3^rd Feb.  At Neo Chorio.  A group of 3 rough legged buzzards drifted north against an angry sky.  Along the coast were a marsh harrier, 3 linnets, a dead male shoveller that had been shot; a grey wagtail; and a flock of 12+ tawny pipits. Almost everywhere the songs of greenfinches and goldfinches fill the air.
 

8^th Feb.  Along the coast.  A memorable prolonged study of lots of those little brown jobs along the coast - as a big mixed flock kept us occupied for ages sorting out what was present.  The 3 corn buntings; the 12+ tawny pipits; and the 6 ortolan buntings did not slow us down much, but separating the rest did.  There were at least 120+ meadow pipits in all stages of plumage, so all needed a good look at and that left us with what turned out to be 50+ pechoras pipits.  I have never spent so long studying a mixed flock like this one and it took an awful lot of research to confirm the identity of the pechoras pipits.  Scapular stripes had to be studied along with primary projections, heavy body streaking, the short tail and very prominent was the skulking way they moved, refusing to be flushed and instead sneaking from one tussock of grass to the next.  On many of them the white wing bars were very worn and had to be looked for very carefully. Presumably these will soon moult into breeding plumage.  A poor white wagtail was noted, but only as an afterthought! Further on a single skylark was coming into song.