2012 so far

Just wanted to wish everyone a late "happy New Year". Late, because I've recently had computer problems, with my computer's mains supply / fan going bang and being forced to use my sister's laptop which is slow and overheats quickly! Having finished the Warwickshire bird news for next month's Birdwatching magazine (been doing it for a few months now), I am now going through a backlog of emails sent to me, so apologies to everyone who I'm late replying to. It's been a better January for good patch birds than usual, but rather than repeat what I'd written, I've included something for the local Residents Association newsletter in the post below. The main bird of note today was a female Gadwall at Windmill Pool, the first female I've seen at Earlswood in ages, whilst yesterday I saw a Marsh Tit around Terry's Pool, my first around the lakes since last spring. I haven't seen the pair of Mandarin Ducks since the 10th, but they can be elusive.

Obviously I'm very excited about what 2012 will bring in terms of birds and it's looking good so far, though it will take a lot to beat last year, which was possibly the best year at Earlswood on record in terms of number of species. I hope to write a summary of 2011 in another post, including the many photos sent to me which I've so far failed to put on here. May I take this opportunity to thank everyone who's sent me their sightings and/or photos - they're much appreciated, so please keep them coming :-)

Matt