2010: The Year in Review

So here we are once again. That was quick wasn't it? Neeeeeowwwww! What was that? 2010, that's what. Over. Jeez. The years don't pass any slower do they? Anyway, no need to talk about my 2010 goals particularly. I blitzed them all, apart from the only properly important one which was to try and find a non-banking related job. I didn't find any job, so that isn't technically a fail just yet. And I have no idea why it was a 2010 goal anyway, the deadline was always 2011. Pfffff. Moving on, the natural place to start would seem to be.....

2011 Goals

Professional Goals
- Become gainfully employed. Doesn't matter where, beggars can't be choosers
- That's it.

Personal Goals
- None.
- How refreshing.


Nope, no birding goals this year. Having birding goals, especially ones that relate to adding numbers to lists, puts you on a hiding to nothing. You're always chasing the game, always fretting about missing something that is in fact insignificant. Far better to have no ambitions whatsoever, and just enjoy whatever comes your way. Take that, listing demons!!

 
Best Birding Moment
There are two contenders for the prize this year. The first was on March 20th when I decided it was high time that a Wheatear graced the Flats, and went out looking for one. All the normal spots were Wheatear-free zones, until at long last I walked into one of the plantations, and caught a glimpse of white zipping out the other side. Fabulous it was, and you can relive it here.

The other contender came only two days later, when I received news of an Alpine Swift on Leyton Flats, about 300 metres away from where I was sat in my car with binoculars to hand. I got there remarkably quickly, and then contrived to very nearly blow it. As is usual, I got bored after a while and went to look for it somewhere else, whereupon it naturally showed immediately. I came straight back, but was too late. As I was dragging myself away, weeping, I picked it up flying in from the west. It was one of those redemptive moments of pure relief.

Worst Birding Moment
Again, a number of contenders. I am undecided as to whether the accolade should go to deciding to twitch the Lesser Kestrel in Suffolk in a moment of pure madness, knowing I only had little over an hour in which to score, and which resulted in one of the most stressful days of the entire year, or if the title should be awarded to the two Locustella Warblers on Shetland, one of which I ticked as Lancy on Sunday evening, the other as PG Tips on Monday morning, and both of which were Grasshopper Warblers by Monday afternoon. Crushing, and properly hitting home that my bird observation skills were and are pathetic. Sucked into the age-old trap of getting too excited and going with the flow without being critical enough. Or at all. Oh, and then the following day doing a 180 degree U turn, pretending to be uber-critical, and turning a perfectly good Buff-bellied Pipit into a Mipit. Never have the words "You don't know what you're doing" been so apt. Yup, on reflection, this performance wins it. I'll save the Kestrel for Worst Bird.

Best Bird

Once again I'm going to have to split the award. Although the Dunlin on the Flats in April was fabulous, even spawning a magazine article, for sheer drop-dead awesomeness I am going to aim slightly higher, So, in joint top place, the birds are the Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll on Unst in October, and the White-tailed Plover at Rainham in July. Although there have been loads of Hornemann's and only a very few White-tailed Plovers, the Redpoll was a stunner, just one of those mythical birds that I had always wanted to see. Stunning and uber-rare need not go hand in hand in all cases.

Although of course, the Plover was stunnning. And made all the sweeter by turning up on my doorstep after I had declined to twitch it at Seaforth. I spent several calm and enjoyable hours watching the Plover as it essentially did nothing on Aveley Pools. My car made light-speed on the A13 getting there, but that [very] brief moment of stress melted away within seconds when I saw the bird on the pools. No fence, no heat-haze, no hours in the car. Just me, a handful of the Rainham regulars including Sam, the finder, and the bird performing beautifully. Unbelievable, magical even.



Worst Bird
Guess what? Lesser Kestrel, Westleton Heath, 29th March 2010. An incredibly fraught day, most of which was spent in the car, culminating in the briefest glimpse of what should have been an immense bird to savour and enjoy. Rubbish. The Skyes's Warbler on Shetland was pretty uninspiring now I come to think of it, but for the overall shitiness of the experience, the Kestrel wins hands down.

Best UK Trip
Not being much of a twitcher, I have barely left Wanstead this year and so candidates for this category are few and far between. Despite the unquestionable excellence of Shetland, I still think the best trip was in January to Yorkshire for the Black-throated Thrush, recounted here and here. Shaun almost wee'd on me in the night, and I did have one of the worst hangovers in living memory after a night on £1.50 lagers in Bridlington, but it was still a great trip.

Worst UK Trip
Hmmm, a tough one, as there has been nothing really to compare with the Eastern Crowned Warbler twitch last year. There have been no major dips to speak of, and I've used the Kestrel already, as mentioned that was pretty bad. There is still however a clear winner, though I can't not mention a three tick day back in July which bags the runners-up spot. On the face of it, it was an excellent day out in Devon, with two quality birds bagged by about 9am, but as you can read in the original post, the day was rather ruined by a River Warbler in Norfolk. We drove the entire length of the M5 coming up with crap plan after crap plan as to how we would keep everyone happy, and in fact ended up annoying almost everybody. And then ended up going for it anyway. I blame Bradders. He was involved - heavily involved - in the ECW twitch as well. That said, he was also heavily involved in the Black-throated Thrush twitch as well. I think the moral of the story is that planned twitches that span a weekend are good, and that impulse day-trip twitches where you spend the entire day in the car are bad.

However, for a vision of pure Hell on Earth, there can only be one worthy winner - Blakeney Point. If I live to be a hundred, I hope I never have to walk the Point again. It was that bad.

Best Foreign Trip
Even more pointless than last year, as this year I went precisely nowhere. That, ladies and gentlemen, is unemployment.

Best Domestic Moment

Once again, almost too many to pick from, but I still have fond memories of entering a zen-like state and cleaning and tidying as if my life depended on it, emerging a mere 45 minutes later in a seemingly new house. How we managed it I will never know, and needless to say it lasted only as long as our guests stayed. Nonetheless, a peerless performance in style over substance.

Worst Domestic Moment

Oh God. The ones that immediately come to mind are ending up with twenty pints of milk and no tea-bags after a particularly unsuccessful shopping trip, and then there was the time when my youngest coloured her entire stomach purple with a felt-tip pen whilst I was keeping a close eye on her. Not forgetting of course my attempts at Squirrel purging, but I think the best heroic failure was using the top of the (plastic) sandpit as a barbeque rain guard which unfortunately only worked temporarily....

I may come back to this category - Mrs L has gone to sleep and it is just possible that she has some thoughts.

Most Amusing Photograph

This is essentially a category for taking the piss out of my mates. There was, for instance, the day when Howard turned into a Poodle at Rainham. I kid you not, one moment there was Howard, the next, a Poodle. The photos were taken literally moments apart.



But the one that makes me smile most is this, from the Ouse Washes. Four of us had gone up one evening in the hope of seeing a Corncrake. We started hearing them from the moment we got out of the car, but would we ever see one?



Least Amusing Photograph
Spoilt for choice after various unfortunate incidents....



 

So there you have it, another year gone. I'm sure there were plenty of other moments worthy of mention, but like last year, it's time to start afresh. Giddy with excitement? Moi?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Am I getting better?

So, to the key question. The goal that actually matters, employment issues aside. Am I getting better? Well, this can either be judged by an increasing number of successes, or by a decreasing number of dismal failures.

The failures are funnier, so let's start with them. On Porthgwarra recently, I spotted an auk flying by. It was pretty distant, as everything is, and squinting down my eyepiece, I called it a Guillemot. It didn't look totally black and white, I thought. Brett Richards had a quick look through his bins, or he may not even have been using them, and pointed out that it was a Razorbill. Not five minutes later, another auk came past, also spotted by yours truly. I felt it looked basically the same as the last one, so called it a Razorbill.

It was a Guillemot.

Based on this one incident alone, I am if anything getting worse. But sea-watching is hardly a fair test. I go sea-watching for perhaps three days a year, things are miles away, and I just don't see enough of them on a regular basis to make informed judgements. So what about normal birding? Have I made any monumental foul-ups recently of the Kingfisher/Robin variety? By the way, Curlew/Whimbrel doesn't count....

My friends and associates will perhaps be queuing up to provide examples, but I can't actually think of any off the top of my head. In the context of local patch birding, where you get most stuff on call, I'm doing OK. I had a slight Wood Warbler/Chaffinch issue in the spring, but made the correct call after persevering. I have not excitedly called out all the local birders to view a Common Sandpiper when in fact it was a funny Starling or anything, and so remain in relatively good standing.

But what about becoming sharper? Well, on my own I'm brilliant. Amazing. Good, ev-en. I am my harshest critic....With other birders - and generally I go birding with people with years of experience - I'm always the last to hear something, always last to pick up on something. I suppose this is to be expected, but it can be a bit annoying. They're just quicker. Better. I could, I suppose, find some beginner birders to go out with, and then I'd look really good, but what's the point in that? Happily, I have almost no birding ego to lug around. I'd far rather go out with people who know what they're talking about, and learn from them. If I lag constantly, so be it. One day I'm going to surprise them all.

By getting something right before they do!

Could you get this right?

Goals Update

Seeing as we are now two thirds of the way through the year, I thought I might revisit my 2010 goals. The Personal Goals are going pretty well. The Professional Goals are going fairly badly - the story of my life. Or rather, the story of I don't know what to do with my life.

So....

Professional Goals
- Potty train Pudding before spring migration - DONE (15th April, but better late than never)
- Improve my cleaning skills in an undefinable way - YES, DEFINITELY.
- Find a new career that does not involve banks -.... NOT DONE. NOT EVEN REMOTELY...

Personal Goals (geeks may wish to skip this section)
- 2 new birds a month for a BOU list of 362 by 2011 - ADDED 15, 1 UNDER PAR
- 150 for Rainham in 2010 - 145, ON TRACK
- 100 in Wanstead again - 101, DONE
- 220 for London & 235 for Essex - 223 LONDON, DONE. 231 ESSEX, GETTING THERE.
- Get a haircut - DONE. TWICE. CLEAR OVER-PERFORMANCE.
and
- Become a better birder... - OOOOH, LOTS TO SAY!

So, Potty Training you know about. Easy. If you're new here, the glorious detail is recounted here and here.

The house looks nice, mostly, but is actually a tip. I have three children, without paid staff it is impossible to keep clean. I want a different goal.

My head is well and truly in the sand on the job front, but there have been two possible pointers. One is that I now have a column in Birdwatch magazine, thanks to this blog having been an advertising service for my ritten egnlish. This is exactly the kind of thing I wanted to do, but unfortunately cannot really be called a career. What I need to do is work out how I can expand this. Who else could I write for? Newspapers perhaps? Perhaps write a book? Truly I have no idea.

The second is that I finally got around to setting up that gallery website to showcase the best photos I have taken. In truth this took only a day, and I find myself wondering why I did it and what purpose it serves? Yes, I can take a half-decent photo of a bird if I can get close to it. And? Wildlife Photographers have portfolios consisting of thousands of images. I have about 150. How does one get thousands of images with three children in tow exactly?

What I would ideally like is a career where I can write lots and lots, which I find easy, go birding lots and lots, which I am finding easier, and take lots of nice photos, which I'm also finding easier. Oh, and get paid enough to live on for doing so. Answers on a postcard. I am honestly no closer to working out how to achieve this nirvana than I was six months ago, and am headed back to finance at this rate.

On the tick front, I've added 15 this year, including a memorable three tick day which got me back in the game. I'm currently one under par, but it's a curve rather than a flat line, so I'd expect to over-achieve in the autumn. It is mainly all down to luck.

Wanstead is on 101, so I'm done on that one and won't be going on the patch again this year. Rainham on the other hand is on 145, 146 if I include a Barnacle Goose, and in fact if I include the Cockatiel and the Zebra Finch, a mighty 148. Rainham is also probably the best place in which to get the remaining four birds I need to get 200 in London this year. Consequently I went there both days this weekend, and added one, a Curlew Sandpiper flying down-river. Although the possibilities for those four additional London birds are slim, there are still heaps I need for my Rainham year list. I'm confident of hitting 150 quite soon.

Because I've been going for more or less everything in London this year, this first goal turned out to be quite easy. The additions have been Marsh Tit, Slavonian Grebe, Pink-footed Goose, Dusky Warbler, Hawfinch, Hoopoe, Sandwich Tern, Wood Warbler, Quail, Common Rosefinch, White-tailed Plover, Arctic Skua, Kittiwake, and most recetly, Ortolan Bunting. Many of these would be quality birds anywhere, but in London, well it's nothing short of amazing. Of the fourteen, seven of them have been at Rainham. Without Rainham, my London list would be 176, although possibly I may have chased stuff elsewhere for a few more. It's a special place.

In Essex, I've added eleven. Both Wanstead and Rainham are in Essex, but they only account for three. However most of them were in London, and can be attributed to my foolish quest to see 200 birds there this year. Adding another four just in Essex should be easy. I have no idea why I set this goal. In fact I have no idea why I set any of the bird-listing goals, they are all pointless.

Haircuts, two. The latest was a mere four days ago, so I am now gloriously neat and trim, and no longer look like Susan Boyle. Winner.

And so we come to me becoming a better birder....

Last chance this year!

Right, I have been putting this off for as long as possible, and now it's crunch time.

2010 Goals

Professional Goals
- Potty train Pudding before spring migration
- Improve my cleaning skills in an undefinable way
- Find a new career that does not involve banks

Personal Goals (geeks may wish to skip this section)
- 2 new birds a month for a BOU list of 362 by 2011
- 150 for Rainham in 2010
- 100 in Wanstead again
- 220 for London & 235 for Essex
- Get a haircut
and
- Become a better birder...

Right, that's that sorted. Next up the year in review.

Best birding moment
Finding a male Ring Ouzel on Wanstead Flats in April. I left the house with the firm intention of finding a Ring Ouzel, and went straight to that bit just east of Long Wood where I had seen one the previous autumn. I walked around a hawthorn and was absolutely staggered to see one in front of me. I'll never forget it.

Worst birding moment
Mrs L has a number of suggestions, but this is mine (though it's on her list too). Going for the Black-winged Pratincole on the evening of it's first day. I just abandoned the family as soon as we got back in from seeing friends, was ratty throughout our long-planned day out, and I should not have gone. Drove all the way to Reculver in Kent and dipped.

Best bird
Any number of candidates for best bird, but I think my overall favourite was the Pallid Harrier in Cambridgeshire. Magnificent! The Pratincoles were great, especially the Collared which flew around quite a lot, the Fea's and the Bee-eater are the stuff grips are made of, the Collared Flycatcher was a lovely bird, but four hours in the car meant I experienced relief rather than elation, and the Crested Lark was simply boring. No, the Harrier takes the prize - a ghostly vision across a bleak landscape.

Worst Bird
A toss up between Ferruginous Duck and Wryneck, but the duck edges it. I drove all the way round to Staines to see one, and then scrubbed it from the list when it became known to be a long-staying escape having a sojourn. One then turned up at Trimley in Suffolk, and I went for it not realising that the walk from where the road ended to where Trimley Marshes began took about six weeks. When I finally got there I couldn't find the correct lake and spent another three weeks looking for it. When I eventually found it, it was behind a locked gate. And when I had finally negotiated that, the duck was right at the far end of the lake and gave crap views before swimming round a corner. Then I had to get round the gate again and start the walk back. Rubbish.

I dipped four Wrynecks, driving something like 500 miles in the process, and then got one less than an hour after arriving on Scilly. But when you see one you forget all the torture as they're really cool.

Best UK Trip
Hardly any competition for this one seeing as I have barely left Wanstead all year, but the trip to see half the Snowy Owl in Cornwall in mid-January was the most fun. Great company, a nice Owl's head, and an excellent supporting cast of winter birds. A solo one-day trip round the Scottish highlands cleaning up on everything expect eagles was a lot of fun too, but lacked the humour and camaraderie of Cornwall.

Worst UK Trip
Exeter to London via South Shields in a day. I was kidnapped by a birding associate who shall remain nameless. Bradders then forced me to sit in his car for 671 miles and thirteen hours, which made for a killer day. But the Eastern Crowned Warbler was still there, and we got it. I am retrospectively glad that I went but at the time I just wasn't in the mood. On the plus side, it put me off twitching for most of the rest of the year, and I got back into the patch big time.

Best Foreign Trip
A rather pointless category. I have left the country twice, once for a funeral in Australia, and once for a wedding in India. India it is then. It was a three-day trip, with a wedding and various parties slap bang in the middle which inconvenienced my birding hugely, but I still managed to see a host of new things all on my own, I didn't get a bad tummy, and I have learnt that Hoopoes are rubbish.

Best Domestic moment
Too many to mention. But finding the brush was memorable, and I still smile when I see it, and I doubt there are many cleaning implements you can say that about.

Worst Domestic moment
Quite recent actually - making a turkey curry that bit more exciting by adding some 6-7 year old Branston Pickle to the mix. Midway through the meal I asked Mrs L if she could detect the slight fruity edge?

"I told you to throw that away! That came with us from Beckton!"
"Did it?"
"Yes, and it was old then, and when the fridge died I said to ditch it then as well! I can't believe you're so stupid etc" [carries on for five minutes]
"It smelled OK..."

JL trots off to kitchen to check jar. Best before Dec 2006. Once open refrigerate and consume within 2 weeks. Ah.

Needless to say we were all fine. It was pickled after all, it probably has a half life.

Most amusing photograph
Taken just for Paul, this had me sniggering for hours, first at the thought of taking it, then actually taking it, and then driving home thinking about sending it to him. I am irrepressibly juvenile, and I don't intend to change!

Least amusing photograph
Technically taken in 2008, but I only received the good news in 2009....

So there you go, that was 2009. There are plenty of other highs and lows, but it's time to start afresh, and I have a lot of critical work to do to prepare for 2010. I will start a fresh page in the notebook, and all my spreadsheets need adapting. I need to work out tomorrow's targets, and a few January excursions. I am literally giddy with excitement!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

2009 Self Appraisal

One of the things I no longer have to do is to go through an annual appraisal cycle. This involved writing something called a Personal Development Plan, where you set out your personal and professional goals for the year, and then measure yourself against it at the end of the year. The deadline for having this all laid out was usually March, and was habitually left to the last minute. It was very much a case of going through the motions though, and after ten years there, I was pretty good at rolling out stock phrases like "I will seek to influence others' decision-making and thereby reduce risk" and "I will leverage my internal networks and understanding of derivative products in order to help traders make pots of money", and could generally bash out something that read well but in fact meant that I just needed to do my job. Very happily I got the axe before I needed to go through all this again for 2009, so "Ensure that the trading desk is ready for the roll-out of Basle II" (professional goal) and "Try not to die of boredom before bonus day" (personal goal) were replaced by "Become a Domestic Goddess" and "Go birding a lot".

GOAL: Become a Domestic Goddess
*note that this is a self-appraisal and that my manager's opinion may vary.

Shopping: Once a mystery to me, I can now competently go shopping. My first shopping trip way back when resulted in 10kg of rice and some shampoo. This was deemed a failure by Mrs L for some reason. Nowadays I come back with complete meals, and generally keep us well stocked. I still can't plan more than about two days in advance, so I have to go shopping a lot, but the key points are that we're all still alive and we have never run out of toilet paper.

Cooking. I do all the cooking, well, all the cooking in the week. My meals are mostly basic, but I am slowly raising the complexity stakes. For example we have recently dined on Coq au Vin, on Boeuf Bourguignon, and on a jumbo Cornish Pasty. I am also capable of Roast Chicken, and I baked a cake. I know how to make white sauce, thus opening up the world of pasta bakes and casseroles, and I no longer buy frozen chips - no, I actually peel and chop up potatoes. Fishfingers do feature quite a lot, but the children like them, and they are always on special. There I was thinking fish stocks were declining, but clearly the vast North Atlantic shoals of small rectangular fish are still doing well. There have been zero incidents of food-poisoning, nor of me forgetting that we all need to eat. Dinner is generally on the table as Mrs L gets home from work. I know my place.

Cleaning. Erm, well, the house looks quite clean. Just don't look behind or under anything. I admit it, I am not very good at cleaning. I have short bursts of zooming around, usually when Mrs L works from home and I can be seen doing it, interspersed with long periods of inactivity. I am good at the sinks and shower, as I have that lovely pink brush. I am also pretty good at the toilets - with three children I need to be. I am not very good at cleaning the bath for some reason - one for 2010 perhaps. I am also ace at vacuuming. Most other things I am less good at. Dusting is one of them, particularly DAMP dusting (which if you believe everything you are told is the ONLY type of dusting that is effective). I am also no good at cleaning the cooker, or wiping down cupboards. Or mopping. Or cleaning the windows. In fact the list could go on for a very long time. But again, if you were to come and visit, unless you are Shaun, you're not going to gag when you come in the front door. It looks ok, it smells ok, and by and large is ok. A small amount of dirt is good for children anyway.

Washing. A mixed result. I have not ruined too many knitted items, thus my marriage remains safe, but the complexity can sometimes be overwhelming. I tend to concentrate on blue loads as there are fewer pitfalls. I am also able to wash towels and sheets of any colour, provided they have been removed from the beds first. I am able to erect the airer, and hang clean wet washing up on it. Some days I am so productive at washing that I have also learned to drape it over all the doors and radiators, which has resulted in several white sheets getting long straight stains on them. My responsibility for washing ends once it is clean and dry - I take it upstairs and dump it on the landing. A fairy then irons it and puts it away.

General Presentation: Personally I wear whatever is on the top of the pile. My scruffiness knows no bounds. The older children dress themselves, and I get the little one dressed. We get full marks for originality, if not for coordination. I don't know how to brush hair. Lined up at the front door, waiting to greet Mrs L as she comes home from work, it is hardly a scene from Mary Poppins. I am sure that the £77 haircut Mums at school must talk about how dishevelled and absurd we all look, but this is trivial in the grand scheme of things and I care not. We are going birding, and the scruffier, the better.

GOAL: Go Birding a lot
*definitely a self-appraisal...

Become a Better Birder: I don't think it's possible to go out birding and regress. You're constantly learning. Especially in my case. "Ooh look, a Kingfisher!" "Er no, it's a Robin" - this conversation actually happened. So, getting there. A long way to go, but getting there. This for me is one of the principal attractions of birding - constant learning. A couple of highlights this year were finding my own Caspian Gull, and picking up a Yellow-browed Warbler on call. The only thing is that it all falls to pieces when I'm out with other people. Am I the only one to experience this? Either I'm not confident enough to call things (correctly as it happens) and thus miss out opportunities to prove to the world that I'm getting better, or I do call something, but it's a howler. On my own I am INFALLIBLE! Hmmm, what could it be? Joking aside, I am getting better and it really is rather pleasing, but I know my limitations. There is no substitute for hours in the field, be it patch birding or twitching something further afield. One argument is that you need to go on the odd far-flung mission so that you get to know vagrants and rarer passage migrants better. For instance, I've seen three Hoopoes this year, and I reckon that if one now turned up in Wanstead, I'd probably recognise it straight away.

Patch Birding: I did not spend as much time on the patch as I said I would. This is due mainly to year-listing, but also a genuine lazy streak on my part. Throughout most of this year I found it desperately hard to get off my arse and go on the patch. Despite this, I saw thirteen new species in Wanstead, and blew my 2008 total of 83 out of the water, which was one target. The other was to get to 100 species on the patch, which was achieved with a Coal Tit in Reservoir Wood in November. Whilst Stuart found all the really good stuff, I was responsible for finding a Ring-Ouzel, a couple of Redstarts, the Red-crested Pochards, a Wood Sandpiper, and the first Treecreeper for like, ages. Despite this, I must try harder in 2010.

Life List: I actually set myself a goal of three new birds a month during 2009, which meant my target was 330. I stayed ahead of the curve all year, and am currently on 338. Worthy of mention (yes, again!) are Fea's Petrel, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, and Eastern Crowned Warbler. All three Pratincoles in just over three weeks was pretty special too. Mega rarities included Crested Lark, Great Spotted Cuckoo, Collared Flycatcher, Fan-tailed Warbler and Brown Shrike, and honourable mentions must go to the Snowy Owl and Pallid Harrier. Also memorable was a magical eighteen minutes at Dunge where I ticked first Melodious, and then Icterine.

Year List: Well, it was OK I suppose, didn't go too badly..... I had one goal, a ridiculous and futile goal - to see 300 species. The key to a decent year list is to start early and see as much as possible as soon as possible, especially rarities. One look at how poor, relatively speaking, this autumn was shows the merits of this strategy. I started off in Scotland, and ended January 1st on 87 species including Surf Scoter and King Eider. By the end of January I had reached 152, and I hit 200 on April 10th. 250 was notched up by the end of May, and 300 on the 11th October. Objective met.

Various other Lists: I keep a couple of lists, not very many. I like hitting nice round numbers, numbers divisble by 50, though as that becomes harder, I may move to 25, then 10. Besides the above, a number of targets presented themselves this year, and I comfortably made them all.

Essex 198 → 220
London 181 → 206
Rainham 141 → 156

They say objectives need to be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and have a set time period for achievement. Listing goals are perfect in this respect. Sad and anoraky? Not a bit, SMART. Though "Become a Better Birder" is pretty wishy-washy. And anoraky. "Hello, my goal this year is to become a better birder. Would you like to come back to my place and look at my BWP?"

So there you have it, my 2009 self-appraisal. I still need to become a better birder, and I am some way from being a fully fledged Domestic Goddess. In particular, certain elements of my cleaning repertoire leave a lot to be desired. However, given the monumental shift in direction that occured in February, I don't think I am doing too badly. Where I used to work, goals were always like this - you're not supposed to meet them all. You can always do better, always improve, always aim for 110% - and thus never get there. Of course it's all a load of nonsense, as so much of what I did was. See points 1 & 2 here. Nonetheless, next up, my 2010 Goals. Mrs L has declared an interest in helping to set them. Uh-oh.

Planning

Hello, Happy December! One more month to go, then we can all get fresh bits of paper and start again! If you hadn't already noticed, I've been planning my 2010 assault on Wanstead for some time now, basically since I ran out of readily available 2009 ticks. I reckon I could get over 100. This year I am marooned on 97, and whilst there are a few birds that could theoretically turn up, all of them are scarce and I can't really see it happening in the time I have left.

Ducks: Wigeon, Smew and Goosander. Bring on a cold snap!
Waders: Woodcock, Lapwing and Golden Plover. Woodcock is probably resident, I just can't find one, and the latter two are within a few miles, at Fairlop - they just need to get a bit lost.
Finches: Bullfinch, Brambling and Crossbill. The former is infrequently seen in the Old Sewage Works, and the latter is a possible flyover. Brambling seems unlikely somehow, though again the OSW could turn up trumps if I give it enough time.
Other: Waxwing. Paul had some at the mighty Masey last winter. Can Wanstead pull some out of the bag?

So, I need three out of ten, with a few weeks to go. Can I manage it, or will it need to wait for 2010?

Sadly, my money is on 2010. Or 2011. Or never, but I'll certainly give it a go next year. During the endless rain I've been mentally plotting my first foray. I'd start first thing by going through the Gulls on the playing field to the west of Lake House Road. The other day I got a record count of both Lesser Black-backs and Herring Gulls, and sightings of Great Black-backed are on the up - three this year! From there, I'd cross over to have a quick look at the Jubilee Pond, probably add House Sparrow, a few ducks, Coot, Moorhen and Canada Goose, and on the way I'd likely bump into a few Skylark feeding on Fairground Flats. If I don't get Pied Wagtail around the margins of Jubilee, I'll probably get one at Alex, which is where I would be headed next, via the main area of rough grass for the wintering Stonechat and likely a few Mipit. By now I would also expect to have picked up Wood Pigeon, Jackdaw, Magpie, Crow, and Jay. Once the Stonechat is in the bag, I'll head along the south side of Long Wood, which is usually good for Thrushes, Finches and Tits, and emerge on the main area of playing fields for more Gulls. Then to Alex for a Chiffchaff that looks like it might winter (backup on Perch), and more variety of ducks than can be found on the Jubilee Pond, including some Teal that have been there for a while.

Going...

I'm now cutting down Wanstead Park Avenue, and entering just where the Water Rail was at the beginning of this year. If I'm lucky it'll be back, though I have not seen it yet this December. Hopefully I'll get Great Crested Grebe either on Heronry or Perch, and if not there is always the Basin later on. After ticking off the long-staying Goldeneye (Birding Gods, take note....), I'll probably bear right and go alongside the Perch Pond to the Dell. I've seen Kingfisher around here lately, and some Siskin are back in. If I still need some finches and thrushes, the Old Sewage Works is close by before I start my circuit of the Ornamental Water. I'd expect to have had at least two Woodpeckers now, and Lesser Spot if I'm really fortunate. Cormorant is highly likely near the Canal, and Ring-necked Parakeet as well. Hopefully there will be some Teal in the Fortifications if the ones on Alex are gone, and if I missed the Perch Pond Kingfisher, the southern stretch of the Ornamental Water is usually pretty good. At the very end, at the pumphouse, just before I head up through Warren Wood and out, I stand a chance of Grey Wagtail on the banks of the Roding.

Going...

I'm now out of the Park and cutting through the Golf Course to the Basin, where the Great Crested Grebe, Smew, Goosander and Wigeon await, cruelly having hidden during my final abortive sortie on the 31st.... A quick look in the Churchyard for Nuthatch, and then down Blake Hall and into Reservoir Wood to try and find the Firecrest and the Coal Tit, and possibly the Treecreeper. Then home for tea and cake. If there is enough time I might then head round to Staines for the Brown Shrike.........Nooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gone!

Fanfare please

Some time ago, in my first post in fact, I promised that seeing my 100th species in WANSTEAD would be marked by large font, capital letters, and stuff like that. That happy day has at last arrived! Following up on a report of Firecrest in Reservoir Wood, which is at the extreme western end of Wanstead Park, I encountered a large tit flock. No Firecrest, but better still, a Treecreeper - a species thought absent from the area, missing for several years. But it gets better, for Treecreeper was only #99. Yes, that's right, a two tick day! I was so stunned to get the Treecreeper that I momentarily forgot about the tit flock, and had to track it down again. When I finally did, what should flit through my bins but a Coal Tit! Yay! Pathetic though it may sound, a humble Coal Tit was tick #100 for my patch list. Following on from the Dartford Warbler on Saturday, that is three ticks in three days.

Have started trying to draw birds again. It has been about 25 years.... Really difficult, even with a book for reference. I have the utmost respect for people that can do it in the field, or from memory, just like that.

Can I keep it up? Well, there is still a high likelihood of a Firecrest, either the one reported, or another, as there is loads of suitable habitat both in Bush Wood and in the Park. And I reckon a Yellow-legged Gull is due on the Flats playing fields. Lapwing, either on the playing fields, or as a fly-over, is a distinct possibility too. And why not Golden Plover? Or even a Dotterel? OK, I am getting carried away with myself, but the Treecreeper this morning is what patch-birding is all about. I experienced anew the thrill of discovery, bringing back birding memories of yesteryear. Highly recommended!