2003 Bird Race, 10-11 May
by Katie Fuller
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GPOG Bird Race Reports 2003 Bird Race, 10-11 May by Katie Fuller |
What’s the single most important birding event that will take place in 2003? Surely the Bird Fair at Rutland Water, or perhaps the recent findings of the Black Lark, Audouin’s Gull, or Taiga Flycatcher (all firsts for Britain)? No, don’t be silly, it’s obviously the annual GPOG Bird Race.
For those who are unaware, it involved birding non-stop (in the Peterborough Bird Club recording area) for 24 hours from 6pm on Saturday May 10, to 6pm on Sunday May 11. The team which sees the most species wins.
Only four teams of brave men and women were silly enough to attempt it: defending champions 501 Club (Bob and Sue Titman, Martin Coates, Dan Williams); The Whimbrel Suppressors (Malcolm Holley, Roger Teasdale, Ray and William Bowell); Just A Hobby (Trevor and Jane Williams, Neil and Eunice Parker); and my team, Willo’ the Wispers (Katie Fuller, Steve Dudley, Brian Stone, Mike Weedon).
We were determined to be more organised than last year, when we got two hours sleep and spent an hour driving round in the dark waiting for the sun to come up. Having spent weeks recce-ing all the best sites (and double-checking when dawn was), we felt cool, calm and quite confident of getting a decent score.
The race rules dictated that, though we all had to be back at the Old Rectory by 18:00 on Sunday, we could start wherever we wanted. But it wasn’t surprising that three out of four teams kicked off at the Nene Washes, and the fourth (Just A Hobby) began their campaign at Ferry Meadows. Washes specialities like Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe, Marsh Harrier and Avocet, plus lurking wildfowl like Pintail, Wigeon and Whooper Swan got the scores off to a good start (36, 38 and 45). Down at Ferry Meadows, JAH snapped up 51 common species before leaving at 19:55.
The jammy 501 Club also caught sight of a briefly-visiting Spotted Redshank at the end of the drove, something which everyone else missed and the only record of the species so far this year! The Wispers found what was probably the best bird of the race – a fabulous, flighty Little Egret at Prior’s Fen. Since it’s still a scarce species in the PBC area, the other teams were notified and an e-mail was also sent to Peterbirder from the field. How’s that for modern-day communications?
Crepuscular species can be crucial on Bird Race day. If you don’t stay up late or get up early, you can easily miss out on things like owls, Grasshopper Warbler and Woodcock. The Whimbrel Suppressors were the first to return to base, after bagging ‘Gropper’, Nightingale, Barn, Tawny and Long-eared Owls (21:45) at Woodwalton Fen to make for 66 species so far. Well, it was past young William’s bedtime…
The Wispers finished with Barn Owl the 78th species of the day (22:15), while JAH were rumoured to have had time for chips and beer after they finished Saturday with a tally of 60 species at 21:25! The 501 Club rounded off the day with Barn Owl at Woodwalton (22:02), number 69.
While the Wispers were getting new birds by 04:36 (Great Tit, Farcet Fen), The Whimbrel Suppressors lingered in bed for ages (and probably had a full English breakfast) before venturing out at 07:05 for Collared Dove in Deeping St James. 501 Club’s first Sunday bird was Stock Dove, also in DSJ, at 05:02, and Just A Hobby had Little Owl at Deeping High Bank, 05:55.
The early hours of Sunday are another crucial time for bird racers and the Whimbrel Suppressors headed for Dog-in-a-Doublet and Eastrea on the way to Eldernell, where they’d seen Common Tern, Hobby and Stock Dove by 10:10 (81 so far). Just A Hobby worked Welland Bank Pits and saw birds including Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Turtle Dove and Sparrowhawk by 06:39 (77 and counting).
501 Club also did WBP, where they had Little Owl, Little Grebe and Corn Bunting, before moving on to Southey Wood for Lesser Whitethroat, Marsh Tit, Jay and Coal Tit (93 species by 06:54).
The Wispers were back at Woodwalton Fen by 04:56 for a dawn raid on common woodland species like Long-tailed Tit, Green and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Treecreeper and Whitethroat, before zooming off to Bluebell Wood for a noisy Spotted Flycatcher and Nuthatch (92 species by 07:37). Though we didn’t know it at the time, it was going to be another close fight…
Mid-morning can be a rather slack time for birding. Things start to become hard work and you’re scrabbling around to find those important, yet elusive species. Between 08:00 and 12:00, 501 Club added just 6 species to their tally to make 97, Just A Hobby got 9 more (97), the Willo’ the Wispers added 10 (103), and the Whimbrel Suppressors notched up 14 more (86).
Fortunately for the Wispers, the 103rd species turned out to be a second-calendar-year Little Gull sitting on the Hampton North Lake island! Though the bird obligingly stayed around for several weeks, it wasn’t picked up by another teams on the day…
The last bird before midday for Just A Hobby was Tree Sparrow (in Steve Dudley’s garden); the Whimbrel Suppressors picked up Red Kite at Woodnewton, and 501 Club had Buzzard at that raptor hotspot, Morborne Hill.
All four teams then headed in a northerly direction, meandering back to Market Deeping in time for the finish at 18:00.
Willow Tit was picked up by the Whimbrel Suppressors at Southey Wood (13:30) – one of very few records of the species in Cambridgeshire this year. They then got Ruddy Duck before visiting Bluebell Wood, Ferry Meadows for Nuthatch and Spotted Flycatcher. By 16:00, they’d reached Langtoft GP and grabbed Sand Martin, Little Ringed Plover, Turtle Dove and the traditional Red-crested Pochard, before snatching a last-minute Great Black-backed Gull at Welland Bank Pits.
Just A Hobby headed west to Cotterstock for Grey Wagtail, Southwick Wood for Treecreeper, Nuthatch and Garden Warbler, Southey Wood for Marsh and Coal Tits, plus Spot Fly, then popped into Castor Hanglands for Jay before finishing the day at WBP (Green Woodpecker) and Baston & Langtoft GP (Red-crested Pochard, 16:55).
The 501 Club endured hours between ticks when they went to Bainton for Kingfisher (13:05), then B&L for guess what? Red-crested Pochard (15:53!), and finally Grey Partridge at Deeping High Bank (17:07).
Meanwhile, the Wispers got lucky when they glimpsed a pair of Mandarin while watching a Buzzard near Apethorpe, before heading to a Little Owl stake-out at Marholm church, Southey Wood for Marsh and Coal Tit, and ending with Red-crested Pochard at B&L by 16:04.
All teams were present at the Old Rectory by 18:00 for the important business of drinking, eating and… oh yes, the final scrutiny of scores. I’m going to try not to boast too much (we didn’t even get Sparrowhawk!), but here are the final scores in reverse order:
| The Whimbrel Suppressors | 100 |
| 501 Club | 108 |
| Just A Hobby | 109 |
| Willo’ the Wispers | 113 |
It was hard work but a lot of fun. All I can say is I’m glad we only have a race once a year! Thanks to everyone who took part and helped organise the event, especially Jane and Trevor for hosting the post-race merriment.
