A catch up

Back in January I decided to set myself a few targets for the 12 months ahead. Every year when I read the annual reviews and see all of the decent birds I've missed, I think "Why didn't I get to see that?", usually the answer is either that I simply couldn't be bothered or had family commitments. By setting myself a few, modest achievable targets, I felt that I would get myslef out in the field a bit more than a normal year and would get to see a few decent birds, sounds easy doesn't it?

Year List: 225
A more than achievable target as long as I can actually get out every now and then. Year listing can be a bit full on if you're going to do it properly and I'd really love to be able to have a proper go one year, but for that you need to have a lot of spare time and even more money. My last serious year list was back in 2005 and involved some pretty decent birds as well as a lot of expense. It was the year before Amy was born so meant that I could go for a lot more stuff. One particular madcap trip was the Green Heron in North Wales followed by a return route home for the Surf Scoter in Derbyshire and a Great White Egret in Leicestershire, bit of a long journey round for 3 year ticks but they were pretty decent birds to catch up with. Other "days out" were the King Eider up in Ayrshire and another trip to Anglesey, this time for a Blue winged teal.

Yorkshie List: 30 new ticks
30 new birds for Yorkshire seems a lot in one year but there are some ridiculous gaps on there so with a little effort, it's more than do-able.

Life List: BOU 2 / UK400 4 new ticks
Most years I tend to get a couple of new birds, so again, altthough this may need a bit more effort, it's achievable.

Watch this space............................................