I have been visiting Titchwell as my annual new years day tick venue and with a day to go I'm just wondering where others plan to start their new year list.
Do you have a ritual?
Do you plan it around any rarities that have hung around for new years day?
Do you visit your patch or do you just not bother with a new list at all?:eek!:
I woke up and watched out of my window for awhile, practicing taking notes for the first week of the year count that my group is trying this year (as a beginning of year-list comparison project). Then I decided to get out so I went to our local woods. It was extremely muddy, of the "mud sticks to the bottom of your shoe in shape of a ball" variety. I was happy that I saw two Short-toed Treecreepers on the same tree, so spirits uplifted I decided to walk down the often used route where streets are bordered by gardens and then along the canal. Most birds were the usual suspects, although some were missing, such as the woodpigeon and the blackbird. I saw many bushes full of red berries, so I think that flocks of blackbirds and thrushes are yet to come in my area (snow cover is predicted for the second half of January). Woodpigeons were likely scared away by the many firecrackers.
The second day I hit the road early and first went to the popular picnic nature area, hoping to get through it before temperature rises above zero and sticky mud forms again. It turned out that people were already standing in lines for the newly open skating rink (and music was blasting). Saw a nice combination of usual garden, woodland and pond/lake birds. The small pond was frozen over and a hooded crow walked on it, so all the mallards and coots sat at the riverbank. By the time I have almost completed the circular walk, sun was shining so strong that water was dripping from trees, muffling the bird calls.
After that I went to visit the swan flock at the bank of Danube. I managed to see a Peregrine trying to catch a Black-headed Gull just above water, but the gull maneuvred away. Then the whole flock of gulls chased the falcon away. The ducks (mallards and pochards), sitting on water just dozens of meters away, seemingly never noticed the predator flying around them.
Swans were a great attraction and large groups of people stood there on riverbank feeding the swans, enjoying the now springtime temperature (I counted 48 birds and about twice as many spectators, but the latter group came and went). They however scared the other birds toward the opposite bank of Danube, so I failed to see mergansers and ferruginous duck that some others reported from the previous day.
