7th Jan - cloudy, light rain at times, mod-brisk SW, temp climbing during the day, 13C

Willey; a few Redwing again first thing.

A busy day so little time for obs.

6th Jan - cloudy, light rain late afternoon, mod-brisk WSW, 8C

Willey; a flock of about 20 Redwings were flying over first thing.

Stanford Reservoir, a look after lunch. a Great and Little Egret near the inlet, the Stonechat in its usual location near the house.  A Water Rail dived for cover at the end of the by-pass. A small mixed flock of Redwing and Fieldfare were present. Nothing unusual on the water, plenty of Gadwall, 2 Goldeneye.

5th Jan - high cloud, sunny spells pm, 9C, light SSW

Shawell lagoons; a look here first. A couple of Cormorant, c30 Lapwing, 15 Teal, a single drake Pochard with the Tufted Duck flock, one Grey Heron.  A Green Woodpecker called from the banks nearby.
A Mistle Thrush was singing over the road at the Tripontium site.

Cotesbach Landfill; arrived just in time to see the Kumlien's Gull on the water, before it flew of NW.  otherwise few Gulls as no tipping today.  Shoveler 28, Teal 34, a hunting Kestrel and 12 Red Kites.

Draycote reservoir; I decide to visit here this afternoon and stay for the Gull roost.  Lots of Great-crested and Little Grebes, Goldeneye and Tufted Duck, 8 Goosander and 2 Greater Scaup.  Apart from other common species little was about.

The Gull roost is a sight to behold, with several thousand returning here to roost.  Viewing conditions can be challenging, you have to focus on a particular area depending on the light and wind, to get the best views.  Chatting to the regular roost watchers is it interesting to hear of the skills they have developed to watch this large water. I never realised so many Common Gulls roosted there, quite outstanding.

4th Jan - high broken cloud, v light SW, 9C

Cotesbach landfill; a look this morning, then again mid-late afternoon.  Carl had just seen a Kumlien's Gull on the water, but it had flew off to the mass of Gulls on the tip.  So, I positioned myself to view the gull mass over the tip, I had distant but good, short views of a smallish 'white-winged' Gull flying in the flock which looked right for the Kumlien's.  Late afternoon (1530h) another birder spotted a white-winger fly on to the nearby pool, good views showed it was the Kumlien's.
Also, this morning around the pools, Teal, Shoveler, Mallard and Tufted Duck. A Green Sandpiper was found by another birder and Carl saw a Common Sandpiper which disappeared round a corner before I could see it.  Then a falcon was picked out and after several flights low around the area was confirmed as a Merlin.

Crick; early afternoon I popped down to see the Great Grey Shrike that has been around since before Christmas.  It was showing well and some record photos taken.

3rd Jan - mostly sunny, 10C light WNW

WIlley; A busy day locally, even so little was around, a few Redwings and Buzzard noted, otherwise very quite.

2nd Jan - moderate-breezy WNW, 7C, cloudy, mist, Dull

Seeswood Pool; I popped down the road to have a look for the drake Ferruginous Duck.  I eventually spotted it swimming under some overhanging branches, then settled on a submerged branch.  Due to distance, mist and poor light no decent photos were possible today.

Cotesbach Landfill;  plenty of Gulls, but the wind was now quite brisk, strong at times and the Gulls were whizzing around.  This sometimes can be useful to spot 'white-wingers' but not today.  Even the usual Ducks were sheltering.

1st Jan - cloidy, dull, mist, 7C, very light S

Willey; Green Woodpecker called to the east, a Fox ran from a barn full of fodder bales.  At the paddock feeder the usual visitors, a Nuthatch visited briefly, Long-tailed Tits moved along the hedgerow, several Greenfinch were in the hedge and Church yew trees and a single Yellowhammer sat atop the hedge, whilst c70 Redwings were disturbed from the adjacent field.

Shawell lagoons; the north lagoon held most variety, a single drake Pochard, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler and Tufted Duck, a Grey Heron plus 139 Lapwing. Plus all the usual Gulls.

Cotesbach Landfill; a look here next this morning.  Gull numbers low as no tipping today and nothing special whilst I was there, however the juv Glaucous Gull was reported later on.  Three Red Kites and 2 Raven were obseerved.

Stanford Hall area; c100 Wigeon at the lake area. On the monument fields 246 Lapwings, the Mistle thrush pair (sang a little too), c 15 Redwings and c120 Starlings feeding.

Stanford reservoir;  a drake Pintail was showing well, plus the other usual ducks and geese.  The Stonechat was in it's usual location.  A flock of 12 Goldfinch were feeding.  Rooks were in the tree tops at the adjacent New Covert rookery.  A pair of Grey Wagtails at the outflow area.  c250 Lapwing flew over - maybe those from Stanford area.