January 3 2015

My first visit to the patch this year was a bit of a damp squib..very damp. It rained all morning and was also cold. Occasionally the rain faded away only to pep up once I had left whatever shelter I had sought.

I spent nearly an hour under the eaves of the stable, emerging briefly to count 75 Chaffinches in the set aside, and then to go through the thrushes in the horse paddocks. This contained more Song Thrushes than anything else (10), and with the Redwings Fieldfares and Blackbirds was a Mistle Thrush.

I next drove down to the south end to scan the Linnets on the telegraph wires.

This flock totalled 238 Linnets and nothing else.

After a brief trip into Studley I returned and parked by the church with the intention of scanning the flash. I flushed a male Sparrowhawk, and could see there were some Teals down there so I trudged down the hill in worsening conditions and counted 15 Teal, c 60 Mallard and two Lapwings. On the return journey I was aware that there were some Meadow Pipits in the pasture and about 20 Redwings, but I could barely see them because of the sodden condition of my optics.

My year has thus got off to a slow start, and a total of 37 species.