Followers of the blog will have noticed the cumulative patch year list which previously adorned the Right hand side of the page; it grew steadily, if erratically through the year. The grand sum of 90 was reached before the Winter was out and a single Summer migrant was recorded. We got to 100 before the end of March but, once the passage migrants were all in it took the last six months of the year to add just 16 species to bring the total to 148.
Last year with slightly less eyes on the patch and a good deal less hours spent we reached 149, it was a good year. So 150 will probably be reached one year but it will be down to someone else to keep count.
Personally I managed 128, slightly short of my best effort, 130 in 2010, despite a great deal more effort being expended. My game plan will be vastly different next year and I expect my yearlist will be somewhat smaller, hopefully though, if anyone should be kind enough to let me know about them, I will add a couple more patch ticks. This year Marsh Harrier and White-fronted Goose were added, Kittiwake or Ring-necked Duck would be nice for 2012 though in truth I will be pretty happy with whatever comes my way.
So that is it, time to set the year list to one side (I’ll stick it at the end of the blog entry for posterity; for comparison with last year see 31st December 2010 page) if anything does get added before the weekend I will update but I suspect, like me, most locals have run out of enthusiasm for this year and might well not visit the old place before January 1st.
It is funny what’s in a date, today no one would glance twice at a Cormorant (though I have noticed that many have been in breeding plumage for a couple of weeks now) but come January 1stthey will be eagerly ticked off. It always used to be House Sparrows that were used as the exemplar of this phenomenon but of course they are so rare now that they always get a second look.
A quiet day in for me today, the only sightings worthy of note was a prolonged Dog-fight between a Crow and a Sparrowhawk variously taking turns in being the aggressor and defender (still not a shadow of the scrap I watched yesterday between a Peregrine with prey and a Rough-legged Buzzard, I suspect the latter had been robbed by the former and was not in a mood to surrender its lunch without a fight, needless to say this was not at Walthamstow but only an hours’ drive away and I did see a few Hen Harriers, a Marsh Harrier, a couple of Common Buzzards and even found a second Rough-legged Buzzard not to mention all the other stuff....Twitching, you’ve got to love it!) and a Ring-necked Parakeet perched in a Willow outside my back window; it thereby gets itself off the house ‘flyover’ list and onto the ‘seen on the deck’ list, to think up till a couple of weeks ago it was merely on the ‘heard only’ list...Listing, you’ve got to love it!
I also spotted this book at home today but found it strangely disappointing, if not downright misleading!
148.Black-necked Grebe, 147.Brambling, 146.Merlin, 145.Golden Plover, 144.Knot, 143.Little Gull, 142.Snow Bunting, 141.Lapland Bunting, 140.White-fronted Goose, 139.Water Pipit, 138.Black Redstart, 137.Great Northern Diver, 136.Crossbill, 135.Sandwich Tern, 134.Spotted Flycatcher, 133.Redstart, 132.Turtle Dove, 131.Red-crested Pochard, 130.Gannet, 129.Cuckoo, 128.Oystercatcher, 127.Ringed Plover, 126.Black Tern, 125.House Martin, 124a.White Wagtail, 124.Whinchat, 123.Turnstone, 122.Arctic Tern, 121.Hobby, 120.Whimbrel, 119.Grasshopper Warbler, 118.Swift, 117.Garden Warbler, 116.Greenshank, 115.Goshawk, 114.Mandarin , 113.Red-legged Partridge, 112.Reed Warbler, 111.Yellow Wagtail, 110.Lesser Whitethroat, 109.Whitethroat, 108.Little Ringed Plover, 107.Common Tern, 106.Marsh Harrier, 105.Short-eared Owl, 104.Osprey, 103.Sedge Warbler, 102.Willow Warbler, 101.Swallow, 100.Red Kite, 99.Stonechat, 98.Bar-tailed Godwit, 97.Rock Pipit (Scandinavian), 96.Buzzard, 95.Common Scoter, 94.Lesser Redpoll, 93.Sand Martin, 92.Blackcap, 91.Wheatear, 90.Cetti's Warbler, 89.Waxwing, 88.Mediterranean Gull, 87.Dunlin, 86.Snipe, 85.Little Owl, 84.Woodcock, 83.Eider, 82.Yellow-legged Gull, 81.Barnacle Goose, 80.Red-breasted Merganser, 79.Scaup, 78.Peregrine, 77.Black-tailed Godwit, 76.Lapwing, 75.Sparrowhawk, 74.Ring-necked Parakeet, 73.Siskin, 72.Curlew, 71.Redshank, 70.Skylark, 69.Reed Bunting, 68.Bullfinch, 67.Linnet, 66.Goldfinch, 65.Greenfinch, 64.Chaffinch, 63.Meadow Pipit, 62.Pied Wagtail, 61.Grey Wagtail, 60.House Sparrow, 59.Dunnock, 58.Robin, 57.Mistle Thrush, 56.Redwing, 55.Song Thrush, 54.Fieldfare, 53.Blackbird, 52.Starling, 51.Wren, 50.Chiffchaff, 49.Long-tailed Tit, 48.Great Tit, 47.Blue Tit, 46.Goldcrest, 45.Carrion Crow, 44.Jackdaw, 43.Jay, 42.Magpie, 41.Great Spotted Woodpecker, 40.Green Woodpecker, 39.Kingfisher, 38.Collared Dove, 37.Woodpigeon, 36.Stock Dove, 35.Rock Dove, 34.Herring Gull, 33.Lesser Black-backed Gull, 32.Common Gull, 31.Black-headed Gull, 30.Green Sandpiper, 29.Common Sandpiper, 28.Coot, 27.Moorhen, 26.Water Rail, 25.Kestrel, 24.Great Crested Grebe, 23.Little Grebe, 22.Grey Heron, 21.Little Egret, 20.Cormorant, 19.Pheasant, 18.Ruddy Duck, 17.Goosander, 16.Smew, 15.Goldeneye, 14.Tufted Duck, 13.Pochard, 12.Shoveler, 11.Pintail, 10.Mallard, 9.Teal, 8.Gadwall, 7.Wigeon, 6.Shelduck, 5.Egyptian Goose, 4.Canada Goose, 3.Greylag Goose, 2.Great Black-backed Gull, 1.Mute Swan.
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