New Year's Day Twitch - Part I

While neither weather or other conditions were conducive with our annual New Years Day Mini Twitch, undaunted we soldiered on! Pulses of rain were predicted for the hours of darkness, as 2017 set in, with more persistent stuff to follow throughout the rest of the day. However, there was little in the way of wind and the unseasonably high temperature persisted so we counted our blessings. At the stroke of midnight the predicted fusillade of fireworks erupted, putting one of the local

 GREY HERON

into noisy flight, so that was a start. Although we did make a 

couple of attempts for 'Owls' during the very early hours of the morning,

nothing else was recorded until nocturnal

WOOD PIGEON

and

MOORHEN

were heard at 04:15.

Back to the hammock for a couple of hours by which time the
rain had got noticeably heavier with still no signs of 'Owls'!

ROBINs
 plural piped up some moments late, followed by maybe not the sweetest
but certainly at this time of day the most hoped for, the song of a

TAWNY OWL

What passed for day light set in and the Lazlo into overdrive as

CARRION CROW
in numbers passed overhead,

MUTE SWAN
was found on the bank of the River Stour,

HERRING GULL
at Parley Pond and

 PHEASANT
hoovering up the overspill at the bird table.

BARN OWL
was the only Owl seen but then we had to rely on Wiki for the image.
UP North, on the common,

BLACKBIRD
are now numerous so no difficulty there while

 RAVEN
are always hit or miss so good to see c2 and here c2 others?? later in the day.
The familiar and raucous voice of

 LITTLE OWL
brought that to book followed in quick succession by

WREN

 MAGPIE

 COMMON BUZZARD
and

DUNNOCK
before what was considered another 'goody' as

 GREYLAG GOOSE
have been all but absent here overwinter thus far.
(just a single record of a single bird)
While nothing can be guaranteed in 'birding' those hoped for at the
Sewerage Works quickly fell into place, including

 JACKDAW

 BLACK-HEADED GULL

 GOLDCREST

 STOCK DOVE

 GREY WAGTAIL

 CHIFFCHAFF
and

 CHAFFINCH
but on the downside Firecrest never made the cut!
Over the course of the day both Irrigation Pond and
Gravel Pit proved to be devoid of life save for c5

 MALLARD
and later the same number of Teal.

 REDWING
now seem to be settled here in a small flock of about 150
and with them seem to have arrived even more

 SONG THRUSH
Prize for the day may well have fallen to the humble

 FERAL PIGEON
as the only avian to be added to 2 Lists, the one in question and
as never have been recorded here during any January.
Just to qualify that, this and a second are resident here and while
the workforce at the Eco Recycling Works must see them on a daily basis,
it would seem a case of having to buck my ideas up!
Finally for this first part and after besmirching the Gravel Pit
we returned there to find a single

PIED WAGTAIL

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