This time last year I vowed a series of birding 'new years resolutions' - a list of aims and goals for 2008. Its only now, looking back, I realise I'd seriously underestimated just how much birding I'd be doing once this hobby took a serious hold of my life.
2008 was a tremendous, memorable birding year, which I'm thankful for as it was a not so good year on a personal level, having lost someone close in the April. It gave me something absorbing and positive to focus on, which is what you need at a time like that. It was a year where I feel I grew and learned a lot as a birder, taking time to look into things in more detail and gaining valuable experiences and insights along the way.
However, just when you think you're getting somewhere with your birding, up pops something to confuse you all over again, or you'll make a mistake, or forget some of the stuff you thought you had down to a tee. That's what makes it such an engaging and lifelong hobby, though; not always easy but (nearly) always a pleasure.
So, a little bit about my plans for 2009...
1) Listing - the only listing goal I have for 2009 is to get my WMBC region life tally up to or above 200. It currently stands at 184. For non-local readers; WMBC stands for West Midlands Bird Club, the local bird club covering the mighty quad-county region of Worcestershire, West Midlands, Warwickshire and Staffordshire. Although completely landlocked, there is an wide range of habitat in the region and many great places to visit. Getting out and exploring these places is the very ethos of what Brightside Birding is about.
2) Twitching - we're not the sort of birders who'll travel the length and breadth of the country each week to get ticks. However, anything unusual in the WMBC region is fair game, for reasons mentioned above. We do a lot of local birding, so why not allow ourselves the odd twitch for something rare further afield? Plus, I've never twitched a mega yet, so I'd like to see at least one this year if I get the chance.
3) Patching - Max and I have identified an area which is our new regular patch and we'll try and visit as often as possible, once or twice a fortnight at least. I'll cover this in more detail in a future posting. We'll also be visiting our other favourite haunts, particularly Cannock Chase, Wyre Forest, Chasewater and Stubbers Green frequently.
4) Urban Birding -I will also be doing a bit of urban birding out on foot in my local area here in Birmingham to find out what I can see in my 'hood.
5) Recording - It's only recently I have got myself organised into keeping my records in a notebook (rather than scraps of paper) and I aim to continue being methodical in 2009. I now try to record all I see (including commoner species) and enter my sightings into BTO Birdtrack http://www.bto.org/birdtrack/ - this has several advantages, in that your records are held electronically for you to refer back to, your records are compiled into BTO studies, such as the Breeding Atlas and they also forward your records to your county recorder. I would recommend any birder to get involved in this.
6) Holidays - The big one this year is the Scotland trip to Speyside and Mull in April, with all the special Scottish stuff in mind, particularly Capercaillie, Black Grouse, Ptarmigan, Crested Tit, Golden Eagle, White Tailed Eagle, Corncrake, summer plumage Grebes/Divers and maybe even Scottish Crossbill. We're also hoping to take a pelagic trip to the Bay of Biscay later in the year, for Skuas, Shearwaters and Petrels. We may pop up to East Yorks later this month and I'm sure there will be a few other weekends away and day trips to look forward to.
So that's about it. I hope 2009 is a happy, successful and bird-tastic year for anyone who is reading this.
No comments:
Post a Comment