March 12th 2022 - my BIGBY bird list stands at 136 bird species.
In 2016, at this stage of my 3rd Biking Birder adventure, my BIGBY bird list stood at 186. A difference of fifty birds!
Am I really so far behind? Well, to answer that I need to see which birds I had seen by now in 2016 and consider whether I can catch up with them when I visit the habitats I haven't been to so far.
So, which birds are missing from my BIGBY list 2022?
Out of all this bird species not seen so far this year, there are only four that I am worried about not seeing.
Ruddy Duck may prove to be impossible this year. After all, the one I saw in 2016, a lovely male, was shot the very next day!
Hudsonian Whimbrel, already a very rare bird, may not be a species (again!) by the end of the year.
Hudsonian Whimbrel - Marazion, Cornwall 2016
Long-billed Dowitcher will be a difficult one to get.
Hampshire 2016.
As will be Greater Yellowlegs!
Greater Yellowlegs, Isle of Wight, 2016
Interesting how all three of the difficult birds, omitting the impossible one, are waders.
All of the others I expect to get over the course of the year and if I were to look at the birds I have seen so far this year, especially the rare ones such as the Baikal Teal and the Kentish Plover, two bird species that are new Green Birding birds, then in a strange way, despite being fifty down I think of myself as ahead of the 2016 list.
The following birds, seen in 2016, I think may be tricky but I should get them . . .
Ferruginous Duck, Blashford Lakes, Hampshire
Dusky Warbler, Ham Wall RSPB Reserve, Somerset
American Wigeon, Bowling Green RSPB Reserve, Devon
Rose-coloured Starling, Lizard, Cornwall
Rough-legged Buzzard, Choseley Barns, Norfolk
Surf Scoter, Filey Brigg, Yorkshire
So, where to next? Lesser Spotted Woodpecker may be available in the reasonably near to my parent's Wyre Forest. Tomorrow I will cycle there, hopefully meet up with a local birder, Craig Reed and then see one.
Craig's photograph today of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.
On Tuesday I head off east. It will take a few days to get to Lincolnshire but a long-staying White-tailed Plover is the target bird. It has been in the county for quite a few months. Indeed I saw it at Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve last year.
If I do see that bird, the bird news of the moment will lead me into Norfolk. With bird migration about to get under way, Sand Martins and Wheatears have started to be reported, the next month will be vital.
My route - January 2022
My route - February 2022
As for distances covered so far, my overall milage is just below 1,000 miles. My bike is now fully repaired and I am looking forward to being on the road again.
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