New Year, new ambitions

A New Year always sparks life into local birding as new goals, ambitions and lists take form. Despite being in the middle of the winter, January can be a productive month – at least in the right conditions. The winter of 2023-24 looks set to be a little more exciting than usual, too, with some classic winter visitors in play.

It’s also the perfect opportunity to explore your local area and consider signing up to the Patchwork Challenge to add more fun. It could also be a chance to rethink and test out different or extra sites close to home. Perhaps there’s a tetrad within easy reach which lacks records? Visiting underwatched sites can yield surprising results, feel rewarding, and provide valuable data for the BTO, county bird groups and local environmental record centres, which in turn contributes to conservation. Both the BirdTrack and eBird websites provide an indication of areas that lack data.

Species

As you’ll doubtless have already realised, the best Waxwing invasion for several years is underway this winter. Although there are always fewer records the further south you go, this attractive visitor is a possibility anywhere – you just need to look for areas of berry-laden trees. These can often be in atypical birding spots, such as residential and suburban areas, schools, business parks, supermarkets and so on. There may even be birds in your area already, so why not challenge yourself and try to find your own? Waxwing flocks will often show well and at close range, but it’s helpful to memorise the call: a light, ringing trill. And if you’re lucky enough to see some locally, be sure to enjoy them – it could be years before the next ‘Waxwing winter’.

Habitat

When one thinks of winter birding in Britain, it’s easy to be drawn to the coast or wetland habitats – but January is a good time to monitor areas of farmland. Finches and buntings will gather in flocks in areas where there is a reliable food source, and in some areas impressive counts can be made. You may find less common species in the gatherings, too – perhaps a Brambling in among Chaffinches, a

Twite with Common Linnets, or even a Little Bunting with Reed Buntings. Naturally, congregations of passerines attract raptors; Merlin and Hen Harrier should be on your radar as a result. In colder weather, it’s worth searching through any Northern Lapwing flocks for European Golden Plover. Or, if you’re lucky to have golden plovers locally, looking through them for rarities, such as a wintering Eurasian Dotterel. It’s proving to be a top winter for Short-eared Owl, so scanning any rough fields or meadows at sunset can be fruitful. In fact, dusk can be a surprisingly good time to visit farmland sites. As the light goes, you may hear Grey or Red-legged Partridges vocalising as thrushes and finches fly to roost. As it gets darker, Eurasian Woodcock may

fly out from their roosts to feed in fields.

Weather

Cold weather can prompt movements of birds. The colder and more prolonged such conditions are, the more likely it’ll be to trigger movement, especially if it’s freezing on the Continent. In such scenarios, it’s wise to keep vigilant wherever you are birding, be it in your garden, where perhaps unusual visitors may attend feeders, or on your local waterbody, where wildfowl will move around to find any unfrozen areas. In prolonged cold, there may even be notable vis-mig of species such as Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Skylark and winter thrushes.

Bright winter days can be a good time to try and find scarcer birds of prey in your local area, such as Merlin (pictured), Hen Harrier or Short-eared Owl.

Cold weather often triggers waterbirds to move around, so checking waterbodies is wise. Surprises, such as an inland Great Northern Diver (left), are possible.