Midlands Birding Blog

Looking back now, it was quite fortuitous that the young birders decided to compete in a patch challenge in 2021. When Joe first suggested the idea in December we were all very keen, having regularly discussed our own patch birding during 2020 it seemed like a fun idea to introduce a bit of competition. We might not have guessed though that local birding would soon become the only form allowed in the third lockdown that hit the country at the start of January. It was lucky that my 2021 birding plans were already prepared for this. The rules are that we must have a specified 5 square mile continuous area that we call our patch. Most people have a smaller area than this which gives them somewhere manageable to cover regularly, but the large limit allows us to discover or test out new areas without feeling restricted. The other key rule is that we must walk or cycle around this area. My birding began on New Years Day when I did a short, but very successful, walk around the fields behind m...

New Years’ Day is my favourite day to bird. At no other time of year would you get a line of 20 birders at Rutland Water all desperately trying to glimpse a single male Siskin in a flock of Goldfinch. Whether you’re trying for a big year list or not, it’s hard not to catch the New Years’ Day bug. Arriving just after first light, my dad and I began at the North Arm, which is best viewed from the end of the road to the Warden’s Cottage, north off the road to Upper Hambleton. This is signed as a private road, but Tim Appleton is happy for birders to use it to view the arm (and his feeders, which had Coal Tit , Long-tailed Tit , Nuthatch and Marsh Tit while we were there). In the North Arm were the best views of 2 Black-Necked Grebes and a Slavonian Grebe that I’ve had here, and Dad managed to find a female-type Scaup in amongst the Tufted Ducks . Viewing from Old Hall in the direction of Manton Bay - the Red-Necked Grebe was found here Moving onto Old Hall, we’d already d...