BRENT BRINGS JOY FOR POSH AND PROF

I was pleasantly surprised when the easterlies brought an unusual gathering of Beddington birders to the farm today. I was joined by Kojak, Dodge, Prof, Brief, Posh, Vicarman, Devil Birder and guest birder Gordon 'Benny' Beck. This was good, it meant I could concentrate on scoping the Gulls without worrying about missing flyovers. There have been a few Geese about to our east for the past couple of days and it wasn't too long before I was disturbed from Gulling by cries of 'Brent!'. Nice, a Brent Goose circled over a couple of times before heading south.

Brent Geese are less than annual at Beddington and pretty scarce in January, It's been a while since we had a big flock over. This bird was a Beddington tick for Posh (who got his first Surrey bird at Walton last year), and Prof. The two 2w Iceland Gulls turned up, although one was distant on the tip, and the Cetti's gave a brief burst by the main lake, announcing that it was still present. I received a message from Martin 'North Ron' Gray that a rostrata/islandica Redpoll had been trapped in the Leith Hill area along with a hundred plus flammea. Quite what it is that is attracting these birds to this spot I don't know, I'll get down there some time, I can see them bagging an exilipes at some stage. We also had two RAF Puma Helicopters over (see below). A nice day.

An adult dark-bellied Brent Goose

One of two RAF Puma Helicopters that flew over