The challenge I set myself was to see 1000 species of wildlife on or from Titchwell Marsh during 2020. The year has got off to a really good start; my total for January is 216. The main interest has been in trying to see as many birds as possible , these have ranged from scarce over-wintering Chiff Chaffs, Greenshanks and Spotted Redshanks to finding easily missed species such as Woodcock, Bittern, Black-necked Grebe, Hen Harrier and Purple Sandpiper. I hope to almost double the 101 birds I've noted so far by the end of the year. One of the lovely things about our reserve is that we have several different habitats in a fairly compact area. This has been an absolute godsend to me this month when we've had a number of days when it has been too windy for productive bird-watching, the little brutes have all been hiding. On these days I've turned my attention to other forms of wildlife, so when I've met people complaining about the lack of bird life I just think how lucky I am to have a second string to my bow. I've enjoyed seeing dozens of the pretty Scarlet Elf Cup fungi in the wet woodland and I was very pleased to re-find Sand-hill Screw Moss on the side of the tank track after a gap of four years. On a couple of these windy mornings I braved the beach and searched along the tide-line. Here I found Green Sea Urchins, several Painted Top Shells, a Spotted Ray egg-case (Mermaid's Purse), a Dab and a few fronds of Sea Fir amongst the hornwrack and thousands of razorshells, mussels and cockles. Titchwell has so much more to offer than just birds. Why don't you see what else you can spot here. As I'm finding out, it's never to late to learn something new
Click on the PDF below to discover my January 100.