My first outing of any distance in 2026 was on the afternoon of the 3rd, when I visited Staines Reservoirs. My rationale for going on a Saturday afternoon was (a) that there were some interesting birds there and (b) the M25 would be relatively quiet on a Saturday afternoon. This was important, as in the past I have been caught up in the almost inevitable weekday traffic jams between junctions 13 and 16 on my return. The down side was that standing on the causeway between the north and south reservoirs, in sub zero temperatures and in a biting wind is not my idea of fun! Nevertheless, I persisted and was rewarded with views of a male Lesser Scaup (a vagrant from the USA and the rarest bird on the site), male and female Scaup and a single Black-necked Grebe (up to 13 had been reported here earlier). I missed out on Great Northern Diver (up to two reported here), but will have a chance to see that species at Grafham Water, where up to eight have been reported!
Male Lesser Scaup, Staines Reservoirs, 3 January. Note the little 'bump' at the back of its head, one feature that distinguishes it from the larger Scaup (image below).
Male Scaup, Staines Reservoirs, 3 January
Black-necked Grebe, Staines Reservoirs, 3 January
I had to wait until the 14th for my first visit to the coast. Titchwell was the venue, and I was able to add no fewer than 14 wader species to my year list, with the best being a single Purple Sandpiper, feeding on the beach between Titchwell and Thornham Point. Very little, other than a few Red-breasted Mergansers, was seen on the sea.
Record Shot of a Purple Sandpiper on Titchwell Beach, 14 January
Having visited the resident Tawny Owl at its regular roosting site, I was lucky to see a Firecrest on my way back to the visitor centre. Typically, the bird was rushing around looking for invertebrate food and all my images of it were blurred, with the exception of the one below.
Firecrest, RSPB Titchwell, 14 January
On my way home I popped in to WWT Welney to see the swan feed. Only a handful of Mute and Whooper Swans were present, with the majority of the food being snaffled by a large flock of Pochards. No Bewick's Swans were seen, although several had been present on the previous day. A Cetti's Warbler was seen in the car park, both as I arrived and as I left!
Whooper Swan, WWT Welney, 14 January
Poor weather (well, it was January) restricted my movements in the second half of the month. A rare bright day on the 20th encouraged me to visit Abberton Reservoir where I was hoping, amongst other things, to see Russian White-fronted and Tundra Bean Geese. I parked my car on the Layer Breton causeway, from where I could see both male and female Smew, then walked along a permissive path between this and the Layer de la Haye causeway, looking for the geese. None were seen, so I decided to continue the walk, which I had not done before, to the other causeway (Goosander, Black-necked Grebe and Ruff were seen from here) and then on to the nearby visitor centre. More waders (Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, hundreds of Lapwings and a single Golden Plover) were seen from the hides here, but little else. I was somewhat despondent about not having seen my target geese on the way back along the permissive path, but half way along a flock of White-fronted Geese flew over me and I managed to grab some photos to confirm my sighting (image below). Three other geese flew over my head and landed out of sight - these were probably the Bean Geese (which were reported from nearby later on the same day), but I couldn't be sure.
Female Goosander, Abberton Reservoir, 20 January
Female Smew, Abberton Reservoir, 20 January
White-fronted Geese, near Abberton Reservoir, 20 January (characteristic breast markings can just be seen on three of the birds)
I brought some bird food along with me on a visit to Lynford Arboretum (Norfolk) on the 22nd, and it wasn't long before it had attracted Marsh Tits (my first of the year) down to feed. There was no sign of Hawfinches on this occasion, although (predictably, for this winter) Crossbills were both seen and heard on several occasions.
Marsh Tit, Lynford Arboretum, 22 January
On the 28th, a rare sunny day during a wet and windy period encouraged me to visit the Norfolk coast, this time starting at Sheringham and working my way along the coastline, via Salthouse, Stiffkey and Burnham Overy Staithe, to Thornham Harbour and Hunstanton Cliffs. I was lucky to see my second ever Eastern Black Redstart (a colourful, attractive sub-species of Black Redstart) almost as soon as I arrived at the esplanade in Sheringham. However, before I had the chance to photograph it in the open, the bird flew and disappeared into some dead vegetation, where it stayed for at least 20 minutes, giving very restricted views (see image below). I went off to see what else was about on the sea and along the coastline, and when I came back the bird had disappeared. Red-throated Divers were seen in flight and on the sea, a bunch of very friendly Turnstones were looking for food - any sort of food - along the promenade and Redwings seemed to be everywhere.
Record Shot of Eastern Black Redstart hiding in Vegetation, Sheringham, 28 January
Redwing, Sheringham, 28 January
Turnstone, Sheringham, 28 January
The rest of the day turned out to be rather frustrating in terms of birds seen, although I did enjoy walking in the sunny weather. I am told that I saw a flock of Twite (distant birds on a wire), but they flew off before was close enough to identify them, so I won't 'list' them. I missed three Glossy Ibis at Stiffkey and at Burnham Overy Staithe the Red-necked Grebe that I had hoped to see had swum out of sight on a reed-fringed pool, shortly before I arrived there, and didn't reappear. However, I did find a Rock Pipit here. There was little to see at Thornham Harbour, whilst I was able to see my first Fulmars of the year on the cliffs at dusk, during a 30 minute stop at Hunstanton.
Rock Pipit, Burnham Overy Staithe, 28 January
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