for a nice afternoon kip.


I woke up late afternoon,ready for the eagerly awaited talk by the ecologists working for Skanska Balfour Beaty,who are responsible for the Motorway Widening on the M25.I won't bore you with all the details but it was a fascinating talk and gave a cracking insight into the preparation involved in such a large job and ensuring  the wildlife disturbance is kept to a minimum,really was impressed with the whole process.There was also a cracking display of bird photography by members of the Upminster Camera Club under Malcolm Fish' guidance,cracking stuff,hopefully one day i can get shots half as good as those,roll on my camera arriving,i like big lenses!!!