Barbara Woods on a walk to Panfield watched a herd of at least 30 deer, there was a single deer with a very large head of antlers.  Near the river a Grey Heron and Little Egret were feeding.  In her garden a Sparrowhawk feasted on a pigeon leaving just a circle of feathers and the leg bones.
Chris and Wendy Blackburn have had two Sparrow Hawk kills in their garden.
David and Benita Saltmarsh, Brunwin Road, had a male Sparrowhawk make a kill in their garden which is visited most nights by a fox.  I believe David and Benita leave food out for the fox who probably makes their garden his first visit every evening.

Andrew Goodey, The Street, had two Little Egrets fly over his house 12/12.
Phil Monk, Smithsfield 23/12, had his first Siskin of the year in the garden and a Redpoll which was the first ever.  In the 45 years we have lived at Goulds we have only once had a Siskin yet Phil has regular visits.  I have seen an extraordinary flock of over 400 birds on a field belonging to Philip Bartlet on the footpath to Panfield.  This was a field of winter stubble and there must have been some seed that had attracted the Siskins.  Small flocks are usually found feeding on the Alder trees along Pods Brook.

Robert Bucknell, 28/12, saw a Barn Owl sitting in the roadside hedge near Mounts Farm at about 1am one morning.  It is good that they are still in the Parish.  Robert also saw an Eagle Owl in a spinney near Onchors farm Gt. Saling before Christmas.  Before any excited birders start a twitch I should add that the birds name is Ollie and he has been free flying in the area since he escaped some six years ago from Little Saling.  Jack Skeet had captive Eagle Owls and one egg was laid.  Jack hatched the egg and reared the youngster until one day it escaped.  Ollie has been seen regularly since, usually near the built area of Great and Little Saling.  Ollie is also heard calling in the spring but so far there has not been an answering call.

At Goulds we have had two major visitations by deer besides the regular Muntjac visits.  The first was one evening when three Fallow deer decided that the tub of Pansy plants just three metres from the back door needed thinning or to be more correct, needed removing.  To be fair they did leave the roots on some so they may have sprouted in time for a late spring flush of flowers.  Syl had nursed them from seed so it came as an insult when she had to resort to buying the end of season plants from a garden centre as replacements.
The second visit was more spectacular but luckily they were seen before they reached the more desirable parts of the garden to graze.  Watching one of the cameras in the farmyard at 8pm I saw two pairs of glinting eyes on the screen.  I zoomed in on these expecting to see two hares but was surprised to find they belonged to two Fallow deer hinds.  A third pair of eyes appeared then more eyes; this was repeated until 11 hinds were happily grazing the grass.  Knowing how excited Syl would be to see them I called for her to watch.  I was not surprised though when she suggested that she was going to check the freezer for any spare space.  The Sorrel we grow in the herb garden for salads has also been eaten off at ground level; they certainly have a sophisticated palate.

We have a large post with notches cut in it where we feed the birds.  One of these notches has the remains of a branch on which larger birds can perch to eat what's in the notch.  A Collared Dove was sitting eating the peanuts and black sunflower seed.  It did not notice the Blue Tit sitting in the nearby Amelanchier bush.  The Tit was obviously very annoyed that what it considered was tit food was being eaten by the dove.  The tit launched itself and hit the dove's head which knocked it from its perch.  Unless I had seen it I would not have believed such a small bird could have driven off a dove many times its own size even if the dove was probably unbalanced on its perch.  I have always considered Blue Tits as being a mild mannered bird.  Our Moorhens will chase pheasants, ducks and pigeons off from food and what they consider to be their territory.  This is especially so during the breeding season.
The Fieldfares and Redwings have started feeding in the garden and have eaten some of the Hawthorn berries though many have dropped on the ground.  The red holly berries have been devoured but the orange and yellow berries still remain.  They must be less palatable than the red.  This is first time I can ever remember holly berries still remaining on our trees at Christmas for decorating the pudding.  Even the fallen apples I have left on the ground in the orchard are virtually untouched.  This is probably a reflection of the mild weather in Europe to date this winter and the later arrival in this area of the continental thrushes and blackbirds.

Roger Jiggins Tel. 01376 324 311, email mailto:r.jiggins@btconnect.com  (please put Wildlife as the subject)