You'll have gathered by now from Alan's blogs that for the first time this year we're actually apart from each other.  One of our rules for The Biggest Twitch is that we both have to see or hear the bird for it to be added onto our year list.  This has meant that for the past 8 months we've been inseparable.  Wherever one of us goes, the other has to go too.  Even trips to the bathroom are fraught with risk as you can bet this will be the moment a mega flies over, and, yes, I have been dragged out of the Ladies loo in Ghana to see a new bird!Now, despite being joined at the hip for so long, we're still the best of friends as hopefully anyone at the Birdfair could tell, but a change is as good as a rest they say.  So as there are not many new birds left for us here in the UK, we decided it would be safe to go our separate ways and while Alan headed back to North Wales with Christian and Keith, I went south to catch up with my family and friends down there.  Not that I stopped birding either.  Sara, my friend from schooldays, lives in Orpington in Kent, and she promised me an exotic bird to add to my UK list.  Flocks of them every day, she said, raid the trees in my garden, she said, you can't miss them, she said.  So I sat glued to the window all day, looking in vain for something exotic but nothing showed.  The next morning however, back at my post again I was more lucky and in flew something lime green and very noisy: a pair of Ring-necked Parakeets.  To my eyes, they looked rather out of place in Sara's neat suburban garden, but they obviously felt very much at home as they preened each other and then attacked the glorious red apples ripening on Sara's fruit tree.  Apparently a flock can strip a tree within minutes, so I can understand why they may not be popular with local residents, never mind the pressure they're putting on resident birds by taking over suitable nest holes.  Why do we never learn our lesson with foreign introductions?Re-introductions are another matter however, and I felt a surge of pleasure as I saw a Red Kite fly low overhead near Stokenchurch.  Then, remembering that I was in the fast lane of the M40 at the time, I concentrated on my driving until distracted again by another Red Kite, this time circling on the outskirts of Oxford.  Glad to see these magnificent birds are extending their range and dominating the UK skies here once again.I called in to see my friend Richard who'd joined us looking for Black Grouse in North Wales back in May.  This time I was on his local patch and together we tried to find Marsh Tit, a bird that Alan and I are still missing for our year list.  Yes, I know it wouldn't count if Alan wasn't there, but a bit of healthy competition never did anyone any harm!  We searched hard at Dancer's End near Wendover and enjoyed watching a large mixed flock of Tits passing through, but sadly no Marsh Tits amongst them.  Where have all these lovely little birds disappeared to?  I tried to imitate Alan with my finest pishing technique, and while a couple of Coal Tits came in to have a laugh at me, I couldn't rustle up anything rarer than a Goldcrest and a Nuthatch.  Still, nice to see some traditional woodland birds close up.Back to Wales tomorrow and the final flurry of packing etc before we head off on the next leg of our adventure.  But I'm sure we'll squeeze in one last try for the elusive Marsh Tit before we go.Posted 22nd August, Witney, Oxfordshire