New Years Resolutions, 2nd January 2009

I never make New Years resolutions because I think it is a load of bollocks and also because I would never keep them. However, the thought of New Years resolutions made me think about one or two things regarding my birding in 2009. As usual I will do next to nothing or no twitching at all and work hard at my local patches; I will also attempt to get a few new ringing projects off the ground, particularly Wheatear ringing in Spring and for a bit of fun I am going to keep a year list in 2009 for the first time in literally decades! It won't be one of those all consuming, must twitch everything year lists, but just one based on my local patch birding and ringing activities. I suppose this has come about as a result of my office year list challenge with work colleagues in Northumberland and Derbyshire.

So on the 2nd January my year list stands at 32 based on a visit to Moss House Farm this morning to feed and a few bits and pieces in my garden. I put a large peanut feeder up at Moss House Farm this morning, not because I am desperate to ring Tits, but more for ringing training purposes to ensure that when I have a ringing session here we catch some birds for trainees. I also investigated the possibility of putting an extra short net across the track and into the hedge to intercept birds flying up and down to and from the feeding station. I'll keep you posted as to how these things work out.

I walked a different route around the farm this morning and had a walk along the 'Reed Bunting ditch' and up the hedge towards Curlew Wood. The 'Reed Bunting ditch' produced 13 Reed Buntings, 50 Chaffinch, 12 Linnet and 32 Tree Sparrows so it was worth having a look. In total between this ditch and elsewhere on the farm I had 58 Chaffinch, 67 Tree Sparrows and 22 Linnets.

It seemed that a few more Yellowhammers were around and I had 5, which is a few more than recently. Often in the new year they build up. It was difficult to tell exactly how many birds were at the feeding station because as I was counting them a male Sparrowhawk shot through and dispersed everything, putting 20 Skylarks up from the 'big field' as it went.

Fieldfares just got into double figures at 12 and Woodpigeons numbered 3,502. A single Great Spotted Woodpecker flew from Curlew Wood and that was about it. I nipped to my office at Myerscough College and topped up my window feeders and recorded Nuthatch for the year list.