News at last!

This winter has seemed very quiet for birds around Thornton. 2012 ended with me on 114 species for the local patch. This is well down on last year and is probably due to the high water levels and a lack of waders. 2013 got off to a similar start with only 46 species recorded on the New Years day bird count. As the cold weather has arrived a trickle of species have been added to the list. The few highlights have included a flock of 48 Siskin, 34 Gadwall, 27 Pochard and a Woodcock. A pair of Little Owl have also been seen. A single Raven was a fly over on 19th. Surprise bird for today (21st) was a Little Egret that flew in from the Markfield inflow and perched in a Scots Pine by the car park. We did not record this species last year so perhaps things are looking up! Far more exciting are the posts on my daughters blog, see the link.