And we're off.....

Well first day of a new birding year and a bit of a slow start too despite an early night! Best bird of the day for me locally was a male Goosander that flew south over the garden as I stepped out of the back door. Not only a year tick but also a new bird for the old garden list.

A quick shufty at Croxden from the viewpoint before I headed off for Utch produced three nice year ticks in the form of a male Pochard, Peregrine and a single Raven.


That was it for me locally today. Just 20 species oml but no need to get to carried away early on because by the end of May it can get very hard work trying to add anything to your total round here.


As expected top young "local birder" R P Spooner heads the leader board after day one with a score of 43, Mad Malc steady on 22 and me bringing up the rear with a nice round 20.


Work beckons in the morrow so I could add a few more bits and bobs to the old list.


Below  is a typical shot of Croxden Quarry, possibly the most birdless place on the planet!

Here we go....

Hey up folks during 2013 I am going to hopefully give you an idea of just how tough it can be for land locked birders like moi who try to find the majority of the birds they see in the course of the year, themselves!

Every year I try to see as many species as possible within roughly a three mile radius of my home town of Cheadle. Anything over a hundred is a good total and would gain you acceptance into the Cheadle 100 Club😄.

In recent years i've been joined in the race for the title by two other local birders namely Mad Malc' and RP Spooner. Sadly pour moi Malc has taken the title pour the last two years but hopefully that will change in 2013.

It's never easy though last spring a twitchable Cuckoo caused a right panic😄 and in August two Med' Gulls at Croxden caused a bit of a twitch with people travelling from the potteries,Stramshall and beyond.