The Double Century

Made it with 30 days to spare: on 1 December I notched up my 200th species of the year in the UK, a handsome cock Black Redstart (above). For those readers who live in more bird-rich places, 200 may not sound like a lot, but here in Britain it’s a nice round figure that gives a serious challenge to the birding year. To see 200 isn’t difficult, but it does require some effort and a little bit of luck. If I had ventured north of the border into Scotland it would have been much easier, as a spring trip there would have added a number of range-restricted species, such as Ptarmigan and Crested Tit, that can’t be found in England. Most of my birding was in East Anglia (chiefly Suffolk and Norfolk), but I did venture north to Yorkshire in June, and south to Dorset in July. 

This Mediterranean Gull was photographed at Ness point in February

My quest for 200 species wasn’t helped by several birding trips to Europe, so though Black Redstart may have been No 200 here in the UK, it was a bird I’d already seen in Andalucía in February. Black Redstarts are widespread and often common on the Continent, but here in the UK they are scarce breeding birds (around 50 pairs) and passage migrants, so they are always a challenge to connect with. My bird was a chance encounter. My birding pal Andrew wanted to try and see a Purple Sandpiper, so he suggested a quick trip to Ness Point, a favoured wintering site for the species.

Ness Point is the easternmost point on the British mainland, on the edge of the ugly Suffolk town of Lowestoft. The Point itself is unremarkable, and isn’t somewhere I would recommend visiting (unless you want to try and see a Purple Sandpiper). To get to it, you have to thread your way through the depressing industrialised sprawl that surrounds the town of Lowestoft. Ness Point itself is situated on the evocatively named Gas Works Road. 

Purple Sandpiper at Ness Point, England’s most easterly point

Arriving at the Point, I saw a fly-past Purple Sandpiper within a minute of looking out from the sea wall. Andrew missed it as he was getting his scope out of the car. It took us another 20 minutes before we spotted a distant wader, sitting on the sea wall, that looked promising. We walked towards it and discovered that it was, indeed, a Purple Sandpiper, and probably the bird I’d seen fly past. These wintering sandpipers favour rocky seashores, of which there aren’t a lot in East Anglia, so they are not easy birds to find.

Before tracking down the sandpiper we had talked to a local birder who happened to mention that he’d heard a Black Redstart (they do sing occasionally in winter), so with the sandpiper safely ticked and photographed, we set off in search of the redstart. We had almost given up and were making our way back to the car when Andrew gave a shout: he had spotted a showy adult male with an extensive white flash in its secondaries. It was a fittingly handsome bird for my 200th species.

Several pairs of Black Swans now breed in Britain. This bird was at Abbotsbury, Dorset, in July

Though this was officially my 200th species, it was technically my 204th, as during the year I’d notched up four birds that were likely to have escaped from captivity or even deliberately released: Harris’s Hawk (an escaped falconer’s bird); Peacock (a bird that is well established and breeds in a feral state close to my home); Black Swan (a bird that now breeds in Britain), and Reeves’s Pheasant. The latter was on a local shooting estate. Though releasing alien species is illegal in the UK, there is little risk of Reeves’s Pheasant ever becoming established here, as numerous attempts have been made, and none have ever proved successful. They are exceedingly handsome birds, and one I enjoy seeing. 

There’s a small but well established feral population of Indian Peacocks not far from my home

I photographed this juvenile Red-breasted Goose, mixed in with a large flock Dark-bellied Brent Geese, at Cley in Norfolk on 22 January

My 200 species did include a few rarities. The first of the year was a juvenile Red-breasted Goose, mixed with a flock of Dark-bellied Brent Geese, that I saw at Cley in North Norfolk in January. Cley also provided another of my year’s rarities, a Long-billed Dowitcher. I’d seen this individual bird before, as this North American wader is a long-stayer at Cley, wintering here then disappearing in the summer (to the Arctic?) before returning in the autumn. I enjoyed no fewer than three encounters with another returning rarity, a female Pallid Harrier that returned for its third winter in North Norfolk. Once an extreme rarity, these harriers are now seen regularly in Britain, a reflection of the fact that they are extending their range west. White-tailed Eagles used to be great rarities in East Anglia, but I had two unexpected encounters in Norfolk early in the year. One was a tagged bird from the Netherlands.

A wandering White-tailed Eagle; North Norfolk, 14 March

Birds populations are always changing. Thirty years ago I would have been certain to have seen a few Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers during the year, but these diminutive woodpeckers are now nearly extinct in East Anglia and I failed to see any. However, I now expect to see three species of egret – Little, Cattle and Great White – on my birding excursions to Norfolk, something impossible even five years ago.

A Great White Egret, with Canada Geese; Titchwell, September

I did very little twitching, but one bird I did go to see was Lesser Scaup – there was a flock of seven on Abberton reservoir in Essex that proved easy to find. I’d seen Lesser Scaup in North America, where I admit I’d taken little notice of them, as they are common. They have become more regular in Britain in recent years: the first record was as recently as 1987. It was interesting to compare the Lesser Scaup with the Tufted Ducks they were consorting with – they are very similar birds in both size and behaviour.

Great Grey Shrikes have become increasingly difficult to find in recent years. I saw only one in the UK during 2024, in Thetford Forest

Great Grey Shrikes used to be relatively easy birds to find in East Anglia in the winter, but in recent years they have become increasingly scarce, so I did make the effort to go and see the only bird reported locally last winter. It was a long hike into the forest to see it, but my spaniel Emma enjoyed the walk as much as I enjoyed the bird. 

I had no trouble picking up almost all of the migrant breeding birds that enhance our brief summers. Nightjars nested this year just three miles from home, while the nearest breeding Grasshopper Warblers are only a 10-minute walk from my garden. Turtle Doves presented more of a challenge, and I failed to see any in Suffolk this summer for the first time since I moved here 20 years ago, but I did see a few birds in Norfolk. 

I photographed this Turtle Dove in my garden in 2006. This year was the first time that I have failed to see even a single one in Suffolk

It was a trip to Yorkshire in June that gave a good mid-summer boost to my list, with such additions as Puffin, Guillemot, Red Grouse and Dipper. Gannet wasn’t new for my year list, but it was great to have close encounters with nesting birds at Bempton Cliffs – I usually see Gannets coasting by, half a mile out to sea.

Bempton Cliffs in Yorkshire is a great place to photograph Gannets

I have to go north to find Red Grouse. This bird, a female, was in Yorkshire

This Cirl Bunting was the most notable addition to my list during a week in Dorset in July

Autumn migration is a great time for picking up scarce migrants to boost the list, but I failed to capitalise on this by spending a couple of weeks of prime migration time in Greece, where the birding was poor (but the sunshine wonderful). I managed to miss seeing a Yellow-browed Warbler, despite the fact that dozens of these delightful migrants from Asia were recorded in East Anglia. 

By November I was starting to feel optimistic that I would reach the magic 200, as my list was now in the high 190s. A satisfying addition (No 199) at the end of the month was a Tundra Bean Goose that I found, feeding with Greylags, at Buckenham Marshes in Norfolk, an RSPB reserve. These marshes have long been a traditional site for wintering Bean Geese, but few now come, and until I spotted my bird, none had been recorded this autumn. Intriguingly, it’s Taiga Bean Geese that traditionally used to winter here, but my bird was clearly a Tundra Bean (rossicus), with just a small orange patch on its beak.

What did I miss? I didn’t do well for sea ducks, with both Long-tailed Duck and Velvet Scoter missing. I did poorly on grebes, too, failing to find either Black-necked or Slavonian (Horned), along with Black-throated and Great Northern Divers. Interestingly, I recorded Marsh Harriers, once one of Britain’s rarest birds, on nearly 90 occasions, but only saw Bullfinches five times.

Fifty years ago Marsh Harriers were Britain’s rarest breeding bird. Not any more – I saw them on nearly 90 days in 2024, and at 25 different locations

Though it took 11 months and a day to get to 200 in Britain, I’d comfortably passed the 300 mark for Europe back in June. Historically, my best-ever year was 1986, when I notched up over 1,000 species thanks to trips to Africa (Kenya and The Gambia), Australia and several European countries. That was the year I saw 292 species in a day (during a bird race in Kenya), which puts into sharp perspective my 200 in 335 days in England. Still, it’s been a fun year. Will 2025 prove any better?