Yorkshire Big Day - an abridged version of this was previously published on Birdguides.com
It is 1.30am and pitch-black. I am standing shin-deep in
rain-soaked grass in the Lower Derwent Valley, near York, straining my ears for
the nasal rattle of a drake Garganey. I know this handsome duck is here
somewhere – I saw him several hours earlier - but he’s done a bunk and I feel a
little bit gutted, though I don’t let on to my team-mates. Suddenly, an
unexpected call pierces the darkness. “Common Sandpiper!” exclaims Mark
instantly. Game on, a good bird and one we knew we couldn’t definitely expect
to see later (and as it turned out, we didn’t!). Our collective spirit lifted,
and our soggy trousers and wet feet were soon forgotten as we piled back into the
car and headed off.
This scenario will be familiar to anybody who has taken part
in a bird race, or a ‘Big Day’ as they are becoming known. To the
non-initiated, perhaps the more sensible, this kind of nocturnal activity may
seem rather crazy, but a Big Day should be on all keen birders’ bucket lists.
We had spent a long time planning our Big Day. Back in
September, team captain and ‘Ely 10’ birder Duncan Poyser had proposed to the
rest of us (Rich Baines, Mark Hawkes and myself) that we should have a go at a
Yorkshire Big Day and try and beat the existing record. This presented two
challenges; firstly, Yorkshire is huge, so the logistical challenge is
considerable; secondly, we didn’t actually know what the record was! There was
not a lot we could do about county size, but we could at least identify our
target. After a bit of searching I tracked down an article in a copy of
Yorkshire Birding from 1999, about a team smashing a previous Yorkshire record
with an impressive total of 155. With a bit of thought we realised this would
be a huge challenge but was definitely within reach. Duncan put together Team
‘Dirty Habicht’, a play on the German word for Goshawk (we are all a bit
obsessed by this raptor) made up of veteran Big Day birders. We knew success
would be based on thorough planning and then sticking to our plan on the day.
Team Dirty Habicht
The current record had stood for over 20 years, having been
set in May 1998. The fact it had not been exceeded in all this time was
testament to the four birders’ (Craig Ralston, George Watola, Brian Hedley) persistence in nailing the perfect route,
combined with excellent local knowledge and great birding skill. I read and
re-read George’s write-up in Yorkshire Birding. It was clear that the playing
field had changed in the intervening period. Nightingales have disappeared from
Yorkshire as a breeding species, as have Ruddy Ducks and species such as Turtle
Dove have become much rarer. On the upside, Yorkshire birders have welcomed the
arrival of several new species that the record holders could never have
expected to see, such as Red Kite, Spoonbill and Little Egret. There are
several fantastic new birding sites too, including North Cave Wetlands YWT, RSPB
St Aidans and Kilnsea Wetlands YWT.
Over the winter period, our Big Day route began to take shape.
It wouldn’t be too different from George’s itinerary, being a clockwise loop
through Yorkshire. We split our birds into categories: those we practically
couldn’t miss were scored one, those that we would need to work at would be two
and those that were possible but unlikely would be three. We would need to
record all of our ‘ones’ and a significant number of ‘twos’ to stand a chance
of hitting our target. We set the date – it had to be in May – and the 11th
was the one we could all make. We knew this would probably be too early for
some summer migrants, such as Nightjar, but it could give us the advantage of
some lingering winter visitors. Unfortunately, committing to the 11th
would mean when we arrived at Spurn, the tide would be out and this could make
seeing waders on the Humber mudflats tricky. One thing we could do nothing
about would be the weather; we would just have to keep our fingers crossed.
As 11th May approached, our focus shifted to reconnaissance,
an essential part of Big Day planning. This would be down to Rich and myself as
we are based here in God’s Own County. Both Duncan and Mark live in
Cambridgeshire, so could not help much with that side of things, but spent
hours scouring the internet for recent sightings and other useful ‘gen’. Our
task was to check out as many of our ‘twos’ and trickier ‘ones’ as possible.
Things really started to hot-up on the birding scene in
early May. A bit of easterly and rain brought some drift migrants to the coast
and Black and Arctic Terns to our wetlands. One or two rarities were found and
helpfully lingered, but none really on our route. Some winter species were
still looking settled – would they hang on a few more days? Even better, the
weather, which looked rough all week seemed to be calming down significantly by
Saturday. This was beginning to look good.
Some late ‘reccying’ and some very useful gen offered by
birding mates from across the county really improved our chances of connecting
with some potentially difficult species. Craig Ralston, site manager for the
Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve (and one of the team that held the
record) generously agreed to take us round his patch in the first part of our Big
Day to help us connect with some of the valley’s special birds. Other birders
kindly offered to check a few sites for us and pass on gen on the day itself. Our
excitement was growing by the hour!
So, to the day itself, or rather, the night. The team
assembled at my house near York, before heading over to the LDV to meet Craig
at 11.30pm. Rain dappled the windscreen – this wasn’t meant to happen! A little
while later, the rain had stopped and we arrived at our first site, to begin
counting down the minutes before our Big Day was officially off the blocks.
Midnight arrived and we all shook hands and took deep breaths as our quest
began. A Tawny Owl promptly hooted loudly in the still air. One down, 155 more
to go! We waited a while longer hoping for a Woodcock or a Woodlark, both of
which we knew were present. Sadly, not a peep was heard from either.
Our tour of the LDV was amazing on the one hand, slightly
disappointing on the other. To be standing in this world-class wetland in the
darkness, surrounded by the heart-melting cries of Curlews and Lapwings was
humbling, but we sadly failed to add on any of our key target species that we
had hoped for. Common Sandpiper was the only bonus bird. We had also been
unprepared for rain and consequently our feet were soaked along with our
trousers; not the best start to 24 hours in the field! We thanked Craig for
being incredibly selfless in helping a team trying to beat his winning total
and then we headed north. We contemplated our target which seemed so far away
and out of reach. Craig’s team had picked up Nightingale, Nightjar, Spotted
Crake and Grasshopper Warbler in the early hours, four species we had failed to
find.
I took driving duties and chauffeured our team north to our
next stake out. Despite the slow start and wet feet, we were still feeling
upbeat. I was secretly anxious as our next target was Long-eared Owl, which I
had located the previous week. Would the bird call? How long would we wait to
see if it did? If it started to rain again, would it remain silent? I strode
out into the darkness hoping I would be able to locate the right area in the
void. A Redshank called in the night. Reaching the spot, I called for quiet and
eight ears all tuned in. Right on cue, the nasal call of a female Long-eared
Owl penetrated the night, relieving my anxiety in a split second, prompting a
round of high-fives from the team! Excellent. Then, to add a cherry on top of
the cake, the beautiful, fluting song of a Woodlark drifted out of the darkness.
Fantastic, two quality birds firmly on the list.
It was 3am and we had our first decent drive to get to the
North York Moors for dawn. We had a long list of target species to tick off, some
of which we would only have a chance of in the next few hours. This would be
make-or-break time. The weather conditions in the preceding week had offered us
a back-up plan, as some of the summer migrants we would hope to see in the
early morning would also hopefully be available as grounded migrants on the
coast.
Arriving in a wooded valley, I parked up and we all tumbled
out of the car, bleary-eyed and fuzzy-headed. Our bodies were complaining
bitterly about having had no sleep all night! A Redstart sang from a nearby
tree and then the unmistakeable form of a roding Woodcock flew straight over
our heads, grunting and squeaking as it went. A quick coffee and a few crisps
(the perfect breakfast!) fuelled our decision to head further north to our Ring
Ouzel site. Stopping on the moorland in the twilight was exhilarating. The
first light of dawn greeted us in the east as unseen Red Grouse, Golden Plover
and Snipe called all around us. We dropped down into a wooded valley.
Blackbirds were already heralding the approaching day, and one by one, other
birds added their voices to the chorus. This was a really special moment. There
was not a breath of wind and in this spectacular landscape, enveloped in golden
dawn light and immersed in nature, we shared a few broad smiles. Out of the
dark blue, a Lesser Redpoll flew over calling, a ‘big’ bird, as they are pretty
scarce at this time of year. I then caught the aural equivalent of a glimpse of
song that could just be our target species. I walked away from the valley and
the dawn chorus and soon whistled the team who came running. The ethereal song
of a male Ring Ouzel carried across the heather from the rocks on the other
side of the valley. Spendid!
We enjoyed the moment, but pressed on, back down the slope
to the woods. We were hoping for a cascade of woodland birds here and the site
didn’t disappoint, with Tree Pipit, Marsh Tit and Nuthatch quickly added to the
growing list, along with some potentially tricky Big Day species, Sparrowhawk
and Bullfinch. We had hoped for Pied Flycatcher here as we had seen a Tweet
that one had been singing here mid-week. However, we knew there was a chance on
the coast later…
Next up, the pressure was on Rich. One of Rich’s jobs is
running a Turtle Dove project hosted by the North York Moors National Park. The
project is helping this rapidly declining species in one of its last
strongholds in northern England. Turtle Doves had been back in Lockton near
Pickering for a little while and we hoped we were not too late to hear them
purring. Parking up, Rich’s practised ears immediately heard the characteristic
song of a male Turtle Dove. We walked round to the main street and found this
stunning singer atop a spruce in a garden, purring his head off. What a treat!
Turtle Doves are such scarce birds these days, that it is easy to forget how
stunning they are. The dove flew into the large tree just above our heads and
continued purring – what a show-off! He then returned to his favoured spruce to
chase away a Collared Dove. We added Tree Sparrow and Swift and realised it was
time to go.
We headed to the Great Yorkshire Forest where it was time
for ‘Team Habicht’ to get its Goshawk on! As we pulled into the car park, we
were relieved to see a Jay appear, another tricky Big Day bird, especially in
mid-May. A gang of chipping Crossbills appeared right on cue, followed by
another Tree Pipit, Garden Warblers and Siskins. This was going well. We
scanned the edge of a clear-fell where Rich had recently seen Goshawks perched,
like grey ghosts, surveying their territory. Today it looked like we would draw
a blank until suddenly, Rich spotted the cruciform shape of a Gos gliding over
the top of a nearby plantation. I got on the bird immediately as it circled
round, as did Mark, but Dunc did not manage to see it. Following standard
rules, we could still count this as three out of four members of the team had
seen it and that meant we could add it to the list. Our namesake species under
the belt, Team Habicht were overjoyed, and it was time to move on. We soon
added Dipper (but missed Mandarin and Kingfisher) and another Goshawk, this
time found by Dunc.
We popped into Wykeham South Lakes on the chance that the preceding
week’s Ring-necked Duck would have made an appearance, but it had not, though
we did add Egyptian Goose and a few other common species. Our next big list
boost would come from the coast and that was where we planned to head next. Our
birding mate Mark Pearson had supplied us with gen about a Great Northern Diver
in Filey Bay plus Common Scoters off the Brigg, so this reconfirmed our plan to
head there. We now needed some luck. We had to add some crucial species there
as if we missed any we could throw the race.
Parking at the top of Filey North Cliff Country Park, we started
birding with military efficiency, splitting our duties: Dunc scanning the north
cliffs for Peregrine (success!), Mark seawatching and Rich and myself scanning
the bay. Soon, we located a Red-throated Diver, a good bird for the list,
eclipsed a little later when I spotted a more distant diver with a distinctive
profile and clear bulk: a first-summer Great Northern Diver. Result! A tight
pack of Common Scoters were actively feeding off the Brigg and Arctic and
Sandwich Terns added themselves on to our growing list. We headed for the end
of Carr Naze to scour Filey Brigg, which was largely covered by the tide. Here
we found Turnstones and a real bonus in the shape of two Purple Sandpipers.
Shortly, Mark shouted “Get on this diver!”. We all swung our scopes round to
see a Black-throated Diver flapping north. Wow! All three common divers in
fifteen minutes, none of which we thought we’d see. Mark then did it again,
picking up a Great Skua heading north out over the mirror-like North Sea. Well
done Mark! We scanned and scanned again for both Eider and Rock Pipit, two
species we had expected to see here. It was not to be, and we headed back to
the car, under blue skies.
It was 11am and for the first time we were behind schedule,
but boy, had it been worth it! In blazing sunshine, we headed south to Hornsea
Mere, a large coastal lake. Sadly, the trio of White-fronted Geese had departed
mid-week, leaving us with a chance of Pink-footed Goose and hopefully
Goldeneye. Hornsea is also a great spot for a Black Tern or Little Gull, so we
thought it would be worth a look. I couldn’t rouse Tony Martin for an update,
so we drove to Kirkholme Point which would at least be time-efficient. In a few
minutes we had added Common Tern and Reed Warbler plus a superb Hobby that was
skilfully hunting dragonflies in front of the reedbed, but neither of our
target species were visible.
Spurn was next on the itinerary, where we would continue to
expand our list. As we commenced our journey, Tony called with news of a
possible female Collared Flycatcher at Easington, near Spurn! This news was
like setting a bomb off in the car. Fatigue and weariness disappeared as we
hastily tweaked our plans and contemplated our luck at being almost in the
right place at the right time. The journey south was slow and winding and our
frustration rose as we got stuck behind a succession of slow drivers, buses and
tractors. After what seemed like an age, we pulled onto the verge by Easington
Cemetery. About twenty birders were gathered including Tony, who showed us
where the flycatcher was feeding, in a tree across the road. A few fleeting,
tantalising glimpses and then the bird dropped onto the ground next to a large
puddle, right out in the open, giving incredible views. The bird flicked up
into the low branches of the trees overhanging the cemetery fence and gave
great views, flycatching in the dappled sunlight. A fantastic bonus bird! Not
usually the kind to tick and run, today was different, so thanking friends for
their help, we headed for Sammy’s Point.
Collared Flycatcher, Easington.
After the elation of seeing only my second-ever British
Collared Flycatcher, my rare-dar was on high alert and I really wanted to spend
some time at Sammy’s. However, time is what we didn’t have, so we had to be
quick. We scanned the vast mudflats of the Humber, which seemed birdless, save
a few Little Egrets and a solitary Whimbrel. Out towards the curving Spurn
peninsula, we could see wheeling flocks of waders – we aimed to grill these
later. Not much stirred in the bushes. It was early afternoon and hot, not the
best time to look for migrant passerines. Nevertheless, Steve Webb, who had
earlier found the Collared Fly, was clearly on a roll and put us on to a
handsome male Pied Flycatcher in one of the large Hawthorns. This was a real
treat as it was one of the upland species we had missed earlier in the day.
Next up, was Kilnsea Wetlands a new site built by the Environment Agency as replacement
for Beacon Lagoons which will be lost due to rising sea levels. The site is
managed by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and is a great place to look for waders. We
soon notched-up Avocet, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Tern and Mediterranean
Gull, and had a look at an interesting wagtail, that seemed to be a very
washed-out ‘channel’ Wagtail. We had gen about a couple of Wood Sandpipers
being in the vicinity, so we hot-footed round to Holderness Field through the
baking afternoon heat. Mark, Rich and Dunc turned left to check out Beacon
Lagoons and I went right to locate the Wood Sand. First up though, I noticed a
small bird on a fencepost – Whinchat! Cool, another bird we’d missed on the
Moors. A fellow birder, sensibly equipped with a bike offered to pedal round to
the far side of the field to see if the Wood Sand was still present, to save us
wasting time if it wasn’t. A little later, he signalled that it was still
showing, so we hurried round to see the elegant wader.
The tide was well out by the time we reached the Warren at
Spurn. We scanned the mudflats but apart from some obliging Knot and Grey
Plovers, the rest of the waders were just too far away in the shimmering heat
haze. This made picking up Bar-tailed Godwit and Sanderling nigh on impossible,
which was really frustrating. We knew it would be low tide, but we weren’t
expecting strong sunshine and warm temperatures making identification beyond
our reach. After the Collared Fly high, fatigue had crept back in, as had
anxiety as the hours were slipping by. Time really mattered and we needed to
make good decisions and plan carefully for the remaining daylight. It occurred
to me that as we had seen both Mediterranean Gull and Wood Sandpiper, we could
skip North Cave Wetlands saving ourselves a good half an hour. If we got a
move-on, we could then drop by the Humber bank to get Marsh Harrier and then
back to the Lower Derwent Valley for a couple of birds before ending the day in
the Aire Valley. Before heading west, we called in at Easington Cemetery again,
as we had heard that a late Redwing and a Spotted Flycatcher were present. We
might be the only birders to have turned up at a Collared Flycatcher twitch asking
where the Spotted Flycatcher is! Sadly, nobody knew about either bird and a glorious
male Redstart on a gravestone was little consolation.
Whinchat
Worse was to come. Passing through Patrington on the way
west and my phone rang. It was Tony Martin with news of another fantastic
Yorkshire rarity: a singing male Brown Shrike nearby at Cowden. As Tony gave
directions, it occurred to me that it would be half an hour to Cowden, a little
while there watching the bird and half an hour back - at least. This would be over
an hour we couldn’t afford to spend on just one bird at this stage of the race.
The other three members of the team had all seen Brown Shrike in Britain, so
the decision was mine. There was no contest; we couldn’t turn back now. The
race must go on!
Over the next couple of hours, we put a lot of miles under
our belts and added Corn Bunting, Marsh Harrier, Spotted Flycatcher, Pintail
and Little Ringed Plover, followed by Raven and Red Kite. We dipped Garganey
again by minutes, despite Duncan Bye calling to say he’d relocated a pair
within minutes of us leaving Bank Island near York! As we arrived into the Aire
Valley, to Fairburn Ings, we were in the mid-140s, with our target now clearly
in sight, though rapidly running low on time. We notched up Spoonbill with ease
– who’d have thought that would have been possible in Yorkshire back in the
‘90s? Then on to our final daylight site, the RSPB’s splendid St Aidan’s. The
team was keen that I did a proper list-check as we were desperate to know
precisely how many species we now needed and what was possible. The answer was 143, so we needed 12 more to
equal the record, 13 to beat it. Could we do it? There was some almost-guaranteed-species
here, and we soon added those on, including a gorgeous Black-necked Grebe. Mark picked up the lingering drake Goldeneye
on Main Lake – good work. Even better perhaps, Dunc picked up a Pink-footed
Goose with the Greylags, one we’d missed at Hornsea earlier. Dunc then did it
again, when he said “Jono, could you check if that is a female Goosander on the
lake over there?” I swung my scope round and sure enough, the large sawbill was
loafing contentedly on the water, oblivious to our stresses. Result! Nice one
Dunc! This took us to 151. I was really pleased with that. I had read about another
Yorkshire team getting to 150 before the record holders had beaten it with 155,
so this was a major milestone. I shared this with the team, but they seemed
nonplussed.
The sun was beginning to set over the high ground to the
west of the reedbeds and we were running out of time rapidly. We knew there
were a couple of birds we could locate on call once it was dark, but we really
needed to add more during the last remnants of daylight. Remarkably, we hadn’t
seen a Kingfisher or a Green Woodpecker. I had heard a Green Woodpecker here
yesterday. Where was it now?! We knew Little Owl was very likely, another
species I had seen here yesterday. Garganey, which we’d missed in the Lower
Derwent Valley twice today (!) was here somewhere and a calling Grey Partridge
was a possibility as dusk approached. We needed some luck. And then we got it.
A small dark shape scuttled across the track in front of Rich and me. “That was
a partridge”, Rich exclaimed, and suggested that he thought it could have been
a Grey. I suggested we wait for the other two to catch us up as we needed at
least three of us to see it. We proceeded cautiously. I asked Rich where he
thought it had gone when two angry Grey Partridges erupted out of the grass and
flew past us all shouting their heads off! Excellent, 152.
Rich, on a high, hung back to have one last scan for
Garganey. The rest of us headed back towards the visitor centre to try and find
the Little Owl. The record seemed so close, but we were now really running out
of time. My phone rang. It was Rich “I’ve got the Garganey” he said calmly. I,
not so calmly, yelled “Garganey!” at Dunc and Mark and ran back down the track.
Unfortunately, the bird had landed in the open but then walked out of sight
into some rushes. Damn! It had to be there somewhere. We repositioned ourselves
up the slope a little and scoured the area through our scopes in the
near-darkness. Dunc picked it up asleep near some Teal. Top work!
Next up, Little Owl. This was the only remaining species we
were likely to add here, now that it was virtually dark, unless a Greenshank or
something flew over. Kingfisher and Green Woodpecker would have gone to roost
by now, and so became added to the list of birds that got away, together with
Rock Pipit, Bar-tailed Godwit and Sanderling. A short list, but a frustrating
one! A Blackbird was calling angrily from the compound fence. I followed his
stare and there was a sleepy-looking Little Owl atop a concrete post. I had
seen this bird yesterday, so was pleased he had decided to show up. 154. So
close!
We were now faced with possibly the biggest decision of the
day (except perhaps the Brown Shrike!): where to go next. We felt Water Rail
was guaranteed if we visited a decent wetland. That would bring us level with
the record, but we still needed one more. There was the Great Reed Warbler at
Wintersett, but we didn’t know the site and worried that we might not find the
right spot and didn’t know if Water Rails would be present. So, we discounted
Wintersett. What we needed was a Grasshopper Warbler. There had been a decent
arrival in Yorkshire a week or two ago, so surely there must be one around
somewhere. We had appealed on Twitter earlier for Gropper gen, but no current
news was forthcoming. I suggested Staveley, a lovely Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
reserve close to Boroughbridge, about half an hour up the A1, where I was aware
there had been a Gropper recently. Also, Staveley has Water Rails. Dunc agreed,
so we went north.
Having become list-keeper during the day, I was acutely
aware that if I had made a mistake in my counting I could be in a lot of
trouble with the team. With this in mind, I asked Rich to double-check for me.
I didn’t want us to think we’d beaten the record only for us to realise I’d
accidentally ticked something we hadn’t seen. I had been up for a long time
after all! A few minutes later, with my anxiety levels rising rapidly, Rich
laughed and said casually, “You didn’t tick Pintail”. What? I immediately knew
that that could mean I’d also forgotten to tick Little Ringed Plover, which
we’d seen at Bank Island at the same time. I had missed it too. That meant that
if my original count was right, we had already beaten the record, with Rich’s late
Garganey drawing us level and my Little Owl being the record-breaker! We gave
the list to Dunc, as captain, to check the count. 156. We’d done it!
We reached Staveley. Mist hung over the reedbeds and overhead,
a clear sky was studded with stars. We drank a beer in the deserted car park,
before walking round to where I thought the Grasshopper Warbler had been
reeling. We didn’t hear it, nor did we hear a squeal from a Water Rail. But we
didn’t care, we were elated, shattered and smiling like Cheshire, or rather Yorkshire cats. We had recorded 156
fantastic birds, every one appreciated as much as every other, experienced some
of Yorkshire’s most breath-taking scenery and achieved something together as
friends that will be treasured forever in our memories.
I don’t think this new county record will stand for twenty
years like the previous one; I hope our adventure will inspire some more teams
to have a go at beating it next year with their own Big Day. 160 is definitely
possible in Yorkshire, with good weather, lots of planning, tenacity and a bit
of luck. Many thanks to all the birders who helped us with our Big Day and our
massive gratitude to the organisations large and small who look after the
amazing places we visited during our quest.
The record list
- Pink-footed Goose
- Greylag Goose
- Brent Goose
- Canada Goose
- Mute Swan
- Egyptian Goose
- Shelduck
- Gadwall
- Wigeon
- Mallard
- Shoveler
- Pintail
- Garganey
- Teal
- Pochard
- Tufted Duck
- Common Scoter
- Goldeneye
- Goosander
- Red-legged Partridge
- Grey Partridge
- Pheasant
- Red Grouse
- Red-throated Diver
- Black-throated Diver
- Great Northern Diver
- Little Grebe
- Great Crested Grebe
- Black-necked Grebe
- Fulmar
- Gannet
- Cormorant
- Shag
- Bittern
- Grey Heron
- Little Egret
- Spoonbill
- Marsh Harrier
- Sparrowhawk
- Goshawk
- Red Kite
- Buzzard
- Moorhen
- Coot
- Avocet
- Oystercatcher
- Grey Plover
- Golden Plover
- Lapwing
- Ringed Plover
- Little Ringed Plover
- Common Sandpiper
- Wood Sandpiper
- Redshank
- Whimbrel
- Curlew
- Black-tailed Godwit
- Turnstone
- Knot
- Dunlin
- Purple Sandpiper
- Snipe
- Woodcock
- Great Skua
- Guillemot
- Razorbill
- Puffin
- Kittiwake
- Black-headed Gull
- Mediterranean Gull
- Common Gull
- Herring Gull
- Lesser Black-backed Gull
- Great Black-backed Gull
- Little Tern
- Common Tern
- Arctic Tern
- Sandwich Tern
- Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon
- Stock Dove
- Woodpigeon
- Turtle Dove
- Collared Dove
- Cuckoo
- Barn Owl
- Little Owl
- Tawny Owl
- Long-eared Owl
- Swift
- Great Spotted Woodpecker
- Kestrel
- Hobby
- Peregrine
- Jay
- Magpie
- Jackdaw
- Rook
- Carrion Crow
- Raven
- Bearded Tit
- Skylark
- Woodlark
- Sand Martin
- Swallow
- House Martin
- Marsh Tit
- Coal Tit
- Great Tit
- Blue Tit
- Long-tailed Tit
- Nuthatch
- Treecreeper
- Wren
- Dipper
- Goldcrest
- Cetti's Warbler
- Willow Warbler
- Chiffchaff
- Sedge Warbler
- Reed Warbler
- Blackcap
- Garden Warbler
- Lesser Whitethroat
- Whitethroat
- Spotted Flycatcher
- Robin
- Pied Flycatcher
- Collared Flycatcher
- Redstart
- Whinchat
- Stonechat
- Wheatear
- Ring Ouzel
- Blackbird
- Song Thrush
- Mistle Thrush
- Starling
- Dunnock
- Pied Wagtail
- Grey Wagtail
- Yellow Wagtail
- Meadow Pipit
- Tree Pipit
- Yellowhammer
- Reed Bunting
- Corn Bunting
- Chaffinch
- Bullfinch
- Greenfinch
- Crossbill
- Redpoll
- Siskin
- Goldfinch
- Linnet
- House Sparrow
- Tree Sparrow
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