January
We started our first field trip of 2020 on a not very inspiring morning, wet and drizzling which cleared by 9am to produce a sunny but windy day. A repeat of the last trip of 2019 was very productive. Roughlegged buzzard, common buzzard, lots of marsh harriers - a success story from just three in the whole country in the 1970s to a few hundred  now. Just a single hen harrier - the most persecuted bird in Britain especially on grouse moors where they just disappear even when radio tracked. Wader numbers were good with a large flock of knot, golden plover, dunlin. lapwing, avocets and oystercatchers to name just a few. The day ended on a high note with a LONG EARED OWL roosting in the old orchard on Elmley National Nature Reserve. Later we had cracking views of at least 4 barn owls - one as close as 8 feet away.
Locally the birds seem few and far between red kite, common buzzard and the usual garden birds.
Keep looking and feeding something will turn up - it usually does!
Brian Hobley