Ten ticks on the way to and from work.

That's why January puts the sparkle back into birding.
When you can tick ten birds on route to and from work you know you're at the start of a list and not at the end where it gets hard to get a single tick in a month let alone a day.

 Apologies for the quality of the photographs but it was early and the light was poor.

Red Kite

Hawfinch

Working in Welwyn I stopped off for a few minutes at Bramfield Church and from the gate could see a single Hawfinch sitting in top of the first tree in the churchyard. A coal Tit dropped in to feed and a single Nuthatch was also feeding in the churchyard trees. I then spotted a Red Kite flying over. Pleased with this stop I headed off to work but stopped at Lea Valley on the way home where the Bittern was on show in front of the hide for about ten minutes pleasing the small crowd eagerly awaiting a show.

Both Gt Spotted and Green Woodpeckers flew past along with a Peregrine Falcon.
In the Goosefield Greylags fed alongside several Egyptians and there must have been over a hundred Pied Wagtails in the Goosefield too. I had seen Stock Dove in Hertford too so a nice bit of birding without walking more than fifty yards or so. (Handy since I was suited and booted and not really dressed for birding)

List now at 105....roll on the weekend!