Mike Weedon's - Weedon's World

So begins another My200BirdYear, and what better way to kick things off than with a Big Day? At least, that’s what Mike thinks...

- Mike

Can you remember New Year’s Day? I remember it like it was yesterday; mainly because it was yesterday. In Scotland, they have a double bank holiday for Hogmanay. I am not sure why they need an extra day off, but I am all for it. Not because of the drinking and first footing or fireworks and late night shenanigans and what not. But because, every year, I join a plethora of fellow birders and head out, full of hope, embarking on the great challenge of a New Year Big Day. And, like all big days, it is exhausting, and I could do with another day of ‘rest’ to recover.

As it happens, I also remember the first of January, 10 years ago. It was a legendary New Year Big Day in the Peterborough area, and one of the last times when the weather was half-decent throughout the first day of the year. It was also the year I was on crutches, having ruptured my Achilles’ tendon a couple of weeks previously. But, despite this, our rather loose ‘team’ (in two cars) saw a total of nearly 100 species around here, and I got a personal record 95 species.