3 Months Birdwatching with Steve...

This is one of my own books about birds in the British Isles, and the book* that I will be using to help create an order in which to deal with my own list of birds seen since the Coronavirus Crisis 'lockdown' commenced on the 23rd of March 2020. I started out with a daily walk as my exercise nearly every day in that 3 months, and am still maintaining a similar walk, staying in the Borough of Hastings all that time, but managing a round trip of a little over 8 miles each day from my home in central Hastings. "How did I manage this?" I hear you ask, well I walk to the eastern edge of Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve (website) and back, early every morning, mostly, to the gate at the eastern edge of the park, and eastern border of Hastings Borough Ore Ward, at Fairlight/Firehills; see photograph below.

Gateway to Hastings!

You'll gather from my having appropriate books that I already had an interest in birds, indeed, I have been interested in birds since childhood and early ownership of The Observer's Book of British Birds. But I have never been a birdwatcher as a specific hobbyist, though my interest has increased enormously since March and enjoying seeing birds between the Gateway to Hastings in the east and the old town end of Barley Lane (below) in the west, mostly in Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve.

I shall not only be referring to The Complete Birdwatcher's Guide, but also to The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) website, and if I don't acknowledge anyone else for photographs borrowed, I shall pass on my thanks and acknowledgement to the RSPB now, as they'll be their's; as my own camera skills and equipment are completely hopeless for photographing wee birds that won't sit still!

So, if like me you are interesting in wee feathered creatures, watch out for my first 'bird' blog which will be entitled Sparrows, Finches and Buntings, many of them seen!


* John Gooders The Complete Birdwatcher's Guide