Skirr Cottage Diary.

A walk from home around Goyt Valley, near Buxton today. Very cold and icy but good to get out into the wilds. Not many birds about, but did see a buzzard on two occasions circling in the mist. A few small coveys of grouse were seen and some single birds calling. A small flock of fieldfare also flew over.

Skirr Cottage Diary: Start a New Year bird list.

If you are a birder, the New Year means a new bird year list. Many people outside the birding world may of course find this rather odd, but it really does have an important and creative side. Starting from scratch each year means you have to go out and find even the most common of birds to add to the list. In doing this, new data may be collected and changes noted in populations compared to the previous year. The arrival dates of spring migrants can also be monitored as well as their numbers and location. All these facts are important for the bigger picture. I have just spent an hour this afternoon monitoring and counting birds in the family garden for the RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch. It was while doing this I spotted two jays in the garden for the first time ever. This was an unexpected garden tick but also an interesting fact; that jays are beginning to frequent this area and use bird tables.

The new bird list is usually started by walking local patches and haunts. The garden is a good starting point, especially ten minutes watching the bird table. Local woods around my home town of Buxton, like Grinlow or Gadley Woods usually bring in some good ticks like nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker, finches and members of the tit tribe. The local park, the Pavilion Gardens in my case, which boasts the River Wye running through, a lake and smaller ponds, some good mature woodland and shrubberies is always a great spot to start a year list. This year mallard, tufted duck, Canada geese, coot, moorhen, grey wagtail and even redwings were welcome additions (there is even a café to rest your legs for a while). Highlight on the park list proved to be a male and female mandarin which are now a breeding species in the local area. The Community Garden where I work part-time added bullfinch, raven, kestrel, buzzard, small flocks of fieldfare and goldcrest to the list.

So starting a new list each year not only gets you out and about but it can become an important source of information about the wildlife in your local area. In spring, butterflies and bees, even flowers may be added, as well as frogs, toads and newts. Over a period of years this information makes fascinating reading.

Dedicated to the memory of Sandy Denny (6.1.1947 - 21.4.1978). A selection of her songs.

Snow Storm Buzzard.

Within a swirling snowy blizzard

A buzzard, on up-turned wings,

Alive with frosting snow

Circles majestically above the rough pasture

Below the Edge. How he appeared to revel

In the wild winter landscape, the distant trees

Stark and skeletal, the sedge icy spikes,

The seeping springs black serpents in the gullies.

How he wheeled and soared and merged

With the landscape like some great moth

Leaving the comfort of its hidden world.

But this magnificent bird stalks death,

And in winter there is plenty.

The chill is deep and biting,

Harsh and cruel; even the air seems brittle.

Ever round, ever round, he turns the landscape

As if winding a toy. He mocks the storm

By embracing its malevolence,

Tearing the frozen silence with his talons.

Then he turns for the Edge and the moors,

To the vastness of the frozen earth.

But I know he will return,

For he is the hunter

The harvester of souls

The ever-present opportunist.

A collection of Mowtown hits. Let's get a bit of soul in 2015.