We had a significant fall of snow in North Staffordshire on Friday, but I did manage to get down to Westport twice during the day. A bit of snow has never stopped me before! We decided that the main roads would be clear enough by Saturday morning, and so we headed over towards Branston GP's as per usual. We had no problems with snow anywhere to be honest, but the pits were still largely quiet. The Sandy Pit was completely frozen, and we saw just one bird on it - a solitary Crow. Highlight of the visit was a massive count of 72 Gadwall on the first pit (a total I've only ever bettered once before in Staffs), 11 Snipe dotted around but not much else.
Scott of the Antarctic wandering through the icy wastelands
Looking back towards Small Meadows
Well only one more weekend left in January. A steady start to the year with nothing spectacular. We've not even left the county so far, but I'm still in with a slight chance of getting that magical 100 species in the county before the month is out. I'll need a bit of luck and some good planning but I might just give it a try. Nowt else to do!
