My patch - a year review

Another 12 months has passed on my patch making it now 15 years since I first started making records. The Saxon Mill never ceases to amaze me. Each year new species are discovered and new pieces of interesting behaviour recorded. There is still so much I do not know.
I know for instance that my hour-long counts each week are but the tip of the iceberg. What resident species have I yet to record? Where are many of my resident's nesting?

This year I recorded 58 species of bird in my small patch over 53 approx 1hr-1hr 30min visits, 4 species of mammal, 9 species of dragonfly and 14 species of butterfly.

Interesting sightings this year include the first sighting of a Little Egret in April and a Sedge Warbler in May.

The counts of Banded Demoiselles were huge this year, 612 (208 in 2016).

So whats in store for 2018... well in terms of wildlife, who knows - the sky is the limit, but I do have some targets.

- I plan to start a new trail cam experiment using baited camera traps.
- Find more nests
- Focus a little more on insects like moths

Either way its going to be fun.