Progress report

Not a brilliant week to birdwatch, but 26 tetrads have now reported and there are 98 to go, and five weeks left, so the rate per week needs to pick up sharply. There are also now only 11 tetrads that have no observer, and I am still getting offers of help. I will be doing several of them, but they are all fairly distant from Bristol, so any other offers of help would be much appreciated.
No sign of Waxwings yet- and they wont find much to eat either, as it is a poor autumn, which may well affect the totals, though so far there have been some large flocks of Starlings and Wood Pigeons and Common Gulls.
Dont forget Roving Records of any unusual species- only ST 55 and ST56 have a full house of expected species.
I did one very dull tetrad this week- 19 species and, apart from a large flock of Starlings, just 250 birds; but what is not present is as important as what is present, because its ays something about the habitat as well as the birds. I was surprised to find a large field of unharvested maize, and not a bird in sight, though the cobs were apparently easily accessible; but perhaps birds dont like them, or dont recognise them as food
Validation still has not begun- everyone will soon have forgotten what they saw last year!

Richard Bland