Had a surprisingly bumper time bird watching with young people from Charles Dickens School South London. With the mist and mizzle I wasn’t expecting too much but we spotted a record 29 different species including a rarity for us a nuthatch. The previous best I had with a school was 28. Saw plenty of winter thrushes as well. I am story telling for them later.

Talking birds I have been looking out for starling murmurations over the reed beds near the canal. Numbers are building up hopefully we will get some good displays in the coming weeks.

I travelled up with my friend Mick to watch the Mighty Hatters last night. Good to see us win even if the football wasn’t great. Once again a referee missed a stonewall penalty! Resigned to watching Saturday’s game on TV as we have yet another ridiculous kick off time.