Just a quick update, very cold with a biting north wind , however a new year tick appeared in the form of a female Blackcap which was on the feeders. These birds are from Eastern and Northern Europe and are part of the population that has started to winter in the UK, they will migrate back to Germany etc for the breeding season only to be replaced by migrants from North Africa for the summer .There was only 1 Lesser Redpoll today .
The patch itself was still very quiet with the only hightlights being 1500 plus Starling 75 plus Black Headed Gulls both feeding on the receding floodwater. Apart from 5that 120 plus Fieldfare and just 6 Redwing made up the best of the rest.
With the addition of the Blackcap the patch list now stands at 56.