The Human Hoover

On the day 2013 begun, Jess was keen that we started eating a bit more sensibly after the four tonne of chocolate and mince pies we devoured over the festive period. She was right to point out though how hard that is to do when there's still chocolate dotted about the house. I took this as a hint, and as a moment that as the man of the house I had to step up to the mark. In the following half hour I went round and ate the lot. The Quality Streets that are always left at the bottom of the tin, half a tray of Milk Tray, a few Thornton's, the bottom half of a Lindt Bear, a whole bowl of Twiglets and even the handful of popcorn left in the packet of Butterkist. I am proud of how I helped our new year start healthier - although I must admit eating all this just an hour before dinner wasn't the best timing.

So, how's the birding and year list going? Well I've spent most of the last few days surveying in Cornwall, which has given me some nice sights. Namely two Spoonbill today, and a cracking pair of Scaup yesterday. The drake was as stunning as they always are.
 
I have still managed a bit patch birding though, whenever I've had the chance. And I've decided that during January I'm going to concentrate on the sea - this has already produced the goods. Best being a fine drake Red-breasted Merganser and a lone Brent Goose, both of which flew west. There's good numbers of birds out there too, lots of auks (Black Guille and Little Auk are certainly on the radar at the moment), plenty of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Red-throated Divers and a few Common Scoter (29 on the morning of the 2nd). Frustratingly I've had two single larger Divers fly west, but both too distant to be sure of.

Away from the sea, year ticks have been a bit sparse. Although I have caught up with the wintering Bar-tailed Godwit and Blackcap made it not just on to the year list, but the house list too!

I see a few people this year are doing photography year lists, including our very own Karen on patch. On her blog she states "I'm not going to count blurry record shots and distant specks. The photos must be easily recognisable". I think that's a great idea, and I know we are going to see some amazing photos. Its such a good idea that I thought I'd give it a go too, but with a slight difference...

I'm only going to count blurry record shots and distant specks. The photos must be barely/unrecognisable.

Here's my first two... 

Black Redstart - I saw this bird on 1st and 2nd

Passing Red-throated Divers

I'm pleased with my start...