Wildlife 200 – 2023:
an exploration of UK birds, moths and flowers over one year
by Steve Bingham & Brenda Stewart
This website has come about via an idea I had a few weeks ago, inspired by Lev Parikian – see https://levparikian.com/…/why-do-birds-suddenly-disappear/ – who decided to try to see 200 bird species within the UK in a year.
I’ve never managed more than about 180, and my total for 2022 was only 155! It’s pretty easy for an average birdwatcher like me (for those who don’t know me I’m “really” a violinist and conductor) to see 150 species in a year (within the UK), but the last 50 get tougher, so for me it’s going to be a matter of putting time and effort in to both find and identify species which are either less common or which I have problems sorting out!
And in a little twist on me just trying to spot 200 species I had the thought that I would run the bird list alongside my wife Brenda running a wildflower list (she’s done flower lists for more than 20 years) and a moth list (an interest which took off for her during 2020)!
In theory it would be potentially easier for her to get to 200 for both moths and wildflowers than for me with birds, but – in a sort of hare and tortoise race – I’m likely to streak ahead initially and perhaps be caught and overtaken by late summer…..So there’s the race.
We’ll be posting all our sightings along with photos where possible, and we both hope you’ll enjoy sharing this wildlife journey through 2023 with us. In terms of rules there are only a couple: Birds will have to be seen and not just heard to count. Wildflowers are only counted if they’re in flower. Moths are any that arrive in our moth trap or are seen on trips – and can actually be identified (possibly with help from our moth expert friend James Halsey). Brenda will count both macro and micro moths (more on the differences later).
We both hope you enjoy this blog! If you want to read it from the very first post on New Year’s day just click here!
Steve & Brenda
Sunday 1st January 2023