BUDGET

This may seem like a strange element to increasing your chances of discovering something different, but bear with me! As much as there is to be gained from learning those ‘patch’ birds inside out, at some point the desire for knowledge may take you further afield. Not everyone is lucky enough to live in a birding hotspot, so day trips and weekends away in locations famed for attracting unusual arrivals is a great way to enhance your birding skills and optimise your chances of that exciting rarity discovery. There are countless locations to consider (those old rarities reports quickly established where’s best) but some of them aren’t cheap. A trip to the coasts of, say, Cornwall, Norfolk or East Yorkshire will be less expensive than a jaunt to Scilly or Shetland (both archipelagos famed for their astonishing capabilities to attract exceptional rarities) and many mainland locations have a terrific track record for unusual arrivals of the highest quality. In the right conditions, in the right spot, you have as much chance of discovering that sandy-hued Isabelline Wheatear or furtive Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler as anyone else. Birding with partners, friends and local groups can be an entertaining learning experience while travelling across the country. Dipping your toes into continental climes can be a massive boon to upping the rarity-finding ante. Some of my foreign travels have helped when challenged by a fleeting glimpse of something special here and, although not everyone’s cup of tea, the twitching element of (my) birding life has aided my understanding of how to find the sort of birds I’d just missed a night or two’s sleep for. Just don’t break the bank, though!