January 16th, 2007 
Nick Today I didn’t just think about birds, I actually went and looked at some!
From 11am to 1 pm I walked up the Hull river to an area known as Eske. However, part of this area is a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve called Pulfin Fen, so I’m never really sure what to call this location. The weather was fairly good for birding, no wind at all and good visibility. I always walk to this spot from Hull Bridge and take the footpath on the eastern side of the river; there is a path on the western side, but there is no access to the lake from here. I’ve shaded the area where most birds are likely to be seen pale green.
There was almost no bird activity at all until I got to the first hedgerow alongside the path and suddenly there were birds everywhere. Mostly the hedge was full of noisy Blackbirds, Fieldfares and Redwings, stuffing themselves on hawthorn berries. A number of the Blackbirds were huge, so presumably these were birds from Europe.
However, whilst watching this lot, a small bird flew off and began foraging in a sheltered area under the hedge: I was pretty surprised to see that it was a ChiffChaff. I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised really, I know they winter in the UK more and more, and this winter must be one of the warmest ever. Still, this far north I would imagine that it is unusual.
At the lake there were hundreds of Greylag Geese and lots of ducks, mostly Wigeon and Mallard, but there were also Teal, Shoveler, Pochard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck and a very welcome sight of two male Pintail. On the way back to the car a flock of around 200 Pink-footed Geese flew overhead and I finally saw my first Grey Heron of the year.
Somehow I still haven’t seen a Chaffinch this year. I wonder how long I can go without seeing one.
