I parked at Brooklands lake and walked towards the river.Noting on the way,8 Siskin,1 Chiffchaff and 1 Pied Wagtail.On reaching the Bucket wood,Phil Sharp and Terry Laws were already in residence.They had been there for a while and had seen 2 Common Buzzrds,high over the valley towards Burham and a Kingfisher that had flashed across the river.In the short time that I was able to spend there we added of interest 2 adult GBB Gulls,which were flying up and down the river (these birds are only rarely seen in the lakes complex these days) and 2 more Buzzards.I then left them to it and headed off towards Abbey Meads.Seeing on the way,2 Cetti`s which called from within the depths of the Sunken marsh and a flyover Reed Bunting.On the lake winter wildfowl numbers were now greatly reduced(unusually this winter they peaked during December and then quickly fell away during late January,early February).Six Gadwall and 8 Teal were present in Eccles creek,where overhead I saw 2 more Buzzards.On the island I could see 10 occupied Heron`s nests and I heard 2 Bullfinches calling from the riverside hawthorns there.The remainder of the walk was rather uneventful.Except perhaps for 3 more Chiffchaff,none of which were singing and two Treecreepers.The latter of which were in the willows at the southern end of the streamside lake.When I arrived home,I saw another Buzzard,which was being pursued by two Herring Gulls.

During the afternoon a female Blackcap turned up in my garden net.This was a nice surprise as it was the first I have seen in the garden this winter.It was putting on weight and had a fat score of four.

Of interest a Wryneck was reported this morning,somewhere in the Snodland/New Hythe area.Its a very early record,