Lutley Wedge 01/12/10 10.45am (-1.4°c) Cold grey and overcast with heavy snow showers. Biting NE wind (-6°c windchill)

Finally the Waxwing invasion reached the Lutley Wedge recording area! I found 2 Waxwings near Lutley Lane this morning, perched in the top of a Leylandii tree near the junction with Portsdown Road/Snowdon Grove at 10.45am, and a short while later at Grange Farm, I heard another Waxwing calling as it flew over. These Waxwings are only the 3rd/4th records for the local patch, so a real red letter day! 

The freezing cold wind and frequent heavy snow showers throughout the morning, made for tough birding conditions along the Top Footpath, but there were more signs of hard weather movements, in breaks between the blizzards. There were the first signs of Skylarks beginning to flee the freezing weather and more Lapwings flew over, with a noticeable influx of Redwings flying over and feeding in the hedgerows.
15 Lapwing >W/SW

101 Redwing 

8 Fieldfare
8 Skylark >SW
1 Siskin >S

Waxwing and Lapwing Lutley Wedge 1/12/10