Looking ahead into 2013

Whilst I have the luxury of seeing all previous annual records, I can reveal that since 1995 there have been 11 years when Smew was recorded in January. It's worth knowing stuff like this if you wish to adopt a so called strategy for building a good patch list, I try hard to do this. And I am willing to share as much as I can find time to help others until I do eventually publish all the data since 1976....anyone know how to get reams of free text data in the comments boxes in Excel into a searchable database?

Smew are rare at DP and mostly shy too, meaning they can drop in but often only stop along the river Loddon...... Or they can just sit out on the ice in full view on Sandford like on 28th Nov 2010, the last record.

Dec is 2nd place with 8 since 1995 and 5 were mid to late December so we could still get on in 2012. So time to hedge the stats and get looking for one more elusive year tick, one of us might find DP's first ever Green-winged Teal, or Ring-necked Duck? We are overdue as I see it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Birding Year 2013 to everyone from all my family