A late start on a dull, drizzly morning, with the first bird of the year being a male Blackbird in the churchyard, seen from the bedroom window.
My first ever Fowlmere year-list got under way mid-morning and an amazing thirty-seven species were seen or heard! Wow! These were Mallard, Pheasant, Little Grebe, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Water Rail, Moorhen, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Kingfisher, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Redwing, Long-tailed Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Tufted Duck, Treecreeper, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Crow, Starling, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Linnet, Bullfinch, and Reed Bunting, as well as four Hare.
The afternoon was spent with Tom at Amwell, where we saw Smew (two male), several Goldeneye including displaying males, Shelduck, Yellow-legged Gull (adult), and, at dusk, Bittern.
At Fowlmere on the way home, a Barn Owl was seen perched near the airfield.
