A strange year that produced plenty of scarcities but no 'twitchable' NR's! I could have seen a couple more easier species such as Mandarin or Long-eared Owl while I also missed some such as a pair of Gull-billed Terns which flew behind me! Failing to clinch a Laughing Gull at the end of December though will haunt me for a long time to come! 214 is my second highest ever total so I cannot complain, especially given the excellent birding I had during the last week or so of the year. Well done to all of the patch workers - lets hope it's as much fun in 2008. Most recent: 29/12 Whooper Swan + Velvet Scoter. 27/12 Shorelark. 24/12 Glaucous Gull. 13/12 Long-tailed Duck. 01/12 Red Kite. Highlights: Tundra Bean Goose, Ring-necked Duck (1st for the Pen!), Goosander, Black-throated and Great Northern Diver, Black-necked Grebe, Storm Petrel (only my 2nd ever from the Peninsular!), Red Kite, Osprey, Dotterel, Temminck's Stint, Jack Snipe, Grey Phalarope, Glaucous Gull, Roseate Tern, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Wryneck, Shorelark, Red-rumped Swallow, Water Pipit, Icterine Warbler, Barred Warbler, Wood Warbler, Pallas's Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Great Grey Shrike, Tree Sparrow, Serin + Mealy Redpoll.

31/12 Fantastic first year on the patch. Finds of Radde's, Greenish, Barred and Yellow-browed (many incl in the garden!) Warblers, Sabs Gull, Bal Shear, Grey Phal, Glauc, Montys etc. Non-finds included Icky, Alp Swift, Boner (refound in village), Desert Wheatear, Dartford Warbler, Fudger. Cranes over the house and 21 Rouzels in one paddock. Loved it! Misses included Leach's Petrel, White-billed Diver, Great Shear, Honey Buzz, Spoonbill, GWEgret x 2, RBFly x 2, LT Skua,

Shag 12/12 Marsh tit 28/11 whooper swan 18/11 Scaup 12/11 Grey phal, waxwing-4/11 SEO- 1/11, Little auk, Rough legged buzzard-31/10 GW egret 19/10, Green woody16/10 (rare on the reserve!) Slav grebe 12/10 Leach's petrel 10/10, purple sand 3/10, ybw 2/10, Long tailed skua 27/9, Sabs gull 27/9, Gt grey shrike 27/9, Lap bunt 25/9, Snow bunt 25/9, Grey wag 21/9, LB dowitcher 21/9, Little stint 11/9, balearic shear 11/9, Pec sand 7/9, self found Greenish warbler 24/8, Redstart 24/8, Pied fly 21/8, storm petrel 21/8 Manx shearwater20/8, Bonxie20/8, Arctic tern18/8, Montagu's harrier13/8, wood sand, red crested pochard, LITTLE BITTERN, Coal tit, Spotted Fly, Curlew sandpiper, Temminck's stint, Osprey, Spoonbill, garden warbler turtle dove, whinchat, cracking drake gargany and reed warbler

30/12 marsh tit; YL gull; 20/12 mealy redpoll;10/11 SURF SCOTER, puprle sand; 4/11 little auk, scaup, water pipit; 31/10 rough leg buz - not far off the yearlist record now (201 in 2005); 28/10 BT diver; 22/10 Bewick's swan; 3/10 YB warb, slav grebe; 26/9 LT skua, leachs, sabs gull, sooty shear; 25/9 lap&snow bunts; 21/9 SE owl, LB dowitcher; 15/9 grey wag; 9/9 manxie, puffin; 7/9 pec sand; 25/8 Greenish warbler, redstart; 21/8 storm petrel, pied fly; 7/8 curlew sand; 23/7 crane; 18/6 LITTLE BITTERN; Temminck's and spoonbill added recently; 24/4 re-located the black kite on the reserve

I haven't been year-listing this year but a few bits recently (Long-billed Dowitcher, Dusky Warbler, Rough-legged Buzzard, Pallas's Warbler, 4 Great Grey Shrikes etc) prompted me to add up my list. Mind you there's quite a few tart's ticks I could have got if I had been trying. Justin, I clearly don't understand the etymology of the word

All seen since July 21st... Highlights: Balearic and Sooty Shearwaters, Black throated Divers, 5 Grebes, Spoonbill, Cattle Egret, Mandarin, Jack Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Common Crane (found), Sabines Gull, Caspian Gulls (17), Glaucous Gull (2) , Roseate Tern, 3 White-winged Black Tern (1 self found), Little Auks, Long-eared Owl, Wryneck, Grasshopper Warbler (2), Yellow-browed Warbler and Raven. Final tally for the year... Bullfinch and Cuckoo the most obvious omissions, apart from fly by seabirds such as Scaup and Long tailed Skua. What a year for farmoor!

2 Red-throated and 7 Great Northern Divers, Bittern, Whooper Swan, Pink-foot, Sandwich Tern, Redstart, Cetti's Warbler, Avocet, Little Tern, Temminck's Stint, Kittiwake, Spoonbill, Shag, Purple Sand, Bonxie 22/8; MARBLED DUCK 2/9. Latest: ARCTIC SKUA, Knot 10/9; Pectorial Sandpiper 12/9; Lesser Scaup 16/9; apparent Baltic Gull 20/9; 2 more Arctic Skuas 26/9; Red-necked Grebe, 2 Sabine's Gulls, Bonxie 27/9; Rock Pipit, Grey Phalarope 30/9; Wheatear 2/10; Siskin 5/10; Jack Snipe 7/10; Great White Egret 14/10; Hen Harrier woo 22/10; Long-tailed Duck (first for 7 years), Brent Goose 4/11; Slavonian Grebe, Bewick's Swan 16/11. I'll have a Caspian too, even if they haven't dotted the 'i's and crossed the 't's yet! Want to see a Crow on an Asda bag? Then check www.lros.org.uk/gallery.

Another enjoyable year seeing 165 of the 167 species recorded. Pied Fly and LS Woody eluding me. 307 visits were made this year with the undoubted highlight being the Whiskered Tern on June 6th. Other highlights include Spoonbill, Glaucous Gull, Iceland Gull, Pec Sand, Leach's Petrel and the 3 Nordic Jackdaws we have at the moment have rounded off the year nicely. I would like to say a big well done to Dai John of Farmoor who has without doubt blitzed us all (even you Mr Berriman) with an outstading year of national rares and bloody good inland birds. I would like to wish everyone a successful and enjoyable new year and lets hope we all have a few of those special moments that make this local patch watching all worthwhile

Latest Missed 24 species including Collared Dove, Spot Fly and Bonxie!! 2/12 Black Redstart 18/11 Goosander 17/11 Gadwall 11/11 Little Auk 6/11 Tufted Duck 4/11 Tawny Owl 3/11 Mandarin, Surf Scoter, Fieldfare 2/11 Brambling 31/10 Cirl Bunting, SEO 27/10 Bullfinch(!), Ring Ouzel, Firecrest 24/10 LT Duck 21/10 Siskin, Redwing 11/10 Lesser Redpoll 7/10 Shoveler, Golden Plover 23/9 Sooty S'water, Spot Red 15/9 Redstart 9/9 Buff-breasted Sand 4/9 NIGHTJAR 1/9 Hobby 28/8 Balearic S'water 27/8 Kingfisher 25/8 Little Stint 19/8 Osprey 18/8 Black Tern 5/8 Green & Common Sand, YL Gull 12/7 LRP Highlights 4/6 Woodchat 13/5 BT Diver, Storm Petrel, Hen Harrier 12/5 Curlew Sand, Pom Skua 6/5 Roseate Tern 4/5 ORTOLAN 16/4 Kentish Plover 24/2 Mistle Thrush 3/2 Whimbrel 28/1 Cetti's Warbler 1/1 WFGoose, Avocet, Velvet Scoter, Treecreeper, Dartford Warbler. Find out more about the reserve at www.dawlishwarren.co.uk

One of the poorest years ever mainly due to lack of south-easterly winds, high summer water levels & warm early winter so highlights few and far between. HIGHLIGHTS = Great-northern & Red-throated diver. Black-necked (5) & Slavonian grebe. Great-white & Little (5) egret. Whooper swan (2). White-fronted goose. Ring-necked duck. Greater scaup (3). Common scoter (6). Red kite. Osprey (2). Avocet (2). Grey plover (2). Whimbrel (7). Turnstone (18). Sanderling (19). Red knot (3). Curlew sandpiper (5). Little stint (3). Grey phalarope. Kittiwake (2). Mediterranian (19), Little (11), Caspian (2) & Iceland gull. Sandwich tern (6). Short-eared owl. Great-grey shrike. Black redstart (2).

Highlights since july include Great Egret (found) Purple Sandpiper and Firecrest in the garden and singing!! all moors firsts. 3rd to 8th Rock Pipit records, brilliant year for wader passage now that the milling fields have been flooded, along with Purp Sand.. 10+ Little Stint, 9 Curlew Sand, 30+ Turnstone, 11 Knot and 4 Sanderling and 32 Grey Plovers including 1 flock of 16!. no biggies yet tho! also 1 Med Gull 1 Gannet 2 Little Egret, 1 juv Black Tern, 5 Arctic Tern, 2 Spot Fly and 2 Whinchat. 22 Whooper Swans and 6 Bewick's Swans back 7/11.10/11 40+ Whoopers and 10 Bewick's Swan back and a large amount of Stonechat, at least 9 birds the highest total for Hatfield. very quiet tho recently although i'm hoping the gull roost is going to turn somethimg up.

Redstart and Spott Fly late Aug.

Willow Tit (4/1) Ring Necked Parakeet (16/1) Golden Plover (28/1) Jack Snipe (29/1) Red Legged Part ,Yellow Legged Gull (2/2) Marsh Tit (4/2) Long Eared Owl (8/2) Tawny Owl (15/2) Yellowhammer (19/2) Barnacle Goose (26/2) Curlew (5/3) Raven (6/3) Rock Pipit (7/3)+(20/3) Ringed Plover (29/3) Redshank (3/4) Osprey (5/4) Ring Ouzel, Little Egret (15/4)+ 3 (9/9) Little Gull , Garganey (26/4) Whimbrel x2 (27/4) Turtle Dove (1/5) Goshawk (6/5) Gannet (7/5) Grey Partridges (10/5) Arctic Tern (17/5) Wood Warbler (19/5) Marsh Harrier (23/5)+ (29/8) Sanderling,(31/5) Red Kite (6/6) Quail (20/6) Sandwich Tern (24/7), Arctic Skua (25/7),Mandarin (29/7) Med Gull (10/8),Greenshank(23/8), Scaup (20/9),Brambling (27/9)Pink Footed Geese birds (28/9),Barn Owl (17/10),Merlin (20/10),Bewicks Swan (23/10) Short Eared Owl (2/11) Brent Goose ,Corn Bunting (19/11).

Garganey (7), R-c Pochard (3), Scaup, Common Scoter, Quail, Little Egret (11), Great White Egret, Sanderling (4), Little Stint, Temminck's Stint, Curlew Sandpiper (2), Ruff (7), Whimbrel (2), Wood Sandpiper (3), Turnstone (2), Mediterranean Gull (2), Little Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Black Tern, Arctic Tern (2), Richard's Pipit, Rock Pipit (5), Water Pipit, Black Redstart, Willow Tit, Lapland Bunting. See my website: www.worcesterbirding.co.uk

Latest - Knot 1.12, Nuthatch 17.11, Brambling, Common Scoter, Peregrine, Rock Pipit 27.10, Spotted Flycatcher 9.9, Whinchat 10.8, Ruff 9.8, Marsh Harrier 28.7, Little Egret 16.6, Egyptian Goose 10.6, Gropper 4.6, Curlew 1.6, Garganey 29.5, Barn Owl 26.5, Avocet 19.5, Black Tern 14.5, Turnstone & Corn Bunting 13.5, Arctic Tern 10.5, Hobby 8.5 - Earlier highlights: Sanderling, Water Rail, Pinkfeet, Bewick`s & Whooper Swans, Tawny Owl, Grey Wagtail, Stonechat, Bar-tailed Godwit, Scaup, Little Gull

Firecrest, Y.L.Gull, Glaucous Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Ring-necked Duck, R.N+B.N.Grebes, Scaup, Whimbrel (upto 03/12/07) www.geocities.com/falmouthbirding

Autumn highlights: grey plover (patch tick), yellowhammer, coal tit, yellow-browed warbler, lesser whitethroat, coot(!), buzzard, long-tailed tit, firecrest, brambling, great shear, pom skua, gc grebe (patch tick) - updated 21/12/07. check out www.surfbirds.com/blog/colinb

Latest sightings: Fen Drayton Lakes - 29/12 Black-necked Grebe.

Highlights: Merlin , Barn Owl, Green Sand, Redstart, Whinchat, (White Wagtail), Grasshopper Warbler, Peregrine, Whimbrel, Garganey, Corn Bunting, Greenshank, Latest: Water Rail 23/12 (Edstone Pool)

Osprey, Great Northern Diver plus summer stuff. Third Lesser Scaup of the year.

LATEST - Nov - jack snipe Highlights - SCAUP (patch tick) TURTLE DOVE (PATCH TICK) GREAT CRESTED GREBE (valley tick), KIttiewake(my 2nd in valley), Mandarin! Missed - Pied Fly, Cuckoo, Wood Warbler, Barn Owl, Curlew,red kite, little owl, WHIMBREL!

Latest - December - 15th Pintail (101) & 8th Snipe (100). A cracking November with Mandarin (Westport tick) on 7th, 30 Golden Plover on 9th, Brambling on 14th and Goosander on 15th. Oct - C Scoter & Water Rail 14/9 Osprey dawdling over at 0700! 2/9 Yellow Wagtail over and Spotted Fly 3/9. June - Grasshopper Warbler 31/5 Cuckoo Highlights - Ticks so far Egyptian Goose & Little Egret. Feb 160 Pink-feet over plus 1st site record of Egyptian Goose. Third site record of L Egret over.

10/12: Ruddy Duck. Highlights: Woodcock, Yellow-legged Gull, Water Rail, Ring Ouzel, 3m Garganey, Goldeneye, Goosander.

Highlights: Golden Plover, Y L Gull, Little Grebe, Ring Ouzel, Grasshopper Warbler, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Hobby, Kingfisher, Kittiwake, Brambling, Latest: 6/12 Yellowhammer (patch tick)

Iceland Gull,jack snipe