My mind in my pocket,The sun in my eye

                             Talk of the time, the love and the laughing
                                      I'll come back to you in the Spring, little lapwing
                                           Little Lapwing, Barclay James Harvest

Surely you must have guessed todays star bird......!?

0730 - 0930 Overcast, occasional sun, cool

With the daylight stretching out the signs of Spring are all around to be heard and seen.  Im sure theres still the chance of some cold spells, snow or frost between now and the 'unofficial' start of Spring according to 'humans'.....

There were plenty of Song Thrush singing today....Chaffinch and Great Tits arent too far behind.  Surely Blackbirds will be on eggs very soon.
Around the pits today......Robin, Wren, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Green Woodpecker, Dunnock, Great Tit, Crow, Blue Tit, Feral Pigeon, Redwing, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Fieldfare, Long Tail Tit, Barn Owl (always a great site to see), Stock Dove, Skylark, Reed Bunting, Kestrel, Rook, Bullfinch, 3 Pied Wagtail, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Collared Dove, Starling.....

Birding always seems to have a way of surprising even with birds that you have seen many times before...it was a real marvel to find so many Lapwing in the fields....having seen over 140 last week todays count was, to ay the least, spectacular.  Sure, ive seen flocks of 1000+ at Rye Harbour, swarming this way and that accompanied by hundreds of Golden Plover.  No Plover here today though.
The number in the field was a great surprise, the most I have seen here.  But the better site was when I reached the westerly gravel pit some of the Lapwing were swarming over the surface of the water in one corner, around 40 at the most, sometimes only 10, then some would fly back to the field just South of the pit but more would join the throng over the water.  I know not what they were doing, maybe they were just enjoying themselves....draping their wing tips and feet in the water occasionally, keeping a tight flock in one corner, sweeping low and then high and back.  However, it was really marvelous to witness....a real surprise and why birding keeps me going....

In the fields......65+ Greylag Goose, 267+ Lapwing

On the pits....3 Grey Heron, 15 Mallard, 75 Tufted Duck, 47 Coot, 6 Great Crested Grebe, 7 Little Grebe, 2 Moorhen, 38 Gadwall, 25 Cormorant, 91 Black Headed Gull, 5 Herring Gull, 17 Shoveler, 20 Pochard, 2 Goldeneye (1m 1f), 2 Mute Swan....