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Before I update the local patches I have a final update on the last week in and around Bolton. I managed a visit to the feeders at Pennington Flash and added stock dove plus a nice great white egret. Moses gate CP had a Muscovy duck which may or may not be tickable, as well as three pairs of goosander  and Elton added a great spotted woodpecker and 5 ring-necked parakeets. I spent quite a bit of time watching feeders to try and add nuthatch and willow tit but dipped on both. It made me think about how I depend on a feeding station to add small birds quickly to a list. If the feeders at WOW are empty we are basically down 6 birds - 3 finches and 3 tits. I was aware that empty feeders at Leighton Moss, Cresswell and Druridge Bay cost me a few birds. If there are no feeders on a route, it is a bit more difficult to add the tits, finches and sparrows to a list never mind nuthatch and woodpecker. My local North Down patch would be much more difficult if I did not have garden feeders over the winter. Comments welcome on this topic.

Moses Gate CP  goosanders behind the swans

Muscovy duck

Parakeet at Elton

If the parakeets aren't there 6 finches would be feeding. They do intimidate smaller birds

While in the hide at Pennington Flash I bumped into Nigel from Backyard Aviary birds. He does a weekly YouTube video about his birding trips as he tries to get 280 birds in 2026. I quite like them and look forward to his weekly update. We had a good chat and I've added a link to his YouTube channel re his Manchester visit. 

UK’s Parrot Invasion! & the most colourful duck!

A return to WOW gave 28 species (no feeders!!) and I added starling and little egret to the list. The black-headed gulls are back in force -over 200 -  and the canes are up to try and prevent nesting on the smaller island. They don't work, but they do help to prevent predation from lesser black backs. We also noted two of our black-tailed godwits ringed in 2021.

Might put this in as an art installation for the Turner prize. 

Lime /green

Blue/yellow

I also added three species to the 2026 list this week. First a male siskin in David Miller's garden - got a tip off on that one. The photo below may or may not be the bird I saw! Next up I connected with the Portavogie black redstart at the second attempt and finally on a walk at Kearney I was watching pipits on the seaweed and trying to work out if the bird I was looking at was a rock pipit or a meadow when a water pipit landed beside it!! Totally unexpected but I had good views and decided I wasn't seeing things.  I had thought of heading for Portmore that day but Tanya wanted to go to Kearney, so right place right time. 😊

Carnalea siskin (DM)

Following a trip to Carnalea to add siskin to the list, four turned up on my feeders two days later!! I also had an amble along the coastal path and had 5 brent geese, a red-throated diver, 5 guillemots and one black guillemot plus 3 mallard on the pond at Stricklands.

Brent geese

and again

and again

I hadn't realised how beautifully camouflaged they are on a rocky coast. On grassy fields and sandy beaches they are obvious, not so here. 

2026 
108: Scaup
109: Muscovy duck
110: Great spotted woodpecker
111: Ring-necked parakeet
112: Stock dove

113: Siskin

114: Black redstart

115: Water pipit

NDCP patch
50: Rock pipit

51: Siskin

52: Mallard

53: Guillemot

Belfast RSPB patch
60: Ringed plover

61: Little egret

62: Starling

2024 wrap up

Christmas was spent in Bolton which gave the chance of a dipper - again!! Four walks at four sites which have dipper yielded nothing. There was a Caspian gull only five minutes drive away at Moses Gate Country Park. I visited four times but failed to see it. There were two reasons for this, firstly there were up to 60 large gulls, mainly herring gulls and a smattering of lesser black-backed and secondly I really wasn't sure what I was looking for. I thought I had it but thanks to Howard Vaughan (ace birder from Lesvos - remember?) it turned out to be a first year herring gull. I did see a nice kingfisher and some goosanders however so all was not lost.  It eventually moved on so I didn't have to visit on Christmas Day. A walk along the Irwell at Elton reservoir failed to find a dipper but did turn up a water rail preening out in the open along the canal. Not an easy bird to see as you all know but hey - right place right time! That pushed me up to 181 for the year. Richard's garden had treecreeper, nuthatch and two goldcrests in the same sycamore tree which augurs well for 2025. 

Withins reservoir in the mist

First year herring gull at Moses gate

....and again!!

Goosanders at Moses Gate

.... and again.

The two local patches stayed where they were in late November, well below the target.  However two late December strolls down Stricklands and west to Carnalea finally delivered mallard and curlew on the 29th and grey wagtail on the 31st.  My lack of mobility in the spring contributed to some missed birds but other seem to be the result of changing circumstances. The Bangor patch missed out on swallow and house martin - they simply weren't about in the places I expect to see them.  Swallows bred in Abbey Street in Bangor and house martins along Princetown Road but both have not bred this year. I haven't seen jays in Stricklands this year and I have not had a flyover raven. I think reed bunting and whitethroat have gone as well from the coastal path and the mild winter put the kibosh on redwing and fieldfare appearing in gardens. 

There were no reported curlew sandpipers in WOW this year and I have also missed out on redpoll, siskin, reed bunting and bullfinch on the feeders at WOW. I also failed to find willow warbler, chiffchaff and sedge warbler at WOW - mainly due to lack of mobility in the spring.

I genuinely think there are fewer migrants around and they have a harder time travelling with human interference and changing climate. A blogger from the South coast of England used to see thousands of migrants crossing from France in the 1970s and 1980s, now he is recording hundreds. All in all a bit depressing and I hope the trend can be reversed for future generations of birders. Then again who thought we would see little egret in Rathmore Road and have buzzard as a garden tick or expect to see great spotted woodpeckers in Castle Park?

Next year kicks off with the annual "Round the Lough" on New Years Day and a visit to WOW on January 2nd. That will kick start 2025 with the ongoing Irish garden birdwatch to start the local patch from the comfort of the house. Have a happy and prosperous New Year and a bird filled 2025.

2024

181: Water rail

NDCP

63; Stonechat

64: Mallard

65: Curlew

66: Grey wagtail

91: Goldeneye