Back to winning ways

Just got home from football with AFC Hornchurch,where we won 3-2 away at Concord Rangers in the Essex Senior Cup 4th Round.A competition we won 4 years ago and lost to Colchester United 2-1 in the final last season.We was 2-0 down after about 15 minutes tonight but battled back to eventually win the game.This was yet another game where i didn't have a drink,you have to go back to November 20th since i drank at a football game and then another 3 weeks before that,hopefully the fat git has lost a bit of weight in that time but don't hold your breath.
Ironically i spent most of my day looking at Canvey Island where Concord play as i visited Two Tree Island near Leigh on sea,it overlooks the Thames Estuary and Canvey island and is a good place for all manner of birds especially waders,wildfowl and Brent geese

(looking out from Two Tree Island onto Canvey point and the Thames Estaury)
I arrived around 10am as the tide was out,there were still a few of the usual suspects wading around,redshank,black tailed godwits and oystercatchers,i also had a few brent geese in the distance but not a great deal was happening,i decided to go to the hide overlooking the Lagoon to see if there was anything going on,as i got there a bloke came out with a picture of a robin,which he had taken from about 2 foot away just outside the hide.I set up the scope in the hide and sat down to observe the lagoon for a while,within a minute or so,we was joined by another interesting being,The Robin.He had jumped into the hide with us and was all over the place,not one bit bothered by our presence,he actually seemed to enjoy us being there

What a cheeky fella
I stayed in the hide for about an hour,the Robin was with us most of the time,at one point he was standing on my scope!!!
From the hide we had the usual waders plus wigeon,teal and a little egret but not much else.By about 12 0 clock i was feeling peckish so decided to venture down to Southend seafron for some good old fashioned fish and chips,well Saveloy and Chips anyway.I done a bit of estuary watching towards Shoeburyness and watched the waders coming back and forth for about an hour or so before going up towards rossis ice cream parlour which is famous for not just ice cream but Rossi the Ring billed gull,he was on the lamp post just past Rossis and out on the groynes were a couple of Med Gulls with the Black heads,a nice couple of year ticks for me.
I headed back to Two Tree for an hour or so as the waders would be coming back in on the rising tide but although i did see some spectacular dunlin action to rival what i saw on Sunday at Old hall i didn't see any Knot action as i had to leave about 3.30pm(an hour or so before high tide)
I did manage however a Sanderling and a green Sandpiper which was my favourite bird apart from the robin
I think i will hit West canvey marsh romorrow and then maybe back to Two tree to see some Knot on the rising tide as i missed it today,although high tide is at 17.24 tomorrow which is dark although i should see some good action upto about 5pm.Hopefully the weather will be good as its supposed to be upto 13c,wierd.
                                                             
                                                                     

New Boots at last

Ventured down to Bonnetts Wood this morning.After yesterday i thought it would be a bit of an anti climax but decided to go down anyway to see if any yellowhammer or ingfisher were about,unfortunatly for me neither were around.I started off in the Car park at Parklands which is across the road from Bonnetts Wood,as i got out the car i heard the squaking of parakeets,i used to enjoy these birds but i now find them somewhat irritating,especially over parklands as they seem to have taken over the place.A make Sparrowhawk then swooped in front of me,hopefully after the Parakeets!!!
I walked the short walk across the road onto Bonnetts wood but it seemed dead,i walked along a little and all i could hear were the usual tits & chaffinch.A kestrel overhead hovering was a nice site,then in the distance i had 14 Red Legged Partridge,very high numbers for the area,have had that amount before over there but not for a couple of years.The highest i had in the area last year was 5,they are probably being bred for shooting.A couple of jays and a mistle thrush were next then 80 fieldfare in the fields in the distance.I decided to go for a walk up onto the old dissused excavation site which runs down to berwick pond road but again zilch.I decided to head back but stopped for a while to see if any kingfisher came along but again zilch.
Went home,tucked into a bit of last nights chinese for lunch,job done.I took alice and the nipper down to be weighed,i thought they would only be 20-30 minutes in there as per usual but an hour and a half later they came out.
Then we went down to lakeside to get me some waterproof boots,can't keep using my wellies,although they are fun at splashing around in.May try the boots out in the morning although i havent decided where to go yet,somewhere coastal me thinks.

Paradise in Essex

Got up bright and early this morning,putting yesterdays defeat by Lowestoft out of my mind as i went on a days Birding with Graham thomlinson,father of Hornchurch legend Andy Thomlinson.
We met at 7.40am at the Brentwood post house and headed off to the Essex Coast,starting with an Inland Reservoir Site Abberton.As we turned off the A12 at Silver End i noticed a sign for Braxted Park,which is where a small amount of Hawfinch have been reported recently.As far as i know they are one of only a few remaining Hawfinch left in essex,so we decided to go for a look.After about 5 minutes these little beauties obliged from high up a tree,a cracking view and a new bird for me.
After this we made our way to Abberton,stopping every now and then to check out fields for Partridge,thrushes etc and we saw quite a bit,a male sparrowhawk hunting near braxted park was the highlight.We stopped off just before Abberton Causeway to an area with many Geese,there were around 50 White fronted geese in the fields,lovely birds and then we saw 6 Grey Partridge far out in the fields behind the geese,both year birds for me.We decided next to check out both the causeways,the main one didn't have too much on either side,just the usual ducks with around 40 bean goose flying over at one point.We decided to go to the other causeway to see if there was anything over there,it didn't look too busy but when we got there we knew we had made the right choice.3 Goosanders,5 Goldeneye,2 Egyptian Geese,bean geese and 5 pink foots were the highlights along with some other nice wetland birds.
We then left,around 10am to go to Old Hall Marshes,for my sins i have never been there before,what have i been thinking for the last few years,the place is absolutely mental and today was probably my favourite days birding.Don't get me wrong,it probably doesn't get close to rivaling some of the sites in Norfolk for range of species but it is an absolute gem and definatly the best site i have been to in Essex,the amount of birds is simply staggering,hundreds of thousands,wouldn't be surprised if there were millions scattered around there and the surrounding areas.
We started off in the car park,i once again didn't manage to wrap up too warm but as it happens,despite the strong wind at times and the fact that we was exposed a lot of the time i never really felt cold,perhaps it was because i was so focused on the birds,i just didn't feel it.From the car park we saw 2 green woodpeckers,we left the car park and into a field,upon us were thousands of Brent Geese,around 4000 i would say,with the Brent geese (below)were Barnacle Geese or at least a few,probably 40-50 nothing like the thousands of Brent.
                      

As soon as i saw them all i knew i was in for a good day.We watched the geese for a while before heading up on to the sea wall of the Salcott channel.Once up there we had wonderful views of the whole reserve,or at least as far as our eyes could see,the Long walk is around 8 miles and would of taken us about 2 days at the rate we was going,stopping every 30 yards to look at something new.We decided to take the short walk,about 2-3 miles but we did walk further as we twice went off the walk to try a bit of the long walk.
While up on the sea wall we had a Marsh Harrier being mobbed by a Peregrine,a Merlin dive bombing every few seconds,Avovcets,Ringed Plovers,Black tailed godwits,dunlin,spotted redshank,redshank,grey plover to name a few.Thousands and thousands of waders,thousands and thousands of ducks & geese,it really is a special place.We spent 6 hours just looking at birds,the last one we had was a Barn Owl,i would say at least a mile in the distance but managed to just about confirm its id as it turned and we saw its lovely colouring.we watched the waders coming in on the rising tide and some of the acrobatics they performed,especially the dunlins was simply breathtaking,it just made me think why i love birds so much,to see such action just about whenever you want,if you want it enough makes it all worthwile and reminds me that just seeing the birds is better than just ticking them down and moving on to the next one,don't get me wrong,i will continue to do lists but they are nowhere near as important as just seeing the birds in habitats like this.
Our plan was to finish about 1.30 and to be home by 2.30pm but we left the reserve about 4.15pm as it was just too hard to tear ourselves away from and we only did the short walk,one last surprise as we was heading away from the reserve were 3 Bewicks Swans to add to my year list.Old Hall Marshes,a very special place.

The referee is a complete and utter tosser

Just got back from the Bridge where i have just seen Hornchurch lose 2-1 at home to Lowestoft,who are now two points ahead of us with 3 games in hand.Only plus point is many of the other teams at the top all dropped points,so apart from Lowestoft going above us it looks like not too much harm done.
I arrived over the ground at 8am this morning to see if the pitch was playable,pitch was fine despite the heavy rain we have had for the past 3 days,i was quite surprised.The referee came just after 9 and passed the pitch fit,as long as we tended to the few dodgy patches that were still there,this took us half hour or so and then i went home to get ready for the Big match.
I arrived back at the ground at 12,i get there early to sell the 50/50 raffle tickets,the proceeds of which go to our away coaches to away games,the other half goes to the winner,todays prize was £90,i didn't win it,then again i don't enter it as if i did win too many people would moan at me.Another reason why i got down there early today was so i could watch my other team,the mighty Arsenal.Message to Wenger,you nearly cost me twenty quid you stupid french idiot,play your strongest team in our national cup competition you halfwit.Luckily a penalty by cesc got me out of trouble and also saved me from the humiliation in the bar before the game.
Hornchurch were 2-0 down after 5 minutes,pathetic start although we should of been 1-0 up had our centre forward just smashed it into the net instead of trying to play like Arsenal by chipping the keeper from twenty yards.We did start playing better as the half went on but from the moment i saw the referee i knew he would be a jumped up little twat.
At half time we went in 2-0 down and knew that Big Jim our Gaffer would shake them up and they came out a different side after the Break.From the start of the half to the end of the game we battered them but a mixture of bad luck and this useless idiot of a referee ensured that we lost.Half way through the half our centre forward was through on goal,he was then blatently pushed by their centre half,the linesman flagged but the referee waved play on,for one split second i was so incenced i was going to jump over the barrier to remonstrate with the idiotic ref,Lawrence our disabled fan actually did try to get over,this is not the first time he has tried it and is usually quite funny to watch,Big Love goes out to Laurence lol mate.
Five minutes later we got the goal back and piled onto them till the end,at the end of the 90 minutes the referee then added 10 minutes injury time,the only thing he got right all game but after 6 minutes of the injury time one of our players was scythed down and all hell broke loose,he was sent off but then for no reason he decided that one of our players had to go even though they were 50 yards from the incident.After this the free kick was taken and he decided not to play the 10 minutes,therefore we lost.I am debating whether to write to the FA To complain about this idiotic halfwit and speaking to a few fans after they all agreed what a twat he was.Absolute idiot and i hope i never see him again.I will calm down in a minute!!!
Off to Abberton & then Old Hall Marshes tomorrow and hopefully may get time to shoot into fingrinhoe or onto Mersea Island at some point,fancy adding to my Year list which i should at those reserves,happy days...

A Barmy Januarys Day

Wet wet wet was the order or the day when i got up this morning,and i don't mean some dodgy 80's Glasweigen cheesey pop Group,i meant Rain Rain Rain.I resigned myself to the fact that i wouldn't be doing too much birding today so sat down to watch the feeders,two Blue tits in an hour put me in the mood to get out the house and by 11 0 clock it had stopped raining.
I decided to venture over to Bonnetts Wood to see what was on offer,hoping for Snipe,woodcock,kingfisher and Yellowhammer and anything else that could turn up but i didn't think i would see too much on arriving as there was a twat on a motorcycle shooting around and the all too usual gunshots in the background.I decided to have a little wander around and to try to get over the top onto the old tipper site which seems to be dissused for now,i managed to get onto the land but it was so boggy underneath i decided to go back down to the bridge and stick to the pathways.On heading back down i had a Green Woodpecker and then a couple of Jays flew out of the Oak tree near the path to another just down the stream.The Shooting seemed to have stopped as had the idiot motorcyclist,hopefully he fell off and broke a few bones,i have no sympathy with little chav oiks who think they can ride their pathetic little motorcycles or mopeds around nature reserves and the likes,hope they all break bones.By now the sun was out with blue skies all around,a quick look on the old trusted thermometre showed the temperature as 12c,in January???? Whatever next,actually not too much in the way of birds for the next half hour or so,just the usual tits & finches and a lovely male Kestrel.I decided to head up the stream towards Parklands but before i get there a quick scan over the reeds and then fields produced a Buzzard,it was perched on an old Oak tree about 1/4 mile away but i got lovely views of it,it was being mobbed by two carrion crow but didn't look too bothered to start with but then took off as the crows started actually going for its head.About 60 linnets were over the farmland and landed although i couldn't get good views of them due to the fact they landed on a sunken part of the field(although i did get them later).I then had 2 skylarks over the Farmland,pretty sure these were not Lapland Buntings but you can never be too sure ;).Suddenly about 40 foot in front of me a Buzzard Flew across my eyeline,i got onto it and followed it into some trees the other side of the stream,then another one flew exactly the same path and into the same patch of trees,a few minutes later one of them came out and flew back over Gerpins Lane tip which is adjacent to the tip.The other Buzzard never re appeared,perhaps heading over towards parkland.
Shortly after that i had a Lesser Redpoll looking lost just by the tip,good views for a minute or so,then the last action of the day was c80 fieldfare and then 12 redwings heading towards Parklands.
No new year birds for me today but an enjoyable Afternoon in the Sun and mediterranean temperatures lol
lets hope the Rain holds off for the most part before Saturdays Visit of Lowestoft in the Top of the Table Ryman Premier Clash between AFC Hornchurch and Lowestoft,a must not lose game for either club.Fingers Crossed,come on you mighty Urchins

Probably a Skylark then!!!

Woke up this morning to find a rain soaked Upminster although by 9.30 it seemed as if the rain was letting up somewhat so i decided to have it on my toes to RSPB Reserve at Rainham Marsh.
I arrived around tennish but the rain had got heavier again and after much deliberation i decided to go for it on to the Reserve.I started out with the intention of just getting to the Ken Barret hide and taking it from there,on leaving the visitor centre i noticed all the wigeon had got up,a quick scan above and i was onto a Peregrine(although i will probably be accused of actually seeing a kestrel,that comment will become clearer later on).Once in the hide after about 20 minutes walk i set up with 3 other blokes who apart from the Wigeon,teal,shoveler & lapwing visible had seen nothing,a few Snipe & redshank later i decided to head to the New hide on the other side of the reserve.I wasn't really dressed for the occassion as i had a jumper and a bodywarmer on and no waterproofs,but i was already soaked and thought bugger it.
As we headed around the Northern Boardwalk a quick scan of the pool revelead 2 Pintail,lovely ducks.Walking further up the Boardwalk we had 2 Bearded tit actually bounce across the boardwalk before picking up another one on the Reed Mace.
We entered the hide and straight away was on 30 Golden Plover as well as redshank and small amounts of Dunlin,which grew as the tide came in on the Thames.Then i was alerted to some smaller birds feeding about 150 yards from the hide,straight away i knew they were Lapland Buntings,11 is a big number for this area so i guess i shouldn't be too dissapointed by someones comment who arrived once they had dissapeared that they were probably "damp Skylarks" but seeing as i have seen probably hundreds of thousands of Skylarks over the years as dumb as i can sometimes be they were not Skylarks.Every other person who saw them had the same ID,one bloke put the record in the visitor centre book and coincidentally his name was K Burgess (not a relative,i don't believe).Seems that unless one of the London/Essex hierachy actually see the birds then they simply don't exist lol,am happy i saw them and happier the bloke who made the comment didn't.As another local birder i know said to me in a phone call a minute ago "I Don't know why you bother,i don't anymore"
Anyway enough of the Lapland bunting/skylark/wet House Sparrow debacle,after seeing the buntings we were alerted to a Marsh Harrier which was a site tick for me.Then a group of Black Tailed Godwits arrived over Aveley Pools which was a nice year tick for me.I stuck it out in the hide for another hour or so,in which time the birder(s) who made the comment came and went after a while scanning the area but they had gone.I decided around 2.30pm to make my way back to the Visitor Centre where my old mate Rumbo was waiting for me as we were popping out for a drink to see him off as he goes back to Ibiza where he lives tomorrow.
So an eventful day and some nice birds although obviously not accepted by everyone but thats just life i am afraid,some you win and some you lose.I put the call out and some saw it and others didn't.

Redpolls Galore

A quite quiet day today compared to yesterday,no gunshots and no psycho dog walking ladies.I started off the day at Belhus Woods Country Park and ended it at Belhus woods Country Park,7 hours of Birdwatching,kerching.Only 3 new species today (possibly 4) but a good walk with good company and a bit of time in the Afternoon on my own getting lost in woods just before dark.
I started in the main car park where i bumped into another birder (his name escapes me but i have seen him on certain birding sites before).We spent the first hour or so looking for the Marsh Tits until we were finally rewarded,the wind was quite strong today compared to previous days and it seemed to have an effect on some of the birds with numbers well down on previous days.In the Woods we also latched onto 3 Goldcrest and 10 siskin.We then bumped into Malcolm who i know from Rainham Marsh RSPB as he works there as a volunteer and i have spent a few hours with him before at certain reserves,he also Supports Aveley who are in the same league as the Mighty Hornchurch,remember them??? They lost to Romford last night :(
Malcolm told us about the Smew that was reported yesterday,he had it Boxing day but i have not seen it but me and the other birder decided to head up to the Scrape to see if it was up there.we scanned the Scrape and while there was plenty of Wigeon,teal,shoveler,mallard,geese etc there was no sign of the Smew.We walked round and at one point flushed a Woodcock from the Long grass.We carried on around the scrape but no sign and decided to head back to the car park as the other bloke had to dash off.Once again we bumped into Malcolm and chatted for a while.Malcolm was going to pretty much check all the other lakes so i decided to go with him,over the next couple of hours we saw many birds including the Red Crested Pochard i saw on Monday and many other water birds but still no Smew or Redpoll.
We bothe went back to the Car park as i wanted to head home for something to eat and malcolm was going to rainham for the Afternoon,birding.I left and ventured into Aveley as i quite fancied walking round Belhus again looking for the Redpolls,so got a sausage & chips at the chippy then headed back.
I pulled back into the car park right next to the feeding station and straight away had Marsh tit & Nuthatch on the feeders,i am starting to wonder if there are more than 2 Marsh tit at Belhus as quite a few other birders have said they have had Marsh tit recently in other areas of the park and a few of the records seem to overlap when there are already 2 birds reported at the feeing station.Anyway,i ventured to the lakes,stopping breifly to look at a great spotted Woodpecker through the scope.Arriving at the back lake i heard 4 siskin in the Alder trees and then heard Redpolls,i had good views of them in the Alder trees and 15 were Lesser Redpolls but one was very pale and looked like a Mealy but i am not too confident of the ID as its not a bird i am over familiar with although it sort of looked out of place in the scope with the other birds.
By now it was starting to get dark so i ventured back into the woodland for what i thought would be a 5 minute walk back to the car park,i went that way just in case there was any Owls that had decided to come out to play a bit early (not actually sure how many tawny owls are in the woods,some said upto 5 pairs but that seems alot for a small woodland,someone else said it would be lucky if there are 1 pair!).
In the end after half an hour i finally made my way back to the car in time to beat the car park being locked.

Pile of poop

I went down to the Bridge tonight to watch the FRIENDLY between AFC Hornchurch and local rivals Romford.We lost 3-0.Played crap although to be honest only had two players who started the game saturday,one of those went off after twenty minutes with a broken arm and tommy black who has not played for a while limped off around the same time.The rest of the team were made up of trialists and players coming back from injury with another couple who are around the first team,it showed as a few of them didn't look bothered.Thats the last time i get excited about a friendly half way through the season.
On a plus note we did raise £75 from the half time travel which goes towards the coach travel for our away game at Cray Wanderers Sunday week,a game i will have to miss because its Alices Birthday.
Popped out about 3.30pm earlier for a bit of birding round the corner where the horses are at Park Farm.
Had a nice Goldcrest(which is good as they don't seem to have suffered too much in our recent cold spell),a Green Woodpecker,18 Long tailed tits,80 fieldfare,23 Redwing and a Mistle thrush.
The aim was to see if i could see any owls lurking about but didn't hold out too much hope and that was the right way of thinking as i heard none.I did however,have an altercation with a lady who said i shouldn't be out standing on the edge of farmland/woodland looking menacing at that time of day as she felt threatend.The only person who was ever in any danger was me as one of her 3 alsatians came charging upto me causing me to slip over,i told her this and the fact that someone with binoculars is usually just doing a spot of birding but she just seemed a stupid cow and i told her so as she was beginning to irritate me once she said that this land,which is also a PUBLIC FOOTPATH is for dog walkers not Birdwatchers.Oh do piss off love!!!!

The Guns Of Upminster

Popped out first thing to Belhus woods CP,just to see if i could add to the year list in the hour i had before i had to pop into Hornchurch on an errand.I managed one new species for the Year,a male Lesser spotted Woodpecker.On top of that i had 1 marsh tit on the feeder in the visitor centre,2 nuthatch,treecreeper,coal tit and a mistle thrush as well as the usual finches.Had hoped for some redpolls which are on site but given the fact i only walked around 500 yards in total i didn't have much chance,will probably get back there tomorrow.
After i had been to Hornchurch i decided to come back and have my first wander over the Valley this year,my local patch.
I crossed the road into the bushes and was immediatly rewarded with a Goldcrest and then a Song Thrush ,Both new birds for the Year for me.I decided to go round the edge of the woodlands and onto the farmland.In the distance i could hear alot of shooting,not sure what they were shooting but it was definatly having an effect on the birds i could see,many were taking off at the slightest noise.4 Rooks & 8 Stock dove in the first field near me were good birds for that field which apart from the usual Lapwings is usually pretty bare.Into the second field which ends up meeting the woodland area that runs up from the hospital.I had 5 redwing & 4 fieldfare straight away and many tits & finches in the trees as well as Great Spotted Woodpecker.Into the woods and with a tit flock were 8 long tailed tits & another 2 goldcrest.I then ventured out on to the PUBLIC FOOTPATH and scanned the fields but nothing,absolutely dead apart from one Skylark.I carried on then stopped at a junction with another track and looked up to see a Buzzard being mobbed by 8 crows.BANG...AND ANOTHER BANG....i was being shot at,or at least thats what it felt like.Seems like the farmers there don't realise a public footpath is for the public.A quick middle finger and a jog behind the hedge and i was off again,every now and then turning round to make sure i wasn't being shot at.I carried on along the PUBLIC FOOTPATH but it was dead,just one robin.I didn't expect it to be busy with birds but in recent years i have at least had the odd yellowhammer,corn bunting,partridge this time of year but with trigger crazy farmers around its no wonder there are no birds left.
After leaving the PUBLIC FOOTPATH i ended up in Berwick Glades,again nothing but the odd woodpecker,gull or mute swan flying over.I then travelled down to Hornchurch Country Park where i had a Bullfinch just before the Bridge,a little Egret on the pool to the right of the bridge and i saw a cettis warbler and heard 2 more (all 3 year birds for me).The Sun was coming out now but it was becoming very hazy,i made my way up to the little hill to scan the valley,on the way there i had a Male Brambling on the junction of the two paths,up the hill i set up the scope and almost straight away was on a Male Marsh Harrier.I kept losing the bird as i got talking to a few people,one a nice chinese lady who wanted to know what the heron was and another bloke who had lost his dog.I am sure the lady was chinese but she may of been Korean,if so the bloke may have lost his dog forever.
On scanning the fields another loud gunshot went off from the other side of the river,about 80 teal a few shoveler and mallards all went up and never came down again,obviously as pissed off with the shooting as i am.On this note i decided to leave and go to the Berwick Glades Car Park where Alices mum was picking me up as i hurt my leg when the farmer first shot a loud one in my direction.On the way back i had 35 linnets & 8 long tailed tits.I scanned the reservoir/fishing lake at the back but it was still frozen with around 80 lapwing and plenty of Black headed gulls on it.
Tonight i am at the Bridge to watch the eagerly awaited Havering Derby between AFC Hornchurch & romford(groundsharing squatting pikeys as the are also known),the game is a friendly but i have just informed the Hornchurch Chairman that defeat is not an option and i will not be happy until we have demolished them and sent them back to where they are currently squatting.

They Do Ron Ron Ron

After an impeccable nightimes sleep from the nipper after the previous nights bedlam i woke up at 7am ready for a mornings birding with fellow local birder and another Hornchurch fan,Ron Colson.
I arrived at Belhus Country Park at 7.30am on the hope of catching a few birds before the maniac dog walkers turned up and i was in luck,the first car in the car park.I walked down to where i had seen the Marsh tits yesterday but they were not there,although i was treated to a festival of noise from the other tits,nuthatches,treecreepers & woodpeckers,it was not too far short of a spring morning had it been a few degrees warmer.I had hoped to maybe catch a Tawny Owl in the woods but heard or saw nothing.After poncing about in the woods for an hour or so i decided to head back up to the car park to meet Ron,who was there waiting for me.We decided to head back down to the feeders as Ron had not seen the Marsh tits yet and after about 20 minutes looking for them we decided to give up till later.Although we had by this time seen Nuthatch,great tit,Long tailed tits,blue tit,green Woodpecker,jay 2 goldcrest and heard treecreeper.
We decided to head to the scrape/conversation area to see the Red Crested Pochard male that i found yesterday.On the way we stopped in a field where we saw Redwing(12) fieldfare (20 with another flock of around 30 in the trees to the right),there were good amounts of greenfinch as well.Ron had to dash back to the Car because he had forgot to pay the £2 car park fee(rip off merchants and i can't help thinking that many birders do not bird Belhus because of this reason),in the meantime i had a flock of 12 goldfinch and a meadow pipit,both year ticks for me.Once we got to the scrape,it looked like much of the ice from yesterday had thawed overnight although there was still quite a lot of ice on there.We looked out from in front of the hide to see around 150 wigeon,a few teal,around 30 pochard,2 ruddy duck,plenty of black head gulls as well as mallard,greylag & canada geese.Numbers of gadwall were quite low but we couldn't locate the Red crested Pochard.I decided we should move further around the scrape and as soon as we did we locked on to it,once again getting cracking views.We stayed at the same spot for about an hour,watching the birds,chatting about the mighty AFC Hornchurch etc and scanning the fields behind us.At one point we were convinced a tuft of grass in the distance was a funny bird but under close inspection it was exactly what it said on the tin,grass,a Water Rail in the reeds was another year bird for me.We decided to head off across the farmland and as we got to the other side we latched on to about 12 goldfinch but one or two looked a bit different and under closer inspection,one was a chaffinch,the other a linnet.Not too sure why they were not with their mates but the linnet was another year tick for me.
From there we decided to venture a bit off track towards a fishing lake i know,just as we climbed over a fence onto a track i locked on to around 8 snipe in the distance,not sure where they were off to,they seemed to be following the M25 north which was in the near distance,perhaps they were on their way to watch Lowestoft v concord in the ryman premier league!,still,another year tick for me.
After about 10 minutes of walking through bushes and nettles we arrived at a bit of farmland(dissused farmland by the look off it)next to the pond.After a quick jimmy riddle in the nearest bush i then had 6 stock doves in the distance but not too much else,Ron then alerted me to some Shoveler on the pond so we decided to get a bit closer to check it out.As we arrived at the pond the majority was still frozen solid but the part that wasn't held 4 male shovelers,2 female and a couple of Mallards.We made our way round the pond which i believe is a dissused fishing pond for tunnel AC,scanning the reedbeds we didn't see anything but it looks like it could throw up the odd delight so i may try and get over there again soon.We left the pond and walked back down a track towards the country park a quarter or so of a mile away,we decided to again head off track and towards the M25,maybe there were some waders or geese in the grassland that is usually flooded this time of year but after about 400 yards we saw some dogs in the distance and under further scanning realised that it looked like a bit of a scrap yard so we turned back before we could be made into scrap metal ourselves or chewed to bits by the local nasty dogs.Back on the track we headed to another pond i know,i believe most of the ponds round there are ex gravel pits which we excavated for the M25 then turned into ponds as a way of getting nature back into them.Again,this one was frozen solid.Ron then threw a stone up into the air to land on the Pond,nothing,just a thud and a pretty noise on the ice.It was then that i started throwing stones higher onto the ice trying to break the ice(for wildlife helping purposes obviously!!!),after the 5th stone i decided on a bigger stone and a more ferocious throwing action,it was then that my newish I phone,fell out of my pocket and cracked the screen a lot easier than the Stone cracked the ice.Thoroughly pissed off now as i only bought this I phone 2 months ago after smashing the last one falling off my bike i rang the missus to tell her (the phone actually still works and i can still use all the functions on it,so not too bad)who told me what a fool i had been and asked if i knew what time it was as i had promised to be in by 12 and it was about half 12,i decided then that we should have a slow walk back to the car park and to have one last look for the Marsh Tit for Ron.We arrived back at the feeders around 1pm and within 5 minutes were rewarded with our first Marsh tit,as well as good views of nuthatch.Another Marsh tit popped on to the feeders and started us thinking about how long the Marsh tits had been at Belhus,if they have or will breed and how many are actually there,as it seems that Belhus can be very underwatched for the size of the place.I left around 1.15pm to go home before taking Isla to my mums to wish her a very happy birthday.
As far as football goes,it was a decent day in the Ryman Premier this afternoon with kingstonian losing 3-1 at home to Horsham in their game in hand on us at the top end and Canvey beating Billericay who were above us a few weeks ago.Our opponents at the Bridge next Saturday,Lowestoft beat Concord rangers 2-0 and are now a point behind us with 3 games in hand but at one point were 12 points behind us and even then still had two games in hand.Tomorrow we have a "friendly" against romford at the Bridge(our home) if you can ever call a game between the two clubs a friendly,personally i hope we batter them!!!!

A Late Start

I got up late this morning,11am in fact,despite going to bed well before midnight.This is partly due to Isla deciding to wake us up at 1am and then proceeding to keep us up till after 4am,at one point i even went to Rainham Tescos to get some teething gel/powder but it was shut,although i did hear a Tawny Owl from my front garden,it sounded like it was coming from the trees next to the Optomist Pub.I then ventured to Gallows Corner Tescos but that was also shut and then tried the 24 hour tesco garage/multimart but that is now a 6-12 multimart and was also shut,so i headed home to find Isla smiling at me,obviously over the worst of her teething fit.I climbed into bed,only awaking every now and then to check on the nipper.I did set my alarm for 8am so when i woke up at 11am i was a bit shocked but thought i had just slept through the alarm due to the disturbance throughout the night,it turns out that apple i phones alarms are not working so the fact i lost 3 hours birding is those twats faults.
Once awake i decided to go to Belhus Country Park in search of the Marsh tits that have been present for the last month or so,also to try to tick off another few woodland species,on arriving i parked near the visitor centre and looked around the feeders but apart from the odd Great & blue tits there wasn't too much there,certainly no Marsh Tits,so i decided to go for a walk into the Woodlands,after 30 or so seconds i was rewarded with my first Nuthatch of the year,the first of 4 in the woods,soon after i had a treecreeper and then 2 goldcrest,high up in the trees with a tit flock.I then strolled on seeing a jay,wren and a coal tit and then came to another feeding station where i came across the 2 Marsh Tits that have been seen.I decided from there to carry on through the woods onto belhus chace as its a good place for Woodpecker/thrushes etc and straight away i had a lovely green woodpecker and then a Mistle Thrush in the bushes.Then i decided to head towards the few lakes/pits where i was a bit dissapointed to see that the majority of the water was actually ice.Overhead i had a Lesser black backed gull,grey wagtail and then 40 siskins,all new for my year list.Apart from the odd Tufted duck/coot & moorhen there was nothing about so i decided to walk through to the scrape about half a mile or so away,when i got there it looked a good decision as it was ice free.Straight away i latched on to a Red Crested Pochard,which is a site first for me.Also seen were Pochards,Tufted Ducks,Moorhen,coots,wigeon(around 150),Greylag geese,canada geese and the usual Ruddy Duck.I then ventured back to the Car park happy with my days birding but decided to have one last look in the woods at the Marsh tit,once again they didn't dissapoint.
After this i decided to have a quick drive around the lanes,briefly stopping at the paddocks to the East of the Ingrebourne Valley,getting my Ingrebourne list up and running,albeit with only 24 species so far,its a start.A quick trip to Bonnetts wood just before dark on the off chance of maybe picking up an owl of some sort gave me a solitary kestrel.Still not a bad days birding,more of the same tomorrow i think,still a few more species i think i can get at Belhus,and you never know what could turn up overnight!!!
Below is a picture of an adult Breeding Male Red Crested Pochard,lovely looking bird although the one i saw had more striking features

Football at last

Happy New Year Everyone.
Its been a good start to the Year so far.I haven't been out birding yet but i have seen some interesting birds today.First of all,while waiting to go to football at lunchtime i had a lovely Male Blackcap in the Apple tree where the 6 Waxwings were Xmas eve.Then on our way to football on the M25 around potters Bar i had a lovely Common Buzzard perched in the tree set back from the road.I also had Kestrel along the motorway and a few other birds as well to get my year list underway at 23.
As for the Football,AFC Hornchurch travelled to Wealdstone,a place we never do too well at.We totally outclassed them in front of a crowd of 506 (around 80 from Hornchurch).We went in 2-0 up at half time and were in total control.They really were outclassing Wealdstone,the 3rd was added by Young Michael Ramkin on his first appearance since a very serious injury over a year ago,welcome back Michael.
I then got home around 6.30 to watch the end of Arsenals 3-0 win away at Birmingham,so thats both my teams who play in red and white,both playing against opposition in blue and white who are languishing down the bottom of the table and although wealdstone don't play in Birmingham,they do play in ruislip which is on the M40(A40) and is connected to Birmingham.Talking about the M40,i was hoping to maybe see a red kite or two in the air around the junction with the M25 but no such luck i am afraid.
Oh well,off out birding tomorrow,although i will probably just stay local and go over the Valley and get my Ingrebourne Valley Year list underway.Going to go out in a little while to see if i can get the local Tawny Owls,i heard two the other night,which i have never heard round here,usually just the one.

Used abused,i feel like a Whore

Birds have a way of making me feel like an Amsterdam Prostitute.In colder weather they flock to my garden to sample my wares.Once the weather warms up they tend to bugger off to where they came from before.My garden was a hive of activity in the cold weather with the Waxwings being the number one attraction.Today i have watched the feeders and i have seen 1 blue tit,1 robin,a great tit and a collared dove.
I did have 5 snipe over the house but there was no chance of them coming down to join me.
Birds,if you are watching,my garden is the nuts,come and join me!!!

JOB DONE

Its late at night and i am watching the test match,Trott has just got 150.
But more importantly Arsenal have just proved that if they hastle teams and play to their strengths they can beat anyone in the Premier league
Djourou,you were quality
I hate Chelsea and Arsenal done the chavs
Can't really add too much to that but you are toilet and Barcelona are now quaking in their boots.Make no mistake,as much as Arsenal did not want to face Barcelona in the next round of the Champions League,Barcelona did not want Arsenal,lets have it,barca are running scared
It was nice to see Colin Hewitt tonight and the young Mr Tim Dickens,top night

Yet Again,No Football

Ventured over to the Stadium this morning to see what the pitch was like,on arrival it was obvious there wouldn't be a game today which was a shame as it would of been a bumper crowd for the visit of local rivals Aveley,what with the other games in our league locally being postponed.
We cleared the pathways anyway but the pitch was rock hard and would of been a serious injury risk to the players.It is now nearly 6 weeks since our last home game and we have now only had 1 game in 5 weeks,i seriously need a football fix although i will be going down the pub later to hopefully watch Arsenal smash the Chavs all around the Emirates tonight.I am sure my little princess wants the gunners to win as well,seeing as she is all dressed for the occasion

Yesterday we popped down to Brighton to see my sister,nephew and brother in law.Nick as usually put a top class spread on and although i took my bins & scope down there on the off chance of getting some sea watching in and to see the Starling Roost on the old pier,i didn't get a chance.
On the way down there we stopped in the services for half an hour where i had a lovely buzzard overhead and a coal tit in the service car park.Coming into brighton on the A23 3 buzzard were circling overhead and a flock of around 100 fieldfare was a nice surprise over the junction of A23 /A27.We were quite fortunate to actually get there as i keep having problems with a breather pipe on my car and although it was fixed 2 months ago it keeps splitting,so although i lost power a couple of times on the M23,i patched it up and we made it down there,after some repairs in Brighton i managed to get back ok.
This afternoon me and Isla are off out for the Afternoon as we are leaving mummy to clear up all Islas mess from the presents,not sure where we are going,we may go and see Granny,who bought her the Arsenal Shirt and we may pop over to Belhus to watch the Marsh tit(s).
Today on the Feeders we have had

That bastard Squirrel
4 blue tits
6 great tits
8 blackbirds
collared dove
3 redwing
38 fieldfare over the house
No Waxwings,they have obviously found another apple tree to eat from so sod them!!!

No Birding please it's Christmas

Haven't been birding today for obvious reasons,well that's a slight lie as i popped over to mayesbrook park in Barking earlier as it's next to Alices aunts,where we had our Christmas dinner.Only popped over there for twenty minutes or so but managed to see a few birds.I actually only popped over there to try to clear my headache and have a sneaky fag but managed to get a few sneaky birds as well
At the side of the park is a small stream,more a brook and immediately i latched on to a grey wagtail,also had 2 moorhen and 4 mallard.A grey heron was a bit further upstream.In the snow covered grass were plenty of crows and gulls including two common gulls overhead.
Then back to Alices aunties for our slap up Xmas dinner,which 4 hours later i am still stuffed from.
After dinner I had to go back to upminster to take my mum and dad to their 90 quid lunch !!!
On the way back i had 3 red legged partridge in the fields near the paddock and a bullfinch in the bushes next to the paddock,a kestrel was overhead and as i pulled up at my flat to get some more supplies a sparrowhawk swooped behind some bushes and came back out with what looked like a chaffinch,a good day so far,off to see my sister,brother in law and nephew Jake the jakester.

Merry Christmas

Morning everyone,firstly i would like to wish all my friends & family a happy christmas and to everyone who follows my blog,merry christmas to you too.If any of you are travelling to see relatives today,drive safely.
I was awoken by my girlfriend Alice at 7.30 this morning who was more excited than little Isla,which isn't really surprising as the nipper is only 9 months old and was more excited about eating the wrapping paper off the presents.As soon as i know how to do it,i will post a video of Isla opening her presents,i must warn you though that i sound like a bit of a plonker in the video and i am seen turning round every few seconds to see if the Waxwings have arrived on the Apple Tree yet??
As for the Waxwings,they arrived just after 8 and although they are not currently in the Apple Tree they have been on and off since i got up,all four of them.
This morning,we have also had 3 Redwing,5 Chaffinch,2 Fieldfare,6 blue tit,3 great tit,12 blackbirds
2 Collared dove,4 wood pigeon,2 magpies,1 wren,2 dunnock,1 house sparrow a great spotted Woodpecker,robin and a carrion crow.
We are off to Alices aunts for lunch,then i am coming home to pick my mum and dad up around 3.30pm to take them for their christmas lunch at the Berwick,which is costing them £90per person.e have more money than sense,not my dad,he just doesn't have any sense lol.I may have a sneaky half hour or so over berwick ponds but don't tell the missus.
The nipper is currently opening yet more presents,many of them noisy ones that will no doubt cause me yet more headaches like the one i am currently suffering with,which is annoying as i didn't even drink last night!!!

My little Princess banging one of her new toys

My Waxwing Paradise

The day started very early indeed as i had to go to buy some meat from smithfields meat market(always best to go to the best),so i got up at 5am and trundled off up there,got back around 7.30am and climbed back into bed for a while but the daughter made sure i couldn't get any sleep as she was constantly using me as a punchbag.I had promised myself NO BIRDING today as i was going to be busy,what with having to go to church this evening with the girlfriends family.Anyway,about 11.45am i was getting twitchy feet thinking about popping over the valley for an hour or so but decided to head for the kitchen,which proved to be the right decision.While checking the oven i noticed 2 redwing on the garage roof,i took my bins into Alice to show her but she didn't seem too bothered,back off to the kitchen i headed.Looking up in the apple tree i saw what i first thought were redwings but once i got my bins on them i realised they were in fact Waxwing,there were 6,suddenly Alice was interested!!!

MY CRAP PHOTO

I put the message out on various e mail groups and rang a couple of locals up including Stephen Staples,who will be providing me with Photographs of these wonderful birds.
Within an hour or so over 20 people had viewed the birds,albeit only 4 as 2 had disappeared and more people have been coming to look for them all afternoon,although i haven't seen them for a good half hour now,just a solitary Redwing feeding on the same Apples.I feel happy that so many people seemed happy to see the birds and rather selfishly i hope they stick around for a few more days.i shall never look at that Apple tree as useless for birds anymore.At one point they were actually on my roof,not so much a garden tick but a house tick........My Waxwing Paradise indeed.

One for the lads and any dykes out there!



HAPPY XMAS 



The Crafty Urchin

Just got home from the Darts match between AFC Hornchurch & Dagenham & Redbridge,where we beat them 13-3,the missus even won her doubles match and nearly won her singles,if she could of hit double 3
It seems baby Isla is our lucky mascot as she was there for some of the evening and pictures may be in next weeks Romford Recorder as Hornchurch proudly regained the Tarkan Mustafa cup.
A Great curry was served up of which i am sure the majority there tonight will agree and maybe suffer from in the morning.
Not out birding tomorrow so may be quiet on here the next couple of days,then again something usually happens to me on the quiet days
UP THE URCHINS!!!

A Bit parky

Decided to go down the road again to look for the Waxwings that were seen yesterday,got down there just after 8.30 but nothing,decided to drive down to the country park again after yesterdays birding nirvana.Arrived after 9 and decided to put an extra layer on,walked down to the fence overlooking the reserve and met jerry who i had not seen for a year or so and then another bloke called Rob who had a bad back and a tattoo of a tawny owl on his arm,i walked around with Rob up to the bridge and back but with the wind howling through me and the slush from yesterday turning to hard ice,i decided to call it a day just after 10 as the boots i had on were slipping all over the place.
Birds seen today included 5 cormorants,grey heron,4 snipe,20 plus teal,kestrel,g s woodpecker,green woodpecker,lots of tits & finches,18 redwing & 25 fieldfare.
I had a couple of jobs to do in my mums garden,so popped round there to help out as my dads about as much use as a pork pie at a barmitzva then off round alices mums to put up some lights on the front of the house,up a ladder,i hate ladders,especially 8 foot up.
Then it was off to Iceland (the frozen supermarket chain) to get some nibbles for the darts match tonight where we might not be having curry now as there might bit be anyone to cook it.On leaving Iceland Alice spotted a little old lady who seemed to be cold and confused and she was asking people for a lift but everyone just drove past,we picked her up and dropped her off in Cranham,good deed done for the day.
Then i popped back round to my mums and done a bit of garden watching,not too much in the way of numbers but a female blackcap,great spotted woodpecker and Coal tit were by far the highlight of the day.
Now i just have to get someone to cook a curry for tonight,any offers let me know.

Big Day Ahead

Its a big day today as we are only two days from xmas and 4 days from Hornchurch's next league game at home to Aveley,it will be one month and five days since we last played a home match,something that will of hurt the club financially and the game still may not go ahead due to the weather.Anyhow,we are down the club tonight as its the xmas special in our monthly darts match with the fans of Dagenham & Redbridge,namely middle and his boys.We call it the Tarkan Mustapha challenge cup as he is a footballer who has played for both clubs.Nipper will be coming down tonight to watch daddy play darts so i better be on top form for her.Mr Mcbride,our ex manager and now part owner of the football club is cooking us a curry and my missus is going to cook some tit bits.This morning however i shall be going birding once again,starting off by looking for those waxwings reported yesterday and then maybe the country park again,a full report to follow

No Cottaging please,we are English

After yesterdays hectic day with cottagers being found and a drunken girlfriend causing havoc,i decided to go to Hornchurch Country Park,which is towards the southern end of the valley to look for Bittern,Marsh Harriers and waxwing amongst other things,after running a few unexpected errands beforehand,i arrived at the valley around 11am.While sitting in the car a Grey Heron flew over and then 4 fieldfare and a single Redwing,a good start.From the Car Park i ventured over to the other side of the new playground and had a scan across the valley.There was plenty of Moorhen,around 20 teal and 6 snipe all in the long grass,over by the bank of the River was a Water Rail.Then from the corner of my eye i saw a large bird being chased by about 12 Magpies,my first impression was Marsh Harrier but after a second or so it became clear that it was a Bittern,they chased it all the way down the valley towards Hacton Lane until it was out of sight,i never saw it come back.Then my mate Kev rang me to say that he was out walking the dog by the bridge at Hacton Lane and was talking to 4 birders who were looking at Waxwings,typical,as i have been over that section the last few days and although i saw them on Saturday,i would of liked to see them again,but as i was already over the Country Park,i decided to stay there,hoping they would maybe come up river to where i was.I spent another few minutes looking in the long grass and a Bullfinch was seen in the bushes to the right of me.2 green woodpeckers were also seen and heard.I then went down to the viewing point overlooking the scrape.

                                                         

Although the scrape was frozen and wildfowl numbers are down over the park compared to when its unfrozen,there was still plenty of action around the scrape,with a mixed flock of finches being seen,i checked for Brambling but to no avail,then 35 linnets landed in the bushes to the right of me.A Green woodpecker was heard and seemed to be spooked by something,then i saw that it was being chased by something although as it shot in some bushes i couldn't tell what it was.I stayed focussed on the bushes but felt sure that it had perished only for it to shoot back out again,being chased by a large female Sparrowhawk.Another Water Rail was seen on the river bank along with another few teal and moorhen.11 Canada geese flew over,which grabbed my attention from a distance as many wintering geese have been reported across the South.
I headed to the Bridge to see if anything was around there,14 siskin flew over as did 8 pied wagtails,36 lapwing and a reed bunting,i then got the call from the missus which meant time was of the essence as i had to do a bit of shopping in the farm shop on the way home,after agreeing a 2pm home time with her i decided to head up the hill to overlook the rest of the country park,hopefully a Marsh Harrier may show up,i had a male over berwick a week or so ago but i knew there was a female around as well and after about 20 minutes it duly obliged,beautiful bird.It gave me good views for a couple of minutes before heading down the valley.
I heard some action behind me in the form of about 20 long tailed tits,i also saw a goldcrest and another 4 siskin.With this i decided to head towards home,trying for the waxwing about 300 yards from my house.I got there just after 1 and spent about 40 minutes looking around the trees and bushes on the east side of the riverbank but to no avail.I am sure they were seen as kev would never of heard about a waxwing let alone see one,therefore they must of been there.I left there and parked the car up outside the house,when a little egret flew over the house towards where the waxwings were seen,then off to the local farm shop for some veg then home.We have just been visited by thomson who was delivering his cards & presents for the nipper.
cheers Andykins

Drunken Mother of my child

Last night i witnessed a complete embarrasment of a girlfriend,as Alice decided to come home completely trolleyed,throwing up and falling asleep in the bathroom among other things.As i have only drank once in about 12 weeks now i thought it was disgraceful behaviour.My little princess who is nearly 9 months old now,asked me to write this message to her mother,because she was shocked at her behaviour.

                                                 

Anyway,i am off birdwatching again over the country park,to once again look for waxwings,bittern etc
Have fun with the hangover Alice and make plenty of noise my little Princess,i wouldn't mind but she got in before 7pm,donut!!!!!!

The Big Little Thaw

After being lazy this morning,just watching birds on my feeders and surrounding area and a bit of shite daytime tv through my freeview box(i really need to get sky),i mustered up the energy to go for a spot of birding around 12 0 clock across the road into my local patch the Ingrebourne Valley,scene of my last few days birding.An interesting afternoon stroll which comprised of reported deer,a couple of wierdos in the bushes,some nice birding and a wet bottom,I will come to all that as i go on with my daily report lol.
Anyway,after getting safely across the road i decided to walk down towards the river to look for Goldcrest,which i had seen Sunday,i was a bit worried about these little birds as it has been cold the last couple of nights and small birds often suffer in harsh conditions but after a minute or so i came across a large tit flock in a small oak and in with them was goldcrest,although i think it was a different individual from the other day,even if it was only a few feet from where i saw it sunday.Other birds in the tree were around 8 blue tits and at least 10 great tits,a redwing was in the tree adjacent to the small oak as was a Jay.I decided to go down to the River and as i arrived a Grey Heron took off (sorry Mr H),across from the river is some grass near a play park for kids and on the edge are some tall trees,2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers were about 20ft apart in different trees about 50ft up,i believe Tawny Owl have been heard from here,perhaps the one from last night.Back to the River,i decided to walk back up to the Hacton Lane Bridge to see if anything was around,there was 2 moorhen,a water rail and a Grey wagtail on the river.
   

After this i decided to go up to where i saw the Waxwings on Sunday,no such luck up that way so decided to head for the farmland behind it,there is an oak tree there so i set up there for a little while as it looked like it could snow,as soon as i had my scope up a flock of around 20 long tailed tits flew into the tree giving me views of the birds up to 1 metre away,they were that close,with them were around 6 blue tit and a couple of great tits,then at the top of the tree i hear Goldcrest again,but not one this time,there were two.They whizzed around the tree for around 5 minutes,obviously not bothered by me before dissapearing back into the woods.
I then realised that i had to pick the nipper up from my mums so headed off back to the house about 15-20 minutes away but the birding action wasn't over as i had a stunning male brambling and then the strangest thing happened as a middle aged bloke appeared out of the bushes doing his flies up,fine i thought,obviously been for a quick slash,but then behind him was another bloke about the same age,putting his old chap back in his trousers,these blokes are cottagers,my local patch is now a local cottaging site,no wonder they looked a bit shocked and shot back in the bushes,one of them definatly looked like Harry Redknapp lol.
Somewhat shocked i carried on back home to then be confronted by a dog walker who claimed that his boxer had just chased a muntjac into the woods,i have seen the odd one around,i then suggested that if his dog was hungry,there were a couple of benders in the woods with their tackle out.
One last bird was a cracking mistle thrush,pretty scarce compared to when i was a kid and always nice to see.One last incident was me falling in a ditch and coming out with a soaked arris which i got funny looks from the people in the pub as i walked past it.Just another quiet day on the valley.Am now at home with the Princess watching a bit of telly as mummy is out on the lash this aftenoon.More tomorrow now doubt as the days are now getting longer,happy days indeed
                                                      

A Good night made even better by a nice bird

And the nice bird not being the missus,although she is nice lol
Shame to see moneybags City getting done by those crafty scouse gits Everton,just goes to show,with all the money in the world you can't always buy success,especially with tossers like Gareth Barry in your team,and not forgetting that twat Adebayor,didn't get to watch all the game as i had the daughter climbing all over me,here's a picture of me and her before i woke her up for her dinner...

                                                     

She's a little cracker,i do love the little princess.She is currently causing aggro in the front room with her mother when she should be fast asleep,keep hearing her calling da da da da da da,don't think she has a clue what she is saying but it sounds ok to me.Anyway,after the football,i went downstairs for a cheeky fag (got to give up soon) and while standing in the snowstorm that is currently raging outside i could hear a Tawny Owl,it must be coming from one of the Large oak trees a hundred or so yards away,don't think i would of heard it had the wind been in the other direction.Can't really understand what the poor devil is doing out in this weather,i strongly recomend he pops back inside his tree and gets his head down for the night,anyway,i am off as i have a couple of chicken legs for the local foxes before they starve,sleep and then loking for bitterns tomorrow over the ingrebourne....

Marsh Tit in the Woods!

Hello again,decided to finally go to Belhus Woods Country Park to look for the reported Marsh tits (2) that have been regular for the last couple of weeks or so.Marsh Tit is quite a scarce visitor in this area,i last had one about 6 or 7 years ago close by and i know another has been reported recently at Grangewaters but apart from that this area is not a stronghold for this species,so i thought i would go and tick this list off my local list,saying that the list is just in my head as i have neglected it this year due to not going birding enough and not always filling in my logbook or on my pc.Anyhow,i know i haven't seen one round here for a few years.I pulled up about 9am and hoped to see the bird by the feeders where they have been reported very quickly so i could then get down to the Stone Barges at rainham to look for the Ring Ouzel.After 20 minutes or so there was still no sign of the Marsh Tit so i thought i would go for a stroll around the woods on the off chance i may hear or see them.
                                                     
A quick stroll around the woods produced 2 lesser redpoll,a treecreeper,plenty of greenfinch,chaffinch,blue & great tits as well as both Great Spotted & Green woodpecker,a flock of around 20 siskins was nice as was 2 nuthatch very close to the visitors centre on the way back,i decided to give the feeders one last try and as soon as i got there i was rewarded with the Marsh Tit,i believe it was only one bird but not 100% sure as it seemed to be very busy and could possibly of been two birds.I was talking to someone who was over there doing some photography and was trying to get him to take some shots but he didn't seem too interested as he was more into landscapes than wildlife photography,although he did say he was interested in taking pictures of waxwings,so i told him a few decent places as he was going to go to stortford to photograph some,nice bit of nikon though,about 6 grands worth.
From Belhus i shot down to the Stone Barges at Rainham,or at least that was the plan,the road leading up to the car park was very slippery and i couldnt get up the slight hill at the end in my crap BMW,then reversing back down i managed to get stuck in a bit of a rut and it took me 10 minutes to get out.So i decided to go round to Coldharbour lane and have a look at Aveley Bay but the tide was in,probably best to have checked before hand as i was sliding all over coldharbour lane in my crap BMW.From there i went back to the car park by the road leading up to where i had been stuck,as i was pulling up to the car park i saw what appeared to be a Ring Ouzel on the wire fence,i was pretty sure it was as the bird has been reported in the area for a while now,as i pulled up there was already someone there (johnathan ledbridge aka jono)who said he had seen what he believed to be a ring ouzel on the same fence,we both agreed that it was a ring ouzel but carried on looking as we wanted to get better views of the bird.After a while jono went and i gave myself half hour to find it before going off to tescos to get the babies nappies,which is why i originally went out this morning :) .After about 15 minutes,the bird re appeared,this time for 15-20 seconds and i could positively identify the bird,which is a year bird for me!!.Other species seen were good numbers of redwing,quite a few fieldfare,blackbirds,pipits,a kestrel and a snipe.A quick scan on the reservoir opposite berwick glades and the paddock on the way home produced nothing but a heron and a kestrel overhead.Off home to the missus and baby where i watched the garden birds for a while but only collared dove,blue tit and 2 dunnocks bothered visiting.Tomorrow sees the shortest day of the year,from then on all the days get longer which is only a good thing as far as birding goes,tomorrow also sees Hornchurch travelling to Concord Rangers on Canvey Island in the next round of the Essex Senior Cup,but i can't see it being on and this will be the 3rd time we have had the game called off,fingers crossed though as i could do with a game of footy to watch!!!

Brass monkeys

Coldest day yet,measured -3 at 1pm.COLD
Started the day by waking up on the Sofa at 6am,the missus and baby ended up staying at her mums because the roads were too icy for me to want to drive with Isla in the car,its not that i don't trust my own driving,its the other twats out there that i don't trust...
Went to pick them up at 10am to take them to church,dropped them off (i have no time for religion)and went to my mums to feed the cat as the parents are down in Brighton visiting the sister,hello ginger!!!.So i took the opportunity of an hours garden watch before going back to the church to pick my little family up,in the hour watching the garden i was treated to some cracking action with the following seen:- 1 Coal tit,1 female blackcap,6 blue tit,8 long tailed tit,great tit,redwing,bkackbird,jay,5x greenfinch,8 house sparrow,2 jay,chaffinch & collared dove.
Got home at around 12 and got ready for a walk over the Ingrebourne with my old mate smiles,who wanted to know what all this birdwatching lark was all about.......
          

After walking to the pond where smiles aka michael tarbuck, aka spam (to his mum) used to collect newts as a kid,he got a phone call from mummy and had to dash but he seemed quite keen and got to see nice views of a cormorant and some long tailed tits before leaving after 20 minutes.So i continued on my own,didn't really have a plan on where i was going,just decided to go with the flow,had a nice snipe coming over the woodland into the farmland and then a common buzzard was seen a way off,actually over my house,then headed off towards the parklands area,other birds seen around the farmland were 18 lapwing,1 redshank overhead,green woodpecker,4 jay,3 redwing and a pheasant,i also heard yellowhammer but couldn't see the bird.
From there i went back into the woodland and headed back towards my flat,before turning into some scrubland with plenty of bushes,straight away i heard goldcrest and after a fe seconds i located it,as soon as i had,i heard another one which was in a tit flock with around 12 long tailed tits,8 blue tits and the odd Great tit,i continued down a path which ended up going to the river ingrebourne,i walked along this,heading towards the country park,i had a heron and a water rail on this before i couldn't go any further,so decided to follow some footsteps in the snow,this was a big mistake although it ended up being a rewarding one.As the track ran out,i suddenly felt quite lost,usually i know the area quite well and its not exactly epping forest but it looks completely different in the snow and as i found out,not everywhere is as it seems,especially as i was walking through a harmless looking opening,only to end up going through ice and getting soaked up to my knee,my leg still hasn't recovered.I decided to get out so fought my way through the bushes and up the wooded hill back to the farmland,after a few minutes i was back on the edge of the woods,as i got there,i heard the sound i had been waiting for the last few days.....WAXWINGS,at first i thought there was only a couple but as i came out of the woods there was 10 in the tree next to me,watched them for a few seconds before they upped and went back towards hornchurch country park,haven't heard if anyone else has seen any today but they are about and 20 & 14 have been reported the last couple of days,just hope a few haven't been eaten by the large female Sparrowhawk i saw hunting on the edge of the woodland.I then got the phone call from the missus to find out where i was as i told her i was just popping over the road for a stroll for an hour or so,that was 3 hours before.All in all a cracking afternoon,if not a bit cold and if smiles had hung around he would of seen some cracking birds

Part 3 of Saturdays Snow Fest

By 2.30pm i was completely bored sitting in front of the tele with no football apart from shite internet football ie Sunderland v Bolton so as it had more or less stopped snowing i decided to venture out across the road,as soon as i got out the front door it started again,but i decided to carry on as i am made of some seriously strong stuff.After walking for about 15 minutes i set up overlooking some farmland and some scrub behind me

 

It werent too cold but i made sure i was wrapped up warm


I look like a bit of a twat but a warm twat.
Anyway,for half hour and a blizzard smashing into me i saw pretty much zilch,nito,nowt,apart from a jackdaw,carrion crow and a solitary blue tit but then it cleared and i could actually see things,like my lense which kept getting wet.Overhead went 2 cormorants,then some greenfinch,then chaffinch,12 linnets then landed into a tree a bit further down the side of the field,a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew into the big oak tree and while i was getting my scope onto it i noticed a pair of eyes,no,not a flasher but a Little Owl,could be the same one i have seen sitting on my wall before but not sure,2 redwings then flew over.By now it was starting to get a little dark so i thought i would head back,hoping for a waxwing invassion in my lense but no such luck,although i did have a green woodpecker,6 fieldfare and good views of a fox,which i tried to get a picture of but by the time i fired my i phone up he had gone for a burton,or a rabbit.Final little flourish of birds happened just as i was about to come out of the scrub as a jay flew over and then 9 snipe headed north up the valley,not a bad afternoon in the end...

From my living room window

Hasn't been completely wasted today,have seen a fair bit from my living room window including two small crashes from dopey drivers (both women i must add) who simply don't know how to drive in the snow,at present we have a lady half way up the hill,stopping drivers to talk to them and they are then getting stuck as they can't get any grip to go back up the hill,i despair at some people.It has actually stopped snowing now and i am debating whether to go across the road for an hour or so,may just wait to watch the end of the Sunderland v Bolton match as its supposed to snow heavy again soon.
From my window,apart from the crashes,i have seen 4 blue tits,3 great tits,2 dunnock,2 robin,2 blackbirds kicking off in my garden,37 black headed gull,1 common gull over the valley,2 snipe over my house and a redwing.No waxwings yet,but still hoping i may bump into some soon.
Had this video sent to a birding group i am a member of,hope they don't mind if i put it on here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ylsn3tEDbk8



By coincidence i have just eaten 2 Findus pancakes and i now really feel sorry for the Fox as they were bloody horrible