No sign of the Waxwings today, Holmethorpe, Surrey ... Monday 13th December 2010

After the pleasure of watching the Waxwings at Holmethorpe over the past few days, this morning I set off in thick mist in search of them. Visiblity was down to about 50 yards at times and I could only see grey silhouettes of wildfowl and gulls at the pits.

By the railway line, where the Waxwings had most often been seen, visbility was slightly better but, apart from plenty of Fieldfares, Redwings and Woodpigeons, there was little else present - certainly no Waxwings showing.

I walked the perimerter of Mercers Lake and noted a Kingfisher and a Chiffchaff along the north bank but by now the mist had thickened and there was little point in heading for the other pits.

I headed back to the railway line for a last look for the Waxwings - no luck - I'll try again tomorrow.

On the way back, I bumped into local birder Richard Bartlett who was out for a bike ride. He had just seen a flock of about 30 Siskins. I spotted a flash of blue and there was another Kingfisher, a male, perched by one of the Water Colour lagoons but that was about it. Time to head home for breakfast.

Whether the Waxwings are still in the area or have moved on remains to be seen but there were a lot of birds reported around the London area today so there may be more moving into our area.


Graham