100 up on the 100th day of the year!

Well since mid-January and scoring the initial ‘run’ of species which culminated with the finding of a Green-winged Teal on the ‘duck pond’ on 14^th January, birding has been pretty quiet with a slow trawl through to scoring the ‘ton’ for the 2013 patch list. January closed with a total of 86 species with the highlights in the late January period being a juvenile Glaucous Gull off the pier and both Waxwing and Mistle Thrush in the garden.

Since mid-January most days have been like this!

February was quiet with 5 new species added; the first Skylarks and Lesser Black-backed Gulls of the year and a small group of Long-tailed Ducks being the highlights. March was even quieter but a smart adult Ring-billed Gull arrived on the 13^th and stayed for a few days loitering around the beach and towards the end of the month the first Sandwich Terns and Wheatears arrived (albeit in small numbers). March ended with a tally of 94.

The weather has started to improve!

Now April has opened with a little promise seeing the first Chiffchaff of the year ‘fly-catching’ in the garden on the 1^st in sunny ‘mild’ conditions and an Arctic Tern joining the Sandwich Terns off the pier. The following day, a Shelduck (a patch rare!) flew in and joined a small group of Pale-bellied Brents on the beach – after some 30 minutes it continued its journey north, whilst in the garden 2 Great Tits appeared. A good stomp around the patch on the 7^th found an increase in Wheatear numbers plus a few Fieldfares and Redwings but highlights were adding a Grey Wagtail and 2 Greenland White-fronted Geese to the 2013 patch list (now on 99).

So what was the 100^th for the year going to be? Well whilst sitting having breakfast, on this the 100^th day of the year, that question was answered – a Collared Dove arrived!

Dave