UPDATE: October 2023. Despite recent heavy rains the patch of farmland, on which birders (Ian and Brendan) had ticked 160+ species, has remained unflooded so far this season. I suspect the drainage along the fields and/or the adjacent travellers’ site have been fixed. So, it was fun while it lasted and maybe it will happen again, but it seems that for the timebeing we are not going to have quite the birding on that patch as we did last winter and the previous couple of seasons, unfortunately. So much for creating a protected birdlife area.
Over the last year or more (2020-2022), a patch of farmland known, as Bullock’s Haste, which lies on the outskirts of our village has been perpetually flooded. Incredibly, over two winters it has attracted a greater and greater diversity of bird species who have spent time there feeding, preening, and roosting.
Two friends dedicated to the citizen science cause of birding (Brendan Doe and Ian Ellis) have observed and catalogued (on eBird) more than 150 species there in that time. I cannot claim to have seen even a fraction of that number there, although I have seen a good many of the “ticked” species in various other places and several of them at this site. There are a few other named spotters on the list who have ticked several species, but Doe and Ellis have done the bulk of this excellent work.
Here’s the list as it stands, in alphabetical order. I have removed terms such as Eurasian, European, Northern, and Western from these vernacular names to simplify things. You can visit the eBird list to get alternative formats. As you will see, there are a few fairly rare and unusual visitors on the list:
Arctic Tern
Barn Owl
Barn Swallow
Bewick’s Swan
Blackbird
Blackcap
Black-headed Gull
Black-tailed Godwit
Blue Tit
Brambling
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Caspian Gull
Cetti’s Warbler
Chaffinch
Chiffchaff
Coal Tit
Collared Dove
Coot
Corn Bunting
Cuckoo
Curlew
Curlew Sandpiper
Dunlin
Dunnock
Egyptian Goose
Fieldfare
Gadwall
Garden Warbler
Garganey
Glossy Ibis
Goldcrest
Golden Plover
Goldfinch
Goosander
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Cormorant
Great Crested Grebe
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Great White Egret
Green Sandpiper
Green Woodpecker
Greenfinch
Greenshank
Green-winged Teal
Grey Heron
Grey Partridge
Grey Plover
Grey Wagtail
Greylag Goose
Greylag Goose (Domestic type) x Canada Goose (hybrid)
Greylag x Canada Goose (hybrid)
Hawfinch
Hen Harrier
Herring Gull
Hobby
House Martin
House Sparrow
Iceland Gull
Jack Snipe
Jackdaw
Jay
Kestrel
Kingfisher
Lapwing
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Redpoll
Lesser Whitethroat
Linnet
Little Egret
Little Grebe
Little Owl
Little Ringed Plover
Little Stint
Long-tailed Tit
Magpie
Mallard
Marsh Harrier
Meadow Pipit
Mediterranean Gull
Merlin
Mistle Thrush
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Nuthatch
Oystercatcher
Pectoral Sandpiper
Peregrine Falcon
Pheasant
Pied Avocet
Pied Flycatcher
Pied Wagtail/White Wagtail
Pink-footed Goose
Pintail
Pochard
Raven
Red Kite
Red-crested Pochard
Red-legged Partridge
Redshank
Redwing
Reed Bunting
Reed Warbler
Ringed Plover
Robin
Rock Dove
Rock Pipit
Rook
Ruff
Sand tin
Sanderling
Sandpiper
Sedge Warbler
Shelduck
Shoveler
Siskin
Skylark
Snipe
Song Thrush
Sparrowhawk
Spoonbill
Spotted Flycatcher
Spotted Redshank
Starling
Stock Dove
Stonechat
Swift
Tawny Owl
Temminck’s Stint
Tern
Tree Pipit
Tufted Duck
Turtle Dove
Water Rail
Wheatear
Whimbrel
Whinchat
Whitethroat
Whooper Swan
Wigeon
Willow Warbler
Wood Sandpiper
Woodcock
Woodpigeon
Wren
Yellow Wagtail
Yellowhammer
Yellow-legged Gull
UPDATE: 11 April 2022 – Little Gull has turned up