To do list
If you want to get your year off to a flying start, here’s how we think you should be getting your priorities right in January…
1
Visit your local reservoir, gravel pit, lake or pool, and see as many species of wildfowl as you can. Numbers and variety will be at their highest just about now, so it’s a great time to get species such as Pochard, Shoveler and Wigeon.
2
G et out and see those Hawfinches – there’s no guarantee how long they’ll hang around, so strike while the iron’s hot. Read all about this lovely bird, and find out the best UK sites to see them, from page 34.
3
Check every Starling flock carefully – Waxwings can look very Starling-like at a distance. And scan mixed finch flocks for any unusual looking Chaffinches – they’re Bramblings.
4
Make use of the cold weather. We generally get at least some snow in January, and a cold snap or two. They can force shy birds, such as Bittern, Jack Snipe, Woodcock, Water Rail and more into the open, but they will also keep most species moving in search of food. Roving tit flocks could easily yield seven species – Great, Blue, Long-tailed, Coal, Marsh or Willow, Treecreeper and Goldcrest.
5
Start sorting through some waders. Refer to page 26 for our Wader Quest’s ID guide to six wader species to find in winter – we’ll have six more each season. If you can tick them all, plus some of the more unmistakable species such as Turnstone, you’ll be a sixth of the way to your target. And you’ll begin to develop a love of waders, if you don’t have one already, of course.
6
Go to a gull roost. OK, so they’re very tricky to ID in juvenile plumages, but gulls have the great advantage that they’re pretty large, and they loaf around for long periods without moving much, so you can get a good look at them. See if you can find a white-winger, such as a Glaucous Gull or Iceland Gull, or perhaps a Mediterranean Gull among the Black-headed Gulls.