So 2023 ended with my main birding focus, the non-motorised yearlist, on 218 species - 4 short of last year's total and 6 short of my record of 224 from 2021, but still a reasonable return for 2,335 cycled over the course of the year. A poor autumn for rare and scarce migrants proved to be my undoing, and whilst a bit of low hanging fruit remained unplucked at the year's end (Jack Snipe, Hawfinch, Bittern), I kind of gave up when it became apparent that the record was out of reach.
Nine new species were added to the non-motorised life list during 2023: Shorelark, Richard's Pipit, Dotterel, Sooty Shearwater and Storm Petrel, plus four 'Yanks': Surf Scoter, Forster's Tern, Spotted Sandpiper and American Golden Plover. The closest of these nine was the rarest (the Forster's Tern), whilst the furthest was one of my favourites: the Shorelark, requiring a long trek east along the coast to a chilly Hurst Spit in Hampshire. Those are the headlines, gory details month-by-month below if you have the stomach for it.
January
As in previous years, Swineham and Studland got the yearlist off to a good start but it took a Cirl Bunting to inspire my first 50+ mile bike ride of the year to Portland. I have seen this species in each of the last 3 years and it feels like it is only going to get easier as it continues its eastward expansion from Devon. Bird of the month though was the Shorelark, a rare enough bird on the south coast to tempt me on my first out of county bike ride of the year.
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| Cirl Bunting, Reap Lane, Portland, 21st January (58 miles by bike) |
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| Sanderling, Studland, 2nd January |
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| Shorelark, Hurst Spit, 28th January (65 miles by bike) |
February
This was a month for second chances: after a disastrous day during which I spent 7 hrs dipping Water Pipit and Richard's Pipit in the Weymouth area I bloody-mindedly returned the following day and had great views of both. Later in the month I went even further to dip a Green-winged Teal in the other direction at Stanpit, returning 4 days later to see it at the second attempt. A few days after that I completed my longest bike ride of the year (and second longest ever) - an 80 mile epic to Shatterford in the New Forest involving wind, rain and an involuntary dismount at speed, fortunately nowhere near any traffic.
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| Richard's Pipit, Camp Road, nr Chickerell, 5th February |
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| Water Pipit, Bowleaze Cove, 5th February |
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| Green-winged Teal, Stanpit, 15th February |
March
The high point of March's birding by bike was a mega-double on 19th - the day started early in a chilly Asda car park in Bournemouth where an Alpine Swift seen the night before failed to emerge for breakfast, only for another to be relocated 6 miles further along the coast at Christchurch. I tore along the seafront and caught the Swift shortly before it was lost to view. Bouyed with success I pressed on to Pennington in Hampshire where great views of a Surf Scoter capped a memorable day. A quick dart for a Glaucous Gull at Silverlake and a patch tick of Mandarin Duck at Swineham provided the other highlights of the month.
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| Glaucous Gull, Silverlake, 12th March |
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| Ring-necked Parakeet, Studland, 26th March |
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| Surf Scoter, Pennington, Hampshire, 19th March (70 miles by bike) |
April
A local Hoopoe on the 2nd boded well for the month and it did indeed turn into a busy and productive few weeks with four 50+ mile bike marathons: to Maiden Newton (Dipper), Iford (Night Heron), Portland (Ring Ouzel) and Keyhaven (for various spring migrants). The birding highlights, however, came closer to home. I had just arrived at Lodmoor early on the morning of 29th only to find that a pair of long-staying Black-winged Stilts had moved on when Phil Saunders found a Dotterel at St Aldhelm's Head. I got the train back to Wareham, returning to the house briefly to pass the self-imposed test that a bike twitch should be 'door to door' from home, and high-tailed it to St Aldhelm's, just catching the stunning Dotterel before the mist lifted and it flew north. Best of all though was a two sprint day on 25th - to Lytchett Bay before work for the Forster's Tern (the second rarest bird on my bike list after Short-toed Eagle) and to Herston after work for a Woodchat Shrike. At 374 miles cycled, it was my most energetic month of 2023.
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| Forster's Tern, Arne, 29th July - better views than its first appearance at Lytchett Bay in April |
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| Night Heron - one of two at Iford Bridge on 9th April |
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| Woodchat Shrike, Herston, 25th April |
May
June saw me undertake yet another border crossing to Hampshire - to Martin Down for Turtle Dove. Very sad that this is about as close as they breed now but a lovely ride to a spectacular location. With hindsight I should have made the effort to cycle the extra couple of miles to cross the Wiltshire border and add a new county to the bike list - maybe next year! Unfortunately this trip put me at the wrong end of Dorset to catch up with a showy Red-necked Phalarope which spent the same day at Ferrybridge, though I did at least manage a Quail on the way home - one of only two 'heard only' species on the 2023 yearlist, the other being Tawny Owl. July offered not much to write home about, featuring another disappointing Portland Bill seawatch, though I did manage to add a Furzey Island Golden Pheasant to the list for the third year running. East Anglian boffins have declared this species functionally extinct and thus untickable in the UK following its extirpation from Fenland haunts, but we stubbornly continue to tick the Dorset birds which seem to be doing ok on the predator-free, undisturbed islands of Poole Harbour.
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| One of the re-introduced White-tailed Eagles at Arne, 28th July |
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| Turtle Dove, Martin Down, 10th June |
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| Honey Buzzard (location undisclosed), June |
August/September/October
After a slow early summer period, August perked up a bit with seawatching from Durlston Head proving more productive, and a lot easier to get to, than Portland Bill earlier in the year. As well as seeing Long-tailed Duck and Balearic Shearwater there, I managed to find a Sooty Shearwater - a Dorset tick for me as well as a bike tick. September was, however, a bit disappointing, the highlights being a Red-backed Shrike found by Phil Saunders at St Aldhelm's Head and a Glossy Ibis which required a late afternoon trundle along the coast to Hengistbury Head to see it come into roost at dusk. The disappointing theme continued through October, with a Grey Phalarope off Chesil Beach, snaffled up the day after my return from Shetland, the only real highlight, though Durslton again delivered some overdue year ticks in the form of Brambling and Redpoll during an early morning vis-mig session.
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| Eider, Studland, 2nd August |
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| Glossy Ibis, Hengistbury Head, 16th September |
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| Red-backed Shrike, St Aldhelm's Head, 2nd September |
November
I needed a good late autumn/early winter to catch up on previous year's stats, and for a while in November it looked like it might be 'on': the non-motorised yearlist increased by 7 species during the month including two of the best rarities of the year - a Spotted Sandpiper found by Mark Wright at Studland, and an American Golden Plover found by Daragh Croxson at Lodmoor. Storm Petrel at Peveril Point after a wet and wild bike ride to Swanage was another highlight, and another tick for the non-motorised life list which ended the year on 267 species. I was unable to add the Ferruginous Duck in Weymouth to the yearlist, dipping early in the month, but it was still not a bad haul for November.
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| American Golden Plover, Lodmoor, 25th November |
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| Spotted Sandpiper, Studland, 5th November |
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| Snow Bunting, Studland, 11th November |
DecemberI had my fingers crossed for a cold snap in December to push birds down to Dorset, as realistically this was the only way I was going to add significantly to the yearlist at this late stage. In the end it didn't happen, and Ring-necked Duck over the border in Hampshire was the only addition to the list for the month - my worst month by that measure since I started birding by bike in earnest in January 2021. Nevertheless, it had been another rewarding year of birding by bike and my enthusiasm for another effort in 2024 remains undimmed. With thanks again to the friends and strangers who found the birds whose pursuit provided me with a lot of pleasure, and a fair amount of exercise, over the course of the year.
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| Ring-necked Duck, Blashford Lakes, 23rd December |
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