New Years Day. No chance to go birding

Wednesday 1st January 2014

Happy New Year!  Today the slate has been wiped clean and we start all over again with a new 2014 Year List

Today's weather was awful, ensuring that the only birds seen would be in the garden at home or around Brighton before the football match at the Amex Stadium against Bournemouth at 15 00.

Starlings have the pleasure of heading up my 2014 Year List.  The first one appeared in our garden at 08 47 during a break in the rain.  These were soon followed by 4, but not all, of the "usual suspects".

The highlight of the day was the sight of Fieldfares  in the canopy of a large tree in the area behind the house.  There were at least 5 moving around and returning to the same place at frequent intervals.

I set off early for the soccer match at Brighton in order to have a bite to eat with Alastair, who was visiting from Austria where he now lives.  The bus arrived on time which meant I had a little spare time before heading off to the Dorset Arms.  I battled against the gale-force wind to get to the Pier to see lots of Herring Gulls struggling in the storm.  Walking to the pub I saw a Carrion Crow, a Magpie and a Feral Pigeon to complete the day's sightings.

A species count of 10 on day 1 of a new year must be a record low.  Nevertheless I was pleased to get to that total in such adverse weather conditions.

Today' species list:
Starling   1
Blackbird.  2
House Sparrow.  3
Woodpigeon.  4
Robin.  5
Fieldfare.  6
Magpie.  7
Carrion Crow.  8
Feral Pigeon.  9
Herring Gull.  10

Today's species count = 10