10 things I learned during #My200birdyear 2017
1 Success comes from planning: I don’t want this to feel too much like work, but doing a bit of ground work will help you reach your goal. Look back at where and when you found certain species, especially tricky passage migrants, in 2017, and it will help you to be in the right place at the right time in 2018 – for example, if you know a great scrubby hedge that always gets Redstarts in mid-april, make a note in your diary to be there. Similarly, if you know that certain sites are dead certs for certain species, make sure you plan to visit them regularly, or during the right time of year. 2 The early bird gets the early birds: There are two strands to this. One is the need to get up early, at least once in a while, and to be out birding at first light. This is when most species are at their busiest, feeding up after their overnight fast, and when birds that have moved around by night may still be active before going to roost. Perhaps more importantly, try to get out and about in January and February to see as many winter visitors as possible. If you fail, well, you’ll get another chance at the end of the year, but getting them on the list early frees you up. So, this year, make Hawfinch an early priority, plus any Waxwings if they’re around.
3 Develop a regular ‘beat’: If you haven’t already, try to come up with a regular patch, and make sure you visit individual sites within it on a regular basis. This ensures that there’s less chance of local rarities slipping through unseen, but you can also use it to see the hardcore, bread-and-butter species of your list, if you choose the sites wisely to include as wide a range of habitat as possible. Remember, a common but overlooked species like Gadwall is as much of a tick as a rarity like Ferruginous Duck. 4 Get beside the seaside: This has been the weakness of my 2017 effort. As I write, I still need to plan a quick trip to north Norfolk for a bit of seawatching. But even a couple of days on the Moray coast right back in January were better than nothing – Puffin (pictured), Guillemot, Razorbill and Black-necked Grebe were among the species seen. 5 Don’t assume too much: This ties in with No2. Early in 2017, I shrugged off missing out on Waxwings in Speyside, thinking I’d have plenty of chance to see some back home. Wrong. I also refused to stress about ticking Jack Snipe, thinking I knew a good spot. Also wrong. Now, as the year draws to a close, I still ‘need’ both. In 2018, I’ll be shrinking the list of birds I know that I can confidently count on running into without effort, and adding more to the ‘might need a specific trip’ list. 6 Swot up on classic ID problems: If you only do one thing for #My200birdyear 2018, make it this. For example, I’ve pored over the old Marsh Tit/willow Tit conundrum once again this year, and while it still poses me plenty of problems, I’ve managed to tick both. I’m actually more used to seeing Willow Tit on my old patch, but it’s absent from my new one, so learning Marsh Tit ID features (especially that pale mark on the bill), and of course its call, helped me to get a bonus bird on the list.
7 Learn some bird songs and calls: Which brings me to this. Every spring, we urge you to learn some birdsong, and that advice holds good, but learn some calls, too, especially flight calls, as they can be what get you onto a good flyover species, especially during migration periods. I added Lesser Whitethroat that way, having stopped after hearing its unusual scolding call, and looked around to find one taking a breather in a hedge. The likes of Wood Lark and Tree Pipit might also be candidates for this sort of tick. 8 Use your lunch hour: It helps if you’re near a decent site, and we’re very lucky in that respect with Ferry Meadows CP right on our office’s doorstep. In 2017, lunchtime walks, sometimes after tip-offs from our own Dr Weedon, brought goodies such as Black Tern and Mediterranean Gull. And it doesn’t have to be lunch as such – just make use of even the briefest birding windows. I ticked Spotted Flycatcher – increasingly difficult to see in my part of the world – while walking the dog for half an hour. 9 Give in to the itch to twitch: I’m not much of a twitcher, but will do a bit of local travelling on occasion. In 2017, that included the Stow-on-the-wold Blue Rock Thrush, with family and dogs in tow, and a Warwickshire Lesser Yellowlegs at a private site to which access had been kindly arranged by the landowner and local birders. Importantly, though, doing just a bit of twitching should also help you turn up a bonus species for your list – while looking for the target bird, something else unexpected always turns up. 10 Make use of any travelling: Similar to No8, in that this is about becoming a birdwatcher, rather than specifically going birding. Keep a pair of bins in the car, and if you have to travel anywhere outside your home patch, do a bit of internet research to see if there are any interesting birding sites that you’ll be passing. Even 10 minutes overlooking an estuary, say, could bring you half a dozen bonus species if you live in a landlocked county, like me. Alternatively, plan a birding expedition or two, whether that’s a foreign holiday, a trip to a UK hotspot such as the Scottish Highlands or Norfolk, or a day out at a reserve. We did just that in September, with a #My200birdyear Readers’ Day at Frampton Marsh RSPB, and I added the likes of Merlin, Spotted Redshank, Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper to my list.