My Birdwatch Year

It's that time of year when the people at BirdTrack send me a summary of the records I've submitted the previous year. I submit nearly all my records to BirdTrack, I try to get them all submitted at the time but inevitably there's something I miss. Even so, I hope I'm providing useful data for people to work with.

The day I recorded the most species was June 28th when I visited Hodbarrow and Leighton Moss and found 73 species. I recorded at least 50 species in a day 78 times, which isn't bad going given the way I do my birdwatching. 

Unsurprisingly Martin Mere was the place where I recorded the most species last year (93). Checking my records the runners-up were Leighton Moss (83), Pennington Flash (82) and Marshside (81). These are the four front-runners for me every year. My garden list came to 40 species, I'd have guessed at the high twenties.

I was the only person providing records for one 10km² square, the Carlisle train crosses the tiny bit of land in the corner of that square as it goes between Silecroft and Bootle and I record what I'm seeing as we pass by. Whoever submitted data for that area in 2024 didn't last year. I hope they do this year.

It turns out I submitted breeding records for 12 species monitored by the Rare Breeding Birds Panel. I think I've worked out which they all were this year.

Like I say, fingers crossed the data's of some use to somebody. Collecting it gets me out of the house.