When you score zero out of a possible four species, you know the game is about up. So it was just before Christmas on the saltmarsh between Brean Down and the Axe Estuary, where not a single Lapland bunting, snow bunting or twite showed. The black redstart in nearby Brean Cove was also absent. About the only ever-present there was the wind, which seemed to have settled in for the rump of 2014.
That ended the year at 211 species. It took my British list over three years to reach that number from ground zero.
The last thing I wanted on January 1st was to find a species that had eluded me the previous twelve months, so I stayed safely in Bristol. A walk along the New Cut brought a redshank farther up than I’d previously seen, four redwings at Cumberland Basin and a brief grey wagtail. Continuing to the Downs on a dank afternoon yielded little more.
What a pleasure then to find the Beaufort Arms just off Blackboy Hill as unspoilt as ever. A pint of Jail Ale went down a treat. As did Saints‘ victory over Arsenal later, to make up for watching the siege against Chelsea last weekend. Of course Southampton bricked up their defence: what else can you do versus two billion pounds of Russian Mafia money?
Yesterday’s circuit round south Bristol was also quiet. It’s rather surprising that most of the route had wildlife potential. Follow the Floating Harbour round to Temple Meads, then the River Avon to Arno’s Vale; once through there it’s a short hop to Victoria Park, then the Malago, with which I soon parted company because I needed Lidl.
I’m not even going to bother with what the year list is now. The focus in 2015 will be on my UK, Avon and Chew Valley lists. And I may even get abroad again for some lifers.