Weedon’s World
As we welcome the New Year, what better thing is there to do but look back over the last (crazy) year?
Mike looks back over a mad year of birding around his local area
In real life, or at least, the closest I can guess as to what is real, these days, it is early December 2020 while I write. But, as this column is for the January 2021 issue, now seems a convenient time to sum up 2020, the strangest of birding years. As usual for the last two decades, I have done the vast majority of my birding around Peterborough, and have recorded yet another Peterborough area year list.
My total stands at what I consider a very respectable 187 bird species, a feat I matched in 2009, 2013, 2014 and only surpassed in 2008 (189), 2016 (188), 2018 (195), and 2019 (191). Considering the restrictions in 2020, the score is satisfying; with the latest additions being Glossy Ibis, Great Northern Diver (self-found), Hooded Crow and Merlin. There is still some hope of adding the likes of perhaps Mealy Redpoll, a whitewinged gull, Hawfinch or Curlew or Red-breasted Merganser, but for now, I am pleased with 187.
The birding year is not all about lists, though, of course, although I feel I should mention that, this year, I added four new birds to my Peterborough Bird Club (PBC) area life list (now at 253 species). These were Lammergeier, Ring-necked Parakeet, Radde’s Warbler and Little Crake. The latter was a heard-only tick (a singing female) that I stumbled upon while listening for Spotted Crakes on the Nene Washes, in May.
Also sneaking under the radar, somewhat, was the fact that my son Eddie and I smashed the ‘self-propelled’ day list record for Cambridgeshire, in early May, with a haul of 115 species (seen by bike and on foot in the PBC area; the previous record was 110).
At the time, although there were no limits on socially distant, responsible, outdoor exercise, it didn’t seem in good taste to big up our achievement. This ‘green’ day list total complemented the record 105 that Hugh Wright and I mustered on New Year’s Day.
But enough about those pesky lists, let’s now look back on some of the other highlights of the year. We could call 2020 the year of the Quail, when I saw my first Quails on the deck (feeding, preening, calling); and the only Quail I have seen in the UK since my first (a flying bird), in July 2005. Or it could be the year of the warbler, as I saw 13 species in the PBC area this year (including the aforementioned, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime, Radde’s; my fourth-ever PBC Yellow-browed, and fifth-ever local Wood; plus just my second garden records of Garden Warbler and Lesser Whitethroat).
Then again, it was the year of the Lammergeier, with that mind-blowing, scale-defying bird only five miles from my home. Or the year of the raptor, including the vulture, plus mind-blowing sightings of a Rough-legged
Buzzard, and intimate views into a Red Kite’s nest.
It could be the year of the skua, with my first Bonxie in 10 years. Or the year of the Crossbill, with dozens of these wonderful finches, some hanging around for months. And it was the year of the crow, with the recent Hooded Crow taking the total to seven corvids (in the year of Covid). Or was it the year of the Tundra Bean Goose, with a remarkable 13 seen locally, this year?
Perhaps it was the year of the Water Rail, as I heard calling birds over our city centre garden on three nights, in this year’s relatively silent (car-wise!) spring. Indeed, it could be the year of the rediscovery of our garden’s wildlife, with revamped pondlife, flocks of Long-tailed Tits and our second ever visit by a Banded Demoiselle. Or the year of the long-legged wading birds, when I saw 68 Cranes in a single flock, and watched six Great White Egrets coming to roost, together with three Cattle Egrets (not to mention the first ibis since 2014). It was certainly a great Osprey year, locally, too. Although I had to wait a while, I did see four different individuals in the end, while reports were almost ‘regular’ around the PBC area.
In terms of non-birdy things, it was very much the year of the Otter (easily the most frequently seen mustelid around here). But l shouldn’t forget the hundreds of Glow-worms that lit the nights when Comet Neowise spread its mighty tail over a tiddly bit of the northern summer sky.
Whatever label I put on it, 2020 was the year, above all others, I realised how lucky I am to live in this wildlife-rich place, and how valuable wildlife watching, and particularly birds are to my health, sanity and peace of mind. Come on 2021, give us all you’ve got!
PERHAPS IT WAS THE YEAR OF THE WATER RAIL... OVER OUR CITY CENTRE GARDEN