Last Foot It walk brings 2 pairs of partridges

Well, the weather forecast for Sunday was not good, but it was my only real chance for Footing It in this the last weekend of the competition. I dragged myself out of bed convinced I was heading out into the rain for a day where the only target met would be the mileage under the belt. As it turned out there were plenty of breaks both in the weather and the birding and I got three Foot It ticks, finishing the day on 79 species in 97 miles.

Waxwings - just the birds to revive spirits after 10 miles of Foot It...

I started the day experiencing exactly the same situation as Andy just blogged - a fly-over Redpoll that sounded more like a Mealy than a Lesser. I hung around for half an hour or so but it was not for returning... So, either way a Foot It tick but not countable on the views... Heavy rain almost had me turning on my heels after this disappointment but I spotted a loafing flock of gulls on a playing field up ahead and as I watched them padding for worms the skies lifted. Refreshed by a spot of gulling I set off along a stretch of river that has yet to ever provide a Kingfisher and today was no different.

I have walked miles along the burns and checked about a dozen Dippers - all chestnut bellied although this one is taking it to an extreme

But I was re-energised and decided to make a second Foot It ascent of Arthur's Seat in search of the Snow Buntings that had evaded me last weekend. Once again they had been reported mid week and once again they were to prove too elusive for the weekend watcher. It did not turn out to be a wasted journey with a pair of Grey Partridges (species 77) exploding out of a patch of gorse at my feet and disappearing in flight over a ridge. This was a definite bonus species as I had convinced myself that they were no longer present within my walking radius. The lack of buntings was no issue now as I felt I had made up for the redpoll failure.

Arthur's Seat - only have to ascend about 200m from my side - although it is 4 miles away from this part of my patch

I turned and headed a few miles to my newly located gull loafing patch at Little France. In doing so I headed through a urban Craigmillar - an unlikely birding venue although the school pitch there had previously come up trumps with Curlew. This time I had just got beyond the housing when I noticed a movement in a weedy area of ground - a pair of nowhere-near-expected Red-legged Partridges (78). Local mega for me, with only one previous record in the area, and Foot It gold!

Red-letter Partridges - after Jack Snipe (and, err... Redshank) my top Foot It find

I spent an hour chilling (literally) with the gulls, but despite the weather could find nothing unusual. As I left Little France a small group of 4 Waxwings added to the mix. Actually, the first one I saw nearly gave me heart failure as it looked like a Hawfinch out of the corner of my eye. Now that really would be a good patch bird up here.

Waxwing doing Hawfinch impression - well that's what I thought it was out of the corner of my eye!

The Waxwings had done their trick and I felt that I should push on - the next tick might just be round the corner. Well, it was quite a few corners to be honest but at last, in Ellen's Glen, a single Collared Dove popped out of an ivy festooned hiding place and at last joined my last. So after 95 miles or so I finally grip back the Collared Dove to get me onto 79 species.

At last a bl**dy Collared Dove! Looks like this (young male?) is an autumn hatched bird as it still has some unmoulted coverts with pale tips. Maybe that's how it resisted the urge to disappear out of my patch for January...

Presumably that's my last addition, it looks like 75 was too low a target as I have added neither Redpoll, nor Kingfisher (which should be on my list since I managed to walk to the Figgate), I didn't see the Snow Buntings, Fulmars or Merlin reported on Arthur's Seat or the Crossbills reported over the Hermitage, or the Nuthatch that spent some of 2012 in the Hermitage or Green Woodpecker or Mediterranean Gull, both of which should be possible in theory. And with the slim possibility of Bittern at Duddingston then the list extends to 90 species. That of course would be a near impossible target, but I think 80 will be my starting target for 2014!

Post-Foot It? Well back to the corvids and gulls for me... now, is that a nordic jackdaw?