The results are in and there's a steward's enquiry

It's the following morning, and as promised I am preparing to post the results. But what's this, I see the results are already posted elsewhere, see Matt Griffiths blog Birds of Earlswood, and we are apparently second equal with 76 species. This is a great score, but one short of what I thought we had, so either I have tallied it up incorrectly (every chance), or we are not allowed to count Feral Pigeon (which would be fair enough). So here goes.

Morton Bagot:

1. Mute Swan 2. Greylag Goose 3. Canada Goose 4. Teal 5. Mallard 6. Tufted Duck 7. Red-legged Partridge 8. Pheasant 9. Grey Heron 10. Little Grebe 11. Sparrowhawk 12. Buzzard 13. Kestrel 14. Coot 15. Moorhen 16. Lapwing 17. Little Ringed Plover 18. Dunlin 19. Redshank 20. Black-headed Gull 21. Lesser Black-backed Gull 22. Herring Gull 23. Stock Dove 24. Woodpigeon 25. Collared Dove 26. Cuckoo 27. Little Owl 28. Tawny Owl 29. Swift 30. Green Woodpecker 31. Great Spotted Woodpecker 32. Magpie 33. Jay 34. Jackdaw 35. Rook 36. Carrion Crow 37. Raven 38. Goldcrest 39. Blue Tit 40. Great Tit 41. Coal Tit 42. Marsh Tit 43. Skylark 44. Sand Martin 45. House Martin 46. Swallow 47. Long-tailed Tit 48. Chiffchaff 49. Blackcap 50. Garden Warbler 51. Lesser Whitethroat 52. Whitethroat 53. Sedge Warbler 54. Treecreeper 55. Wren 56. Starling 57. Blackbird 58. Song Thrush 59. Mistle Thrush 60. Robin 61. Wheatear 62. Dunnock 63. House Sparrow 64. Yellow Wagtail 65. Pied Wagtail 66. Chaffinch 67. Bullfinch 68. Greenfinch 69. Linnet 70. Goldfinch 71. Yellowhammer 72. Reed Bunting

Middle Spernal additions

73. Goosander 74. Reed Warbler

Haselor additions

75. Shelduck 76. Feral Pigeon Grey Wagtail

So its official. I can't count! The correct figure is 76 species. Congratulations to Brandon, who won with 78 species.

Birds we failed to see included Nuthatch (definitely breeding there), Cormorant, Snipe, and Whinchat (all were a possibility) and we failed to see any decent raptors. On the plus side it was great fun and I think we may already be up for it if there is another competition next year.

Post script: Thanks to Sue for the comment. A Barn Owl at Netherstead during the early evening. Should have kept going to the bitter end. I wonder what the rules are for belatedly adding a team member?

PPS Please see a further amendment due to the fact that 1. Feral Pigeon is now deemed uncountable, and 2. I forgot to include a Grey Wagtail found on his patch by John. So the numbers are the same, but the birds are different!