In what is becoming something of a tradition, I enjoyed a lovely long walk around Cardiff Bay today to kickstart my patch birding list for the year. I managed to spot 45 species, with the highlights being an overwintering Blackcap; a Common sandpiper (pictured below); the Yellow-legged gull I blogged about a couple of days ago; and one of three Black redstarts currently in the Bay – more on those in a forthcoming blog post. I also caught up with several friendly fellow birders, always a pleasure. Happy New Year, one and all!