Sunday January 3

After a new year spent up north with friends over-indulging in gluttony and alcohol, we returned yesterday afternoon. I decided to further delay my first patch visit of the year until this morning, to give it a good go. Needless to say I awoke to heavy rain.

However, a new year brings new optimism, so I decided the answer was a vehicle-based safari. Only certain parts of the patch are available from a car, but as the wind direction was north-easterly I was able to stay pretty dry.

After a poor start at Church Farm, from where I could see the furthest flash in the distance and noted not a single bird on it, I started accumulating passerines at Netherstead where numerous tits and finches swarmed around a feeder. The highlights here were Marsh Tit and Coal Tit.

I then scanned the dragonfly pool field, where the furthest hedge provided a flock of 70 Fieldfares and Redwings, and then two male Bramblings. This was a good piece of luck as it took me until November to record Brambling last year.

Moving on, the pasture field beyond the barn was plastered with corvids, including 236 Jackdaws. Beyond that I could see lots of Linnets at the south end crop field, so I drove down for a closer look. I estimated 300 Linnets and at least 25 Lesser Redpolls, all of which scattered when a Sparrowhawk made a successful charge across the field, departing with a luckless finch. The hedge adjacent to where I was parked periodically filled with frightened passerines including a female Brambling.

female Brambling

Linnet

Lesser Redpoll

Yellowhammer

I eventually decided to head home with the rain still pelting down, en route flushing a Jay as my 39th species.

I am writing this post at 13.00 and I may go back this afternoon if it stops raining.....It did, so I went back.

Almost immediately it started raining again, but it was really just showery, with the wind now coming from the west. I parked at Church Farm and did a quick mini-circuit taking in the Flash field and the pool. This added another 13 species, the best being Stonechat, Meadow Pipit, Snipe, Teal, Meadow Pipit, and Herring Gull.

A huge flock of Jackdaws, c 400, was gathering on the sheep pasture with about 30 Rooks, 29 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, and the Herring Gull. As the sun finally came out, I had to leave as I had food shopping to do. Rather gallingly a large flock of geese flew in at this point, but they seemed to be mostly Canadas and there was no sign of any Pink-footed Geese (one has been at Salford Priors between Christmas and New Year).

A steady start then, but pretty good considering the weather.