160: a record broken

Earlier today [6 November], I had a Short-eared Owl over Eashing Fields, during an excellent morning of vis-mig. It was a great bird for a few hundred metres from home – and also an overdue south-west Surrey lifer. As well as this, it became the 160th species I've seen in my south-west Surrey patch in 2023, eclipsing my previous record of 159 which I set in my 2020 big year.

A crap photo of species 160 ...

As a result, I felt a post was in order. When I first properly did a south-west Surrey year list in 2020, I worked out that 150 would be a good target for aim for – tricky, but possible. I managed 159 that year, which remains the best I've experienced locally. In 2021, I hit 153, and last year I managed 158. So, 150 is indeed a good target, but a few more than that is seemingly the more realistic total, at least with a little effort.

My plan for this year was to not intensively keep a south-west Surrey year list. It's great fun, but sometimes chasing stuff just for the sake of a year tick is frustrating and, frankly, not enjoyable. And it can prove very tiring. However, a few hours into the year and I had a Yellow-legged Gull at Tuesley – a less than annual bird in south-west Surrey. A couple of weeks on from that, and I found the Shackleford Corn Buntings – and it was hard to ignore these two bonus species.

An exceptional late March and early April produced a plethora of either less than annual or properly rare local species, including Little Gull, Garganey, Kittiwake and Golden Plover, and I decided then that I was all in on chasing a record year list. A solid April was followed by a May and early June period sprinkled with unexpected goodies found by others (Hoopoe and Red-backed Shrike, to name two). By this point, the goal of breaking my 2020 record was clear and I mapped out a plan to reach 160.

The Frensham Little Pond Hoopoe.

Despite a fallow July which only added Redshank, I was in a strong position come August which, as it always does, delivered, with no fewer than five year ticks, including one of my birds of the year in Knot. By the end of the month I had broken the 150 landmark and had matched my entire 2021 total of 153 – it was looking very good.

A weird September then came. I wasn't birding much during the second half of the month and it was desperately quiet in Surrey and the South-East. For the first time since I've kept local year lists of any sort (including Thorncombe Street), I had a 'year tick-less' September.

October arrived and, honestly, I had largely given up on the goal of 160 – I needed seven ticks in three end of year months. It felt unlikely. However, like the bumper periods that came in late March/early April, May/June and again in August, another fine run of birds took place, beginning on 8 October when Shaun found a Common Scoter – the first in south-west Surrey for a decade.

An extraordinary run of four year ticks in six days then followed, including no fewer than three self-found county rarities (Merlin, Little Bunting and Water Pipit), leaving me on 158 and within touching distance. The retrospectively ticked Caspian Gull on 28th then matched my 2020 total (I'm pleased that bird wasn't 160!), before today's Short-eared Owl sealed the deal.

As I write this, I have missed no fewer than seven species, meaning the full south-west Surrey year list stands at 167 – the exact same total for the region in 2020. I expect a few more will be added by 31 December, setting a new record thus. For myself, I hope to 'grip back' one or two of those seven species I've missed this year, with Hen Harrier and Bittern perhaps the more obvious. Arctic Tern and Wood Warbler – both seen by Shaun at Frensham – won't be gettable now. For interest's sake, the other species I've missed are Brent and White-fronted Geese and Gannet.

A gripping south-west Surrey Gannet (D Banks).

Amazingly, there hasn't been a south-west Surrey Ring Ouzel this year, and we're running out of time for one. Other possible additions include Pintail, Great Grey Shrike and, if the current influx forecast comes off, Mealy Redpoll and Waxwing. It'd be nice to not just beat my year list record, but smash it …

Of course, a major thanks to the dedicated local birders who have helped me out this year (and in others) – a list like this simply wouldn't be possible without people finding and reporting stuff. Shaun at Frensham has been fantastic since I started south-west Surrey year listing and, in 2023, he has found me three year ticks I otherwise wouldn't have seen (Common Scoter, Great Egret and Black Tern).

Further thanks to Dave and Jeremy, plus the many other local birders who are kind enough to drop me a message, give me a call or post on our south-west Surrey WhatsApp group about what they've seen.