Flying Start
BIRDS
The search to see as many birds as possible in a year... in the Deepings Words and Pictures by William Bowell I don’t need to tell you that back in March last year, all of our lives changed, one way or another. The COVID-19 lockdown started at the end of the month and we were all told to stay at home and only leave home for essentials and for one bit of exercise a day. As restrictions gently lifted towards the late spring and summer, we were still encouraged to stay local. This had quite a profound impact on my hobby, birding. I became obsessed with something called ‘nocmig’ and visited Deeping Lakes, my local patch, without fail, everyday. Things would never be the same again. Indeed for the rest of the year, I dutifully watched my local patch and had one of the most enjoyable Drake Goosanders are always one of the real highlights of a winter walk by the river or local pits in the Deepings. year’s birding ever.
New Year resolutions Inspired by last year and wishing to be that little bit ‘greener’ in 2021, I have decided that seeing as many species of bird in the Deepings area shall be my ‘New Year’s resolution’. The Deepings area is compact, starting in the south-west at Bainton Pits, heading up to Thurlby Fen via Greatford; down to Deeping Highbank south of Deeping St Nicholas and back along the Maxey Cut to Bainton. Back in the day, I used to religiously record how many birds I recorded in a year in the whole of the UK. This was mainly on the back of chasing rare birds. Each rare bird would in turn lead to the opportunity to seeing local specialities that are hard or impossible to see elsewhere in Britain. For example, a trip to the Outer Very lucky to have Long-eared Owls, year round on Hebrides for a lost Harlequin our doorstep. 40
A drake Smew- a rare visitor to the Deepings these days. Deeping Lakes and Baston & Langtoft Pits were famous as being one of the best places in the country for these delightful winter visitors. Duck from Canada was perfect for seeing White-tailed Eagles, Whitebilled Diver, Corncrakes and all four species of Skua. Heading to Anglesey for a Black Lark, Britain’s second and from the Middle East; had a supporting cast of Black Guillemot, Puffin and Chough. Going down south to Devon for Britain’s first Long-billed Murrelet from the Pacific Ocean, was within January saw just the fourth Great Northern Diver a stone’s throw of Cirl Buntings locally, in twenty years. Remarkably the second and Woodlarks. this winter! My tactic for local year listing will, of course, be somewhat different but will involve visiting key sites, with bird rich habitats, regularly. We are in the middle of yet another lock down and once again Deeping Lakes is my regular exercise route. Come the spring, I will once again be partaking in the odd spot of ‘nocmig’ in my garden (basically listening for migrating birds that are flying over after dark). Overall I hope the experience will be relaxed and enlightening as I re-engage with local individual bird territories, which of course makes spotting the more unusual ones easier.
