January 2019 : Summary
UK Species Year List to January: 72
Total UK Species in January: 72
New “Year Ticks” in January: 72
New “Life Ticks” in January: 0
Year ticks in January
Well they are all year ticks in January but notable ones were:
- Short-eared Owl at Parkgate 2nd January 2019
- Waxwing, Hulme, 5th January 2019
- 1st Winter Mediterranean Gull at Burton on 8th January 2019
- 2 Bearded Tits at Burton on 8th January 201
Life ticks in January
Summary
We tried to get an early start to the birding year on the 2nd of January by going up to the Wirral to see if we could get birds of prey. There were certainly plenty of Marsh Harriers around and we got an early Short-eared Owl. A nice bonus was a Merlin at Burton Mere Wetlands, perched above the toilet block in a tree showing really well. On the marsh we also got two Peregrines and a Kestrel but not any Hen Harriers. We also got a Great Egret. It seems clear that if you want to see them all come in to roost then you have to be there after 4:30pm just as it is getting towards dusk. We will try to get round to doing this.Perhaps just as pleasing was to get an early Treecreeper, a bird I do not see nearly so easily these days. In all we got forty-eight species on our forst birding day.
I saw a single Redwing at the end of our road on the 4th January and was pleased to get this early winter thrush as there have not been so many this year; it has actually been quite mild and a lot of birds do not seem to have shown up yet. Having said that we saw on Birdguides that there were some Waxwings seen in Hulme around this time so on the following day, the 5th, we drove down there and not only saw ten Waxwings from the bridge but also a flock of at least one hundred Redwing perched in all the trees around. We ran into the chap who posted the priginal sighting and he said that they were regular every year and that in the same trees there was also a regular Parakeet roost!
A slightly higher tide of 9.06 metres at 12:25 pm saw us back up on the Wirral on the 8th of January where we did a round trip including New Brighton, Hoylake, West Kirby, Parkgate and Burton Mere Wetlands. We got fifty-one species in all including Purple Sandpipers at New Brighton and a 1st Winter Mediterranean Gul and two Bearded Tits ! Not a bad day and the last birding in the UK before out hliday in Lanzarote starting on the 13th January
The cold started to settle in around the second week of the month which was handy as we were on holiday in Lanzarote for ten days between the 13th and 23rd January. We visited the Salinas where we got some good waders and discovered some new ways to view the lagoons and salt pans. We also had a guided morning out to the El Jable area with our usual guides from Eco-Insider where we saw most of the desired desert species inclunding several displaying Houbara Bustards, come Cream-colored Coursers and really close views of several Stone Curlews. Our sightings in Lanzarote are summarised here but essentially we got 29 species.
When we got back home the cold weather was still going and it progressively got worse until the 3rd of February. Havy snow falls happened in the south but even up north we got the most snow we have seen for a few years. Of course, none of the hungry birds were around on the day we did the Big Bird COunt but in our garden towards the end of the month we saw a pair of Mistle Thrushes, Robin, Dunnock, Starlings, House Sparrows, Goldfinches, and lots of Tits. The star was probably a male Blackcap that was on the feeders for a few days towards the end of the month