I needn't of worried about missing something on the lakes, although it's always nice to see the COOT, and CORMORANT there, they aren't normal 'lake fare' :-) The few MALLARD and MOORHEN are however. I couldn't re locate yesterdays Little Grebe, but these can be hard to find at times, and with time not on my side I may have missed it as it rested, concealed under the tangled overhang of the bankside tree branches. Nothing much more to note for the day, except a COMMON GULL on the sheep pasture, seen as I walked home from work, anything but a 'common' Gull here :-)
I'm looking forward to tomorrows full patch walk, there are still a few birds I might encounter for the January/year list, a Grey wagtail would be possible, as would Little Owl. At the moment the January list is on 61, which is the fifth best January, so I should improve on that.
Below are the species totals for all the January's. The first one in 2002 is pathetic! However, I only made 8 visits to the patch, as I was still in full time work then, plus I hadn't really got to grips with the habitat around my patch at that point :-)
Jan.2002. - 50 Species
Jan.2003. - 60 Species
Jan.2004. - 59 Species
Jan.2005. - 57 Species
Jan.2006. - 57 Species
Jan.2007. - 58.Species
Jan.2008. - 62 Species
Jan.2009. - 68 Species
Jan.2010. - 65 Species
Jan.2011. - 68 Species
Jan.2012. - 61 Species......and counting!Mean total for Jan. 60.4 Species
Combined January total. 82 Species
4 comments:
You are certainly loyal to your patch Warren, there can't be a blade of grass or a twig there that you don't know :-)
Hope you have a good walk tomorrow and that the Little Grebe puts in another appearance.
Thanks Songbird,
Knowing my patch so well is a bit of a double edged sword. The intimate knowledge of what lives where, means that any habitat destruction is keenly felt.
The trend is certainly that numbers are rising and still a way to go yet :-)
You really put the watch into patch watching, Warren. Hats off to you.
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