5 minute read
Birds
Flying Start
The search to see as many birds as possible in a year... in the Deepings
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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 year’s birding ever. Drake Goosanders are always one of the real highlights of a winter walk by the river or local pits in the Deepings.
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. 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.
The sea version of our regular Tufted Duck, Scaup are just about annual locally.
Off to a flying start
Tradition dictates that on 1st January one must go birding all day to see how many birds you can see on day one. The weather was kind and I saw some great Deepings ‘elites’. Elites is a term one of my friends coined many years ago to describe the less usual visitors to the area, or the ones that needed a little bit more work than most and were not guaranteed every year. New Year’s Day highlights included two drake Smew at Baston and Langtoft GP, Long-eared Owls at Deeping Lakes, Nuthatch at Tallington and two Ravens over my patch – the last two both firsts for me! Deeping Lakes continued to deliver early on in the month, with a first winter drake Scaup, which stayed into the middle of the month, and the Reserve’s second-ever Great Northern Diver. Both of these are coastal species; the former just about annual in the Deepings but the latter is only the fourth in the past 20 years! You see, dear reader, to get a good year list, you need to mop up on the ‘core’ species (the ones that are regular and common) of course. But to get a really good year list you need to score heavily on the ‘elites’ and these two elites are an encouraging start to this year.
As I write this in mid-January, I currently stand on 89 species in the Deepings. What will I end up on? Well, I know that 180 around the whole of Peterborough is a challenging and good score, so somewhere in that region would be phenomenal. But honestly, the end total, although interesting, won’t matter to me. I am a changed man; you can keep your running off to far distant parts of Britain for a year tick. For 2021, I will have spent a quality year sticking local and enjoying what is on my doorstep. It doesn’t get better than that. In fact, I would go as far as to say.... I’d rather be in Deeping!
Will Bowell will continue his progress a few times over the year in I’d Rather Be in Deeping. Will works at Grasmere Farm in Deeping St James (with a butcher’s and deli in Market Gate, Market Deeping) but in his spare time enjoys wildlife watching locally and across the country. He is also a keen photographer. Many of his images can be found at http://justwildimages.blogspot.co.uk/
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