Thanks for visiting our fundraising page.

I've always been keen on birding, so it is great to be able to do so in a way which benefits others.

The idea is that we hope to identify at least 100 species of bird on the day, by covering our neighbourhood, on foot, from our doorstep. We live in Wivenhoe, Essex.

A friend of ours works for Headway and we have seen the great work they do. I hope, if you choose to donate, that you can share some of the fun and excitement we will have in planning the day and hopefully, weather permitting, the day itself. I'll do a write-up on the day's events of course (any excuse!) and thank you in advance for even being interested enough to get this far.

Our team on the day will be me, my partner Debbie and Alec Selley, also from Wivenhoe, with Nick Green from Chelmsford joining us.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Headway Essex gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor us now!

UPDATE: Full report on the day's events follows...

Neighbourhood Birdwatch!

19^th April, 2009

By Glyn Evans & Nick Green

Wivenhoe is a great place to live. It is rich with musical, literary and artistic talent – I must be one of the few people there incapable of playing a musical instrument – although my partner Debbie swears she has heard me playing the didgeridoo in the middle of the night…

It is also rich with wildlife, and in particular, bird life. So, on behalf of the Wivenhoe ornithological tourist board (if there is one…) I thought I would aim to prove it, by trying, on a given day, to find 100 different species of birds. What is the point? Hmm…

How about raising some money for a charity? Good shout. A friend of ours visited the same day as the idea was conceived and hey presto! We were doing the whole shebang for Headway,. Within 24 hours we had set up a website and gained our first sponsor, who kindly donated his picture of a Long-eared Owl to decorate the Just Giving page, entitled “Neighbourhood Birdwatch”.

The centrepiece of bird habitat is the estuarine stretch of the River Colne which snakes out to thevia Alresford to Brightlingsea. But there is also, within easy reach on foot: farmland, woodland, fresh marsh, meadow, gravel pits and reed beds. There is also a building site which has yet to produce Black Redstart…

The challenge was thus a neighbourhood watch, with the boundary determined only by the distance we could cover on foot on the day. On a good (winter’s) day, you can find 20 species of wader. This posed an interesting dilemma as to what time of year would be best to optimise the species count. In an effort to squeeze in most of the waders, we settled on 19^th April, by which time, we hoped, a good number of spring migrants would be in, or passing through. Then it was all down to luck, weather and maybe a bit of skill and experience. My regular birding companion these days – at least on the local patch – is my neighbour, Alec Selley, whose recent misfortune of suffering a slight stroke landed him in hospital on the same day as his cousin and erstwhile Best Man of exactly thirty years ago, John Keep, whose attack has kept him on for a longer haul. JK is well known to manybirders and took a keen interest in the hunt and was not slow to offer advice! I also enlisted my partner Debbie and my oldest birding pal, Nick Green from . A special bonus came in the form of “Talis-dog” - Nick’s mother’s pet Jack Russell Terrier, Jasper.

On many Big Days, you can scout around in order to pin down territories of certain birds, but in the early spring this is only possible in a few cases, as many are not yet breeding and some are still arriving! So the logistics were really all about how much habitat we could cover on the day to maximise our chances of hitting the less abundant species. A quick look at Google Earth showed us that our proposed course stretched from the footbridge at University Quays to Bateman’s Tower at Brightlingsea, a straight line distance of just over six miles. But we were not going to be moving in a straight line…

Careful note was made of tide times and first and (if needed) last light. High tide was at the awkward time of 07:50, right in the middle of prime time in the woodland. was just after 6am. I had been awake early on several mornings just to check…

The weather on the day was forecast to be fine and sunny, if a little cooled by the north easterly breeze. There had been some raptor passage over the previous week, so we were hoping it would continue for us.

It was 5 degrees Centigrade as we met and strolled away from Debbie & Glyn’s home in Milford Close, having notched up Robin straight away and a rather choked Pheasant before coaxing one of the local Tawny Owls into responding to Glyn’s phone, which played its ring tone sounding remarkably like a male Tawny Owl. Others noted on the way down to Ferry Marsh were Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blue Tit, Dunnock, Herring Gull and Woodpigeon. Jasper’s adrenaline got the better of him as he chased a cat around the railway station car park! We reached Ferry Marsh as the first light began to appear. Two nights ago Glyn had heard Reed Warbler at Ferry Marsh, but only Sedge Warbler was heard to start with, plus Reed Bunting, a distant Cuckoo and Great Tit were heard, plus a yelping fox!  We were able to see Black-headed Gulls, Carrion Crow and Mallard fly away.

At 05:27 we started along the Wivenhoe trail toward the Hythe. Seemingly, once the first of a species was heard, it was quickly followed by others, and so it continued with Chiffchaff, Warbler, Lesser and Common Whitethroat and magically, Nightingale, Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Goldfinch, while there were flight views of Curlew, Great Black-backed Gull, Heron and Cormorant. Our first raptor appeared at 05:49 in the shape of a cruising Sparrowhawk. Glyn dismissed two further Curlews without a second glance, but was corrected and admonished by Nick (“Grill Everything!”), who bothered to look properly and identified them as our only Bar-tailed Godwits of the day! Then, a Green Sandpiper was found on the river’s edge as we approached the Hythe. Yellowhammer, Meadow Pipit and Skylark sang as the sun showed. Then, Nick alerted us to the call of a Kingfisher, which duly flew past us up river! Swallow, Linnet and Common Gull kept the total clicking along, and then a nice bonus, as a loose flock of 8 Whimbrel flew over, with multi-syllabic serenade. A Blackcap sang and then a pair of Mute Swan became our 50^th species just after 6am! Feral Pigeon and then Kestrel preceded another tricky hit, Common Sandpiper – a pair – followed by Jay, Jackdaw, Lapwing, House Sparrow and Collared Dove before we reached the footbridge at University Quays, meandering up and down the ramps and over the railway line - adding another half mile to our route - leaving behind our last chance of Grasshopper Warbler before turning toward the university grounds.

Nightingales were in evidence here as expected. Rook and Great Spotted Woodpecker were chalked up, before Starling at last became our 60^th species. Debbie joined the game by noting a Mistle Thrush song as we threaded our way through the conifers hoping for Coal Tit and Goldcrest, finding the former as we descended away toward Wivenhoe Wood. Debbie again stopped us in our tracks as she brilliantly picked out a pair of Little Owls on one of the nearby barns. Photos were taken as we enjoyed them in the early morning sunshine, but our fleeces, jackets and gloves betrayed the cool conditions. Surely, once it warmed up, there could be a raptor-fest…

We chased a Red-legged Partridge a short way down the path to a planned vantage point from which we viewed the Hythe pools, which yielded Black-tailed Godwit, Shoveler and Teal, but not the Greenshank Nick had found the previous day. Compensation, Glyn thought, came in the form of a Brambling’s call, but it was not heard by the others. Then, a more emphatic “shweee” confirmed its presence, but he could not find it amongst the Goldfinches and Chaffinches in the oaks. As we approached the wood, we scored Long-tailed Tit and then a quick stop at “Bullfinch corner” gave us an easy hit with the plaintive but clear whistle filtering through the bushes. As we skirted the wood via the playing field, Debbie’s eagle eye located some dropped loose change, adding £2.10 to our sponsor money! The wood was disappointing though, and our best chance of Treecreeper and Goldcrest was now gone.

The morning session ended with a break for refreshments back home, via the graveyard again, sans Goldcrest. It was now 9am. The tide would be dropping and the temperature – albeit slowly – was doing the opposite. We were due next at Sunnymead Farm but then had a few strategic decisions to make in terms of how we got to Alresford Creek, where we planned to have our friends Paul & Vanessa deliver our lunch, by which time we hoped to have neared the 100. The total stood on 71 as we scored House Martin from the back patio before moving onto Sunnymead, where we immediately found Sand Martin, Moorhen and Coot – and another Green Sandpiper. Jasper was now starting to realise this could be a long day! Villa Farm Quarry produced the goods with Tufted Duck, Pied Wagtail, 5+ Lapwings and more Moorhens. Also new were Little Grebe, male Pochard, Little Ringed Plover, Redshank and Snipe. The clear blue skies were now increasing the temperatures and magically raptors started to thermal, as witnessed by four local Buzzards and then distant Kestrels. Closer examination of two soaring falcons revealed that they were Hobbies – with short tails and slatey-grey upperparts – but they soon passed through on migration. Glyn, Alec and Nick and Jasper diverted across a few fields to look for Grey Partridge but without success. Another Buzzard (10:45), this time a migrant, soon passed along the tree line. A few tricky species made this a worthwhile stop, but a further stretch of woodland before we crossed the Alresford road yielded nothing extra. Simon Cox called us from Alresford Creek to inform us that he had found Spotted Redshank there! From here, we then elected to cut across to the river via the chase, across Marsh Farm, rather than take

As we reached the river, from the wall Glyn tracked a Sparrowhawk and then, at 11:45 he latched on to a larger raptor from the south headed straight towards us. He immediately shouted “Red Kite!” to alert the others, but they needn’t have panicked. The bird drifted slowly northwards right over our heads with barely a flap of wings. Glyn called Simon & Pat Cox who were still in the Brightlingsea area but sadly they were not able to connect. The Red Kite was another bonus bird, which boosted spirits. Now we were on the estuary, we hoped to score a few waders – the whole reason we scheduled the event so early in the year. We found some Knot amongst a flock of Black-tailed Godwits and had a good haul of butterflies in the wood by the river, including Speckled Woods, beautifulTips, Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Small Whites and a Comma. A Nightingale sang loudly.

As we neared our watch point (and lunch stop!) at the mouth of Alresford Creek, opposite Fingringhoe Wick EWT we had seven distant Great Crested Grebe, a distant Marsh Harrier and Little Egrets – and two Brent Geese on the opposite shore, giving us a goodly total of 92 species as lunch arrived as arranged, at 13:05, courtesy of Paul & Vanessa.

Over lunch, we looked at the gaps on our checklist and noticed that the “misses” were varied across several different habitats; but the biggest sector where there was most potential was still waders, as we had not scored with Ringed, Grey or Golden Plover, Spotted Redshank, Turnstone or Greenshank. We might yet connect with some seabirds if the north-easterly breeze helped. The tide had dropped away considerably and we were unable to see the water’s edge in the creek itself, so once we had refuelled, we walked the short distance to the end of the old railway embankment to try to find an extra wader or two. Alas, nothing.

Glyn forced a vote. Patience is not his greatest virtue, so rather than linger at the creek, he opted to press on around it, and on to Brightlingsea. The previous week, with Paul, he had scored Golden Plover and Corn Bunting on Moverons farm and Wheatear on the rocks (shaken, not stirred…) near the tower and he was convinced the sewage works would throw up a wagtail or two… Plus the seabirds…

A mild look of anguish from the others was ignored. We thanked Paul & Vanessa for their support and set off again, with a short detour to peer through the chain link fence of the soon-to-be fishing lake at Alresford pits. We still needed Gadwall and there was always the chance of a Wheatear perhaps…

No luck. The trudge toward Thorrington Mill became laborious as there was little in the way of birding interest, although a huge flock of Linnets seen last week was still intact. It had been a little while since Jasper had slaked his raging thirst, so Nick nobly carried Talis-dog as he gave up on finding new birds on this stretch. Instead, he accidentally found a Slow Worm underfoot, as Jasper impeded his short range vision! Debbie was stopped in her tracks as the indignant reptile wriggled in protest, but stayed on the path where it had been sunning itself and posed for a photo.

As we approached the mill, Glyn thought he heard Cetti’s Warbler. We stopped for a listen. He also thought he heard Reed Warbler…

The latter turned out to be a whimpering Kestrel in the distance, but the former exploded into song again for all to hear and finally moved the total off of 92! The mill pond produced a pair of Gadwall to really get us interested again, but we could not find Grey Wagtail as I had hoped. Six to go!

Nick laboured under Jasper’s weight (he is still a chunky lad, despite Nick’s fitness regime…) as we hit the road for a short ascent to Moverons Lane, where last week Glyn had found 3 lingering Siskins, but not this time. As we hit the lane, Nick let Jasper have a walk as the ground levelled and the breeze and shade revitalised to an extent, but he was still asking how much further we had to go!

We found the footpath leading to the gravel pits and the sewage works, but negotiated both without addition to the total. It had to be the seabirds if we were to hit our target…

The straight path across the fields did not give us the Golden Plover, where there had been 87 the previous week, and there were no Corn Buntings on the field and still no Reed Warblers singing in the persisting cool breeze.

Nick, Debbie and Alec found welcome relief for their weary legs on a bench as we hit the sea wall, but nothing was added as we looked across the estuary at Geedon and Langenhoe marshes and. Glyn stayed on his feet, agitated about missing out on a few species he had used as justification for the extended hike. The others, he was sure, had made up their minds that the home straight was the walk along the wall to Bateman’s Tower. That, we reckoned, would represent about 15 miles walked. Paul and Vanessa were already at Bateman’s Tower and walking towards us.

At last, as we moved off, we caught sight of a Turnstone as Glyn turned to look back at an exposed patch of mud we couldn’t see from the closest point on the wall. Ninety five. Eleven more Turnstone then flew past.

Glyn was now racking his brains trying to think of what the next five were going to be.Tern? Eider? Divers? Wheatear? Shag? Yellow Wagtail? Skuas even???

All were possible. Paul & Vanessa met us and about-turned for the last stretch.

We arrived at Bateman’s Tower and this time, Glyn plonked myself down wearily on one of the benches around the Tower and set up scope. From here, we could scan across from Colne Point to Cudmore Grove with open sea and the huge floating cranes with deconstructed wind turbines in between. There was still a heat haze to hinder long-distance viewing and a very keen breeze, which buffeted the scopes.

Despite mild hallucinations brought on by such a long day and an early reveille, nothing new presented itself on the water. Did Glyn hear Corn Bunting…? No, it was car keys jangling. No-one else was scanning. He tried to ignore them, but it was no use. Debbie’s tummy was rumbling as she returned with modest triumph from discovering another Cetti’s Warbler with Nick, just over the wall right by the Tower. Glyn caught sight of a Grey Plover which landed on Mersea, but no-one else was listening to his directions.

The game was up, surely. It was 17:50 and was going to be light until 20:30, Glyn protested. They wished him luck, and compromised in giving him a lift back to Alresford Creek, where he would be continuing his effort alone. Birds seen from the car would not count!

Paul allowed Glyn to prise himself from the bucket seat of his VR5, and wished him luck as he pressed on to the watch point in the hope of not being too late for dinner. This time, three Grey Plover were picked out within seconds of arriving. Ninety six. The tide was coming in and covering the mud, causing waders to move around. A small wader was spotted on the shrinking island of mud at the mouth of the creek. It was on one leg, with the other cocked sideways like a dog at a lamp post… Glyn punched the air. Dunlin! Ninety seven.

“Chewit!” – Hurrah! We hadn’t dipped on Spotted Redshank after all, but this was a different bird to the dusky individual Simon Cox had radioed through earlier in the day. Great, signs of movement and the total was now on 98! We still needed Reed Warbler, so perhaps one more and we could gamble on Reed Warbler by walking back to the barrier past the reedbeds… Phone call… Tip off…? No, it was Nick, gasping for a celebratory pint. Glyn held firm, whilst holding the bins with one hand on a fast moving, dark bird descending on Geedon Marsh… Peregrine! This was a real piece of luck, as the previously “resident” wintering bird had not been seen in the morning or on two previous visits. Ninety nine, Glyn proclaimed, weakening at the idea of a pint before dinner…

He set off toward the barrier where he had agreed to meet Nick at 7 (it was now 6.43!) for a pint. It required a quick march at the double and an easy hit on the way without stopping!

Glyn chanced upon Alec’s younger son, Matt and a team mate out for a jog, and passed the time briefly, explaining that he needed one more species before he could stop. Well, they wished they could have helped, but…

They gave a nod as they passed him again in the opposite direction as he slowed to listen intently, head cocked to one side like the early morning Blackbird on the lawn… He retreated back 20m to where a Reed Warbler taunted him with the faintest of subsongs… It shut up. It did not move. It buzzed again faintly as if to say that was all he was going to get. Good enough!

A couple sat on a bench asked if Glyn had seen anything interesting. There was no short answer to that after such a day, so he gave as short a summary as he could, but he must have now been running late for Nick’s rendezvous…

Yep. He got the hands-on-hips treatment – mild really, as anyone would know who has come between Nick and his pint. A Cuckoo flew over Nick, unnoticed.

Dinner - cottage pie - was ready.

Compensation came in the form of our best– and then our best Merlot, before Nick produced his rouge peace offering and, after two recounts and a confirmatory call to Alec and one of thanks to Simon Cox, we retired to sleep soundly.

As a sponsored walk, it was a fair effort. As a bird race, on foot in the neighbourhood, I think it will take some beating. But a few missed birds gets me thinking it is not unbeatable by any means, and quite possibly it could have been done much earlier and without covering all those miles with a bit more luck, warmer weather, more patience and better planning. As I write, I think I’ll wait until someone beats our effort before I plan next year’s…

We raised over £1,000 for Headway,, from a standing start in four weeks. Probably a better effort.