VARIATIONS ON A THEME
If you’re confident, or if you’ve completed the challenge before and want a fresh slant on it, you can add your own twist. Here’s a few you could try…
1 Self-found birds
Two-hundred would probably take some doing in the UK, without a lot of travel and luck, but it’s possible if you get to go further afield (even if it’s only a beach holiday in Spain). So, no twitching, and no looking at your bird club’s sightings page. It will improve your ID skills enormously, especially in picking birds out of flocks (you’d probably need to find the likes of American Wigeon among Wigeon, for example).
2 Photographed birds
You need a record shot of each one – it’s that simple. It doesn’t have to be anything award-winning, but it should be recognisably the species in question.
3 Greener birding birds
Our own David Chandler did this in 2020, more or less, birding only within two miles of home. He’s lucky enough to live next to a great reserve, and he did use a canoe at times, so it wasn’t all walking, but you get the idea – set some transport restrictions (birding by bike, or birding by public transport, for example), and off you go.
4 Heard birds
To be honest, most birders do this to an extent. Your chances of seeing a Tawny Owl can be pretty slim, for example, but most of us will hear them and tick them confidently. The same might be true of species such as Water Rail, Cetti’s Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, and even Nightingale. But you could make this the year you get to grips with noc-migging – listening to the calls of birds flying over at night (you’ll probably have to record them). It’s hard work, but it can turn up the likes of Common Scoter over the most landlocked, water-free patch.
5 Family-listed birds
What’s better than passing on your knowledge of, and love for, birds? So it’s not just you that ticks each species – your partner has to as well. And your children? Anyone else in your household? Your regular birding gang? We even know one or two birders who keep a bird list for their dog…