Gadwall, brent geese and siskin (Bird Race update 5)
Meg: It’s over two weeks into the bird race and Ed started us off strong. I have added several species to our slowly growing list: we are on 62 species, trailing behind Team Warden and Team Dave. But I think it is an impressive feat considering our experience (or lack thereof). I keep telling everyone we are going with the slow and steady approach but as the wardens and Dave keep their numbers climbing daily, it seems we need to step it up.
A species none of us have got, gadwall, had us all running to the Folly Pond Hide after a kind visitor informed us that they had seen one there. To our dismay, the gadwall was not seen... but we did manage to get it the next day.
We still need to see several species to catch up with our competitors, such as siskin. Not the most elusive and rare species, but don’t seem to want to be seen by us just yet. We persist with the hopes of getting as high a number as possible but the underlying goal is to boost our bird ID skills. What better way to learn than in the guise of friendly competition.
The Bird race has got us paying more attention to our surroundings, building my appreciation for this diverse site.
Barn owl by James Lees
Annie: So far, so good. Jake and I are currently taking the lead all thanks to a surprise view of a barn owl in the daylight (poor thing is probably hungry in this cold weather) and a great evening of wader ringing where we saw a dunlin!
It has been a wild ride so far, like Meg says: there’s a lot of sudden sprinting to hides or sneaky birdwatching in the corner of the office whilst no one notices. Luckily, it’s not getting too competitive as Dave kindly pointed out the brent goose hanging out with a flock of barnacle geese over the Folly Pond field-just caught it in the binoculars right before it flew off into the hills.
It’s much less pressure than I thought this race would be, it gives us an opportunity to stop and notice what’s around us.
Scores
Team warden: 81
Team placement: 64
Team Dave: 80
Words by Meg Grisewood-Foley and Annie Pickering
Feature image of brent geese by WWT
