Footing It

One of the things I am enjoying about the January Foot It challenge is getting into local areas that I've either forgotten about, ignored or never thought of going to. One such area is Bouskell Park in Blaby. On the face of it there's not really too much to it, but a walk around there this morning during a 15.4km 4hr 35min slog in my wellies was pretty rewarding. Main highlight was a couple of Nuthatches chasing each other around - I had no idea that there were any sites within my 3km challenge radius for this species. Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, Bullfinch and Goldcrest were also seen in the park, and c200m away on Mill Lane I picked up a small group of Lesser Redpoll drinking from a ditch. Great local birding which is what the challenge is all about.

Yesterday morning I also took a round trip to Narborough Bog. I set out in the dark and arrived for first light, heading straight through the reserve to a small wooded area south of the railway line where I eventually managed to find a Woodcock - sadly just the usual arse-end view of a disappearing Woodcock but they all count.

As it stands I've walked c38miles and I'm on 63 species for Foot It, which equates to a nice round 100% of my target. I've seen a few unexpected species, but there are still some expected or possibles that have eluded me - most notably Sparrowhawk. I've only seen one Sprawk so far this year and I was in the car at the time.