Brackenhurst, Sunday 30 December

The prolonged mild weather continued as Jim, Cliff, Tom & I met on a still, partially overcast morning. Birds were around, but fairly reluctant to come to bait or sound lures so we had a relaxing morning, brightened up with some festive refreshment.

Gangs of finches, buntings and thrushes teased us all morning and small flocks of tits and Goldcrests were in the hedgerows, but most steered clear of the nets. And with the exception of one round that produced a decent flock of Yellowhammers, we were catching birds in ones and twos.

We finished on 19 (12 new, 7 retrap) as follows: Blue Tit 1/1, Great Tit 4/3, Yellowhammer 7/1, Reed Bunting 0/2.

Other birds around included Kestrel and Sparrowhawk, Green Woodpecker, a single Woodcock flushed and 2 Golden Plover overhead. A number of birds were in song, presumably due to the mild weather.

Happy New Year to all!

Pete