Barden Lake

The rain poured down today, but five hardy souls still turned up for Joan's U3A amble in the wet at Tudeley Woods, and I opened and closed the car park for them. The roads were a bit treacherous and I was nearly side-swiped by a youngster who had completely lost control of his car on Three Elm Lane - he lost the back end of the car totally, and swerved from side to side across the road towards me, brakes screeching, but in the end missed me by at least a foot as I swerved left!

After all that excitement I was looking for somewhere not too muddy underfoot to walk Monty in the wind and rain, so after visiting the bank and dropping an exams letter off at The Judd I chose Barden Lake a mile further on, not expecting anything too dramatic! This excellent Green Flag Country Park has well-gravelled paths and the possibility of a few ducks, so I kept Monty on the lead as I got closer to the lake.

Many of the trees are suddenly beginning to turn, and the path was covered in acorns - do they squeeze themselves out of their cups I wonder, or do they just start to fall, and in either case, what breaks the seal between acorn and cup?

As I reached the lake about two hundred and fifty Canada Geese, Branta canadensis, flew in with a tremendous honking and settled down just off the shore in front of me. What a fantastic flock! These or Greylag Geese can often be seen in the autumn flying in their V-shaped formations, honking loudly, all over the local area as they form their social groups for the winter, and move on and off their daily feeding grounds to their watery roosts at night. This morning I had suddenly been surprised by a small echelon of about a dozen Canadas who flew over me literally at tree top height as I was leaving the car-park at Tudeley - maybe they were looking for an isolated field to feed in, their main food at this time of year is grass or cereal leaves.

In amongst the flock were many young birds, several still clearly in juvenile plumage, more brownish and less clearly marked overall, with brown not white cheeks and still largely orange bills,

In amongst this huge crowd of Canadas were seven or more Greylag Geese, Anser anser, a little bit smaller and overall greyish at a distance. This is an adult bird, with a touch of white just behind its bill.

While below is a juvenile bird, less than about three years old, without the white just behind the bill, a less furrowed neck (the feathers here are shorter and less prominent than in the adult) and slightly less well marked, but still with a remarkably pretty pattern of markings when looked at close-up, matching the ripples on the water around the bird quite neatly:

There was also one very pale bird in the crowd, which could have been a white-fronted goose from its white forehead, Anser albifrons, if it wasn't an aberrant partly albino Greylag, possibly showing crossing somewhere in its parentage with a white farmyard duck. In either case, this bird could well be one that has escaped from a collection and is surviving in the wild, a "feral" bird. A "whitefront" record if it had been a wild bird would be quite something and very, very, unlikely for this inland water and so early in the season, so I really must exclude that tantalising possibility I think!

Even more exciting was the fantastic view of a Barnacle goose, Branta leucopsis, small, compact and neat in amongst the Canadas and Greylags. This may well be the same bird seen close to Hadlow a couple of weeks ago, and even if possibly feral, its still a great bird to see!

Other birds seen on the lake were female and male mallard ducks, Anas platyrhynchos, most of the males still being largely in their "eclipse" plumages as they recover from their moult. This pair was typical, with the male the closer of the two birds, with its yellowish bill,

However one or two males are already nearly in their full winter finery, as with this handsome individual in the front of this trio, who shows up quite well despite the blurriness of the photo,

Other birds seen included these Tufted Ducks, Aythya fuligula, which are definitely still in the moult. Male on the left with his crest, female on the right. Four birds were seen altogether.

These two Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, away in the distance, one bird in winter plumage on the left, a slow-coach still in breeding plumage on the right,

Several dozen coot, Fulica atra, including this individual in the characteristic "humpback" stance often seen when the birds are on shore. note the dark legs and feet, and the white bill and forehead of the adult

Moorhens, Gallinula chloropus, again well into double figures, note the yellow-green legs and feet, the white wing flashes and undertail and the red and yellow on the beak, visible despite the blur,

I didn't get photos of the half dozen black-headed gulls or the many migrating house martins and (fewer) swallows skimming and turning about over the water and along the tree lines, feeding as fast as they could for the rigours ahead (another day!) but I was lucky with a grey heron, Ardea cinerea, so here is a sequence to finish off the bird photos of the day!

The park itself is also much used by human fishermen, even in this very poor weather,

and its also a great place for dog-walkers, runners, cyclists and the general public, very well organised and run (ex-Hadlow manager of course) - some of the benches are really imaginative - this one might be a Roesel's Bush Cricket!

its on part of the national cycle network, as a section of the popular leisure cycle route between Tonbridge and Penshurst, Regional Route 12

and of course its in a lovely setting, fairly typical of the Low Weald, whilst only being a mile away from the Judd School!