Manchester Birder's October 2025 Summary
October was a month where birding was, though the obvious focus of a week on Scilly, a secondary concern due to some serious life situations. This has been the poorest October in memory for me, unable to travel far to see any of the wildlife that has concentrated itself a less than convenient 5 hours drive from home. There have been highlights and good bits, and it's good to remind myself of them in the midst of the personally difficult time. It's been a month of "seconds" - my second American Pipit, Spotted Sandpiper, Rosefinch and Rosy Starling were all birds that Scilly gave me, and I am grateful to have had the privilege to see them all. This worse-for-wear juvenile Rosy Starling that sat on the wire above the Old Town Inn for 90 seconds was bird species 300 for the year. October was also the month where I reached 300 species in the UK in a year for the first (and honestly, the only) time. A brief, scruffy, tailless juvenile Rosy Starling was species 300 (oh,...