Andrew Chick Ecology

As many of you know, I’ve spent a lifetime birding and gradually building up my British list. But by my late 20s, the urge to chase every UK rarity had faded (mostly because of long-haul trips abroad resulting in seeing many more bird species), so, new species were only added through carefully timed holidays or work trips that just happened to be near long-staying vagrants. It’s taken nearly 50 years to inch towards the UK 400-species milestone.

In 2023, I was hovering just below that magic number when a Brown Booby turned up on the east coast. It lingered for weeks before I finally gave in and made the long drive. On 13th September, I saw it roosting on a buoy at South Gare, Redcar, and just like that, bird number 400!

But the celebration didn’t last. In August 2024, the IOC lumped Arctic, Mealy, and Lesser Redpoll into a single species, knocking me back below 400 again….

Fast forward to June 2025, and a Western Sandpiper had been overwintering on the Scottish coast. A work trip to Glasgow gave me the perfect excuse. On the 21st, I detoured via the west coast on my way home, and there it was. A bird I’d seen many times in the U.S., but never in Britain, and this time I had it all to myself.

There are whispers the IOC might ‘lump’ Carrion and Hooded Crow next. If they do, I’ll be back below 400 again. Déjà vu…