Holmethorpe Sand Pits, near Redhill, Surrey ... Wednesday 1st December 2010

Local birder Gordon braved the considerable amount of snow and the biting wind to wander the pits at Holmethorpe today.
He was rewarded for his efforts with 3 redhead SMEW on Mercers Lake, viewable from the Aqua Sports centre. They were keeping close to the overhanging trees along the northern bank near the fishing jetty.
At Mercers West Pit, he found a female GOLDENEYE and 14 PINTAILS flew over heading west.
A WOODCOCK pitched down by trees near the M23 to the east of Spynes Mere and a LITTLE EGRET was in a ditch behind the Water Colour housing complex.
Other notable birds were a Kingfisher, 40+ Shoveler, 40+ Gadwall, 30 Teal, around 200 Lapwings, 15 Common Snipe, 160 Fieldfares, 5 Redwings, 90 Goldfinches, 45 Common Gulls, 25 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, 124 Greylag Geese, 85 Canada Geese and a Grey Wagtail.
With a message this morning from Johnny Allan at Beddington to say that they had seen 14 Bean Geese heading east and 3 Grey Plovers heading west, it is obvious there there is a bit of a hard weather movement occurring.


An unusual visitor to local birder Jerry's feeders at his home in Redhill, Surrey