SET A TARGET OF SEEING 200 BIRDS IN ONE YEAR!
Now that the summer lull is well and truly over, autumn provides you with a great chance to make up any lost ground in your bid to complete our #My200BirdYear challenge. Follow these tips to get your list growing again…
BROUGHT TO YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
1 PLAN AHEAD
For most of the year so far, you’ve probably been able to add ticks to your list just by going out and birdwatching regularly. Now, that’s still a great way to enjoy birding, but it’s also time to go through your list, take stock, and make sure you know exactly what ‘bread and butter’ target birds you’re still looking for. There are always a few surprises that have slipped through the net since the start of the year, so give yourself a chance of mopping them up.
2 GO WEST
Atlantic gales, or just strong south-westerly winds, push all sorts of extras our way, in particular seabirds such as Leach’s Petrel, Sabine’s Gull, Gannets and Kittiwakes, but, even more excitingly, North American species. Now’s the time to check wildfowl flocks for the likes of American Wigeon and Lesser Scaup.
3 CHECK ALL RAPTORS…
Ospreys linger around lakes and estuaries as they migrate, Honey Buzzards soar high overhead as they make their own journeys south, and Merlins, Peregrines, Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls leave their upland territories for winter hunting grounds, such as coastal marshes and areas such as the East Anglian fens. So, don’t assume you’ll only be seeing your ‘regulars’.
4 AND CHECK AGAIN
While you’re at it, keep an eye out for Great Grey Shrikes and Rough-legged Buzzards arriving from the north and east to take up winter residence on those same saltmarshes and grasslands. Numbers of both species can
