Ken Fisher, Fairy Hall, Lane has a pair of Long-tailed Tits that sit on the fence by his kitchen window.  The male continually attacks his reflection in the kitchen window even when Ken is inches away on the other side of the glass.  He also attacks the window of the nearby garden shed often hovering for several seconds while making loud attacks on its reflection.  Ken has had fewer Blue Tits feeding on the peanuts this winter and also reports that the Goldfinches now queuing up to feed on his Niger seed did not start feeding till late December.  He wonders whether this is due to food being plentiful in the hedgerows this autumn.
Edward Warboys, Gilda Terrace, had a Sparrow Hawk sitting on his bird table apparently eying up the nearby hens in their run.  One would not expect a Sparrow hawk to take such a large bird but in cold weather when food is difficult then I am sure they may consider doing so.  There are plenty of recorded attacks on Partridges and Pigeons.

Kate and Paul Green, Gore Lane, had a male then a female Siskin feeding on spilt Niger seed.  This is the first time they have seen them in Rayne during the eight years they have lived in Rayne.  We have had only a few records of them visiting our garden in over 40 years.  There are sometime large flocks along Pods Brook feeding on the Alder cones and on one occasion a flock of about 400 feeding on a stubble field that had a high weed population near the footpath to Panfield.  Siskin's normally feed on pinecone seeds in Scandinavian forests but this year there was a poor seed crop and hence a much larger migration of this attractive bird to this country.  Kate and Paul also have a male Blackcap and a pair of Long-tailed Tits visiting and the frogs have produced a good hatch of tadpoles. Lyn Scully, Shalford Road, has had a pair of Reed Buntings in the garden and a pair of Red legged Partridge.  The latter usually keep well clear of humans most of the year but at nesting time they often come into gardens to nest.  They probably hope they are safer from predators such as Foxes and Badgers if they nest near us humans.  For several years we had a pair that nested in an Iris under our living room window.  Lyn has also had an early Brimstone butterfly in the garden and a Comma in late March.  In the last twelve months Brimstones have been reported in every month.  It overwinters as an adult.

Phil Monk has also had two Reed Buntings in their garden; it is only the second time that he has recorded them on his home patch.  His Chaffinch count on the black sunflower feeder has gone up to around 25 birds and he also has had a visit by a Siskin.  The Brambling he reported last month is still present and is sometimes accompanied by a mate.  Phil also has a Tit box well hidden behind a jasmine in which a pair of Coal Tits are building a nest.
Harold Giles, Duckend Green, has seen a pair of Goldcrests in his garden.
Ken Turner has seen a female Blackcap on the footpath by Kings Farmhouse and Kingfishers along Pods Brook.

I saw my first Red Kite in the area having dipped out when everybody was seeing them along the Pods Brook valley in previous years.  This bird was flying over the redundant café between the Stebbing Green and Stebbing junctions off the old A120.  We were woken early one morning by a Red legged Partridge pecking his reflection in our bedroom window and making loud alarm calls.  As the windows were open we thought at one time the bird was coming to join us in the room.  We have a pair of Jays and a Pair of Magpies both making nests in the garden.  This means continual confrontations between the birds usually won by the Magpies with several other species of bird mock attacking the potential nest predators.  The stoat is still around hopefully reducing the rabbits and for the first time in Rayne for at least 20 years I saw a weasel cross the road near Greenacres, Shalford Road. Syl saw a healthy looking fox leisurely walk past our house at 9am one morning.
We had two Swallows and one Martin flying over the garden on 7th April.  They then immediately disappeared; hopefully warmer weather will encourage them to return permanently.