The race to 200

When I started the non-motorised year list caper in January, I figured that I could probably see around 170 species if I was prepared to put in a reasonable amount of effort, and 180 at a push. I had an 'easy' target list, a 'possible' list of just over 30 species, and a 'bonus' list of about the same number. The 170 estimate was based on seeing all of the 'easy' list and a few possibles, and 180 on just under half of the 'possibles' and a few of the 'bonuses'. By the end of July, I had in fact seen almost everything on the 'easy' list, almost half of the species from the 'possible' list and, to my surprise, 16 from the 'bonus' list, plus a few species that never even made it onto the 'bonus' list including Whiskered Tern and Tawny Pipit.

Curlew Sandpiper, Lytchett Fields, 5th August

This meant that as August began the list stood at 198, tantalisingly close to the landmark 200 figure. We had a 2 week family holiday booked in Northumberland from 6 August so there wouldn't be much time to get there before we left, but I was keen to give it a go. The first few days of the month offered nothing within reach but the night before we were due to leave a Curlew Sandpiper was found at Lytchett Fields, the site which also delivered my previous year tick, a Wood Sandpiper, at the end of July. 

Although I really should have been packing for the holiday, I was ready to roll soon after finishing work. A quick phone call to volunteer warden Shaun Robson before leaving confirmed that the bird was still present, and I completed the 6 mile journey in a respectable 30 minutes. Shaun was still there but had to break the bad news that he had lost sight of the Curlew Sandpiper minutes before my arrival. Fortunately I was able to re-find the bird - a moulting adult - soon after on a neighbouring pool and my tally moved to 199. 

With Ruff and Little Stint still needed for the year, this was as good a place as any to look for them but try as I might I could not locate either. So 200 would have to wait, and it seemed likely that one of those two species would eventually be the one to get me there.