Foot It - Konungr

101 species - 158 miles - 331k steps 

Friday 30th January 2026

The rain. Paddling through literal shit. Crippling anxiety. Work calls. General unpleasantness. This was not the penultimate Foot It day I would wish on my enemies. On the upside, I did find the entire west Suffolk population of Tree Sparrow - at least 20 birds - round a pheasant feeder and gathered in a hedgerow to the north of Ingham. You should’ve been there. 

I clocked 15 miles to Elveden is decidedly unpleasant conditions. It did stop raining for the last hour or so, but in terms of effort for reward - it wasn’t very inspiring. Not for the first time in this Foot It campaign I questioned my life choices. 

99. Tree Sparrow

Saturday 31st January 2026

What a difference a day makes - blue skies were visible first thing and the cloud burnt off to reveal a cracking blue-sky day. 

As I walked out there were plenty of thrushes, masses of Skylark and my first Woodlark of the year singing. Initially the Woodlark were distant over arable blocks - then territorial birds close-to on the heath. Eventually I had birds song-flighting right overhead! Stay mystical. 

Woodlark was a much hoped-for and very worthy 100th species. At this point I transcended from mere mortal to a Foot It deity. One ton up. A three digit bad boy. New found self respect blossomed with each step.

Without the spring-like weather window my 101st Foot It tick would not have fallen, but fall it did in raw magnificence; Goshawk. 

With the best part of 10 miles left to march home I had plenty of time to reflect on Foot It. My performance. The lows. And the spiralling highs of just one month, birding on-foot from the house:

Through literally every denomination of weather I marched 158 miles, witnessing 101 species of bird!

We need to keep this in proportion:

• Rosa Parks refusing to move from her seat;
• Neil Armstrong mincing about on the moon;
• John Prescott punching the protester that threw an egg at him;
• Michael Phelps winning 8 Olympic medals at the 2008 Olympic Games - having also won 8 at the preceding 2004 games; and
• Jonny Rankin walking up on 101 species, in inland West Suffolk with no estuary or coastline for miles, in the month of January. 

All of these feats give the youth something to aspire to. Will anyone post a Foot It total of 101 in West Suffolk again? No.

It relied on a series of coincidences:

• A perfect combination of genes, creating a pedigree walk-birding machine;
• Solid nocturnal and diurnal navigation skills;
• Recently installed hearing aids (19th December 2025);
• A grey goose influx;
• An efficiency of trespass without getting caught that the invisible man would envy;
• Masses of Crossbill after a few years drought;
• An ability to suffer, for hours; and
• A not insignificant dose of raw, unbridled, luck (eg self finding Bean Goose and Firecrest).

Some other reflections:

• Grey geese, Goosander and Merlin will continue to get harder in future Januarys;
• I think Cattle Egret will be a January bird in coming years, I’ve only seen one locally - but if they follow the trajectory of Great White - an egret trio is a real prospect; and
• Yellow-browed Warbler will be there for the taking in the future, with birds arriving in larger numbers and wintering.

I think the January Foot It record could be boosted to the 130 mark, in a south coast or North Norfolk location and with serious mileage and reasonable luck.

Almost all Foot It 2026 participants were gifted White-fronted and Bean Geese, owing to the influx. Locally there was far more Crossbill than there has been for several years. The cold-snap to start the year definitely assisted in adding species for me, I could have done without the prolonged rain mid month, but beggars cannot be choosers. Till next January Foot It’ers… 

100. Woodlark 

101. Goshawk 

I include my full Foot It 2026 19 species - coloured red - for which there was one sighting on one day and the two that are bolded and red are just absolutely mental patient records and prove the potential for Foot It - in just getting out there! 

1. Greylag Goose
2. Tundra Bean Goose
3. Greater White-fronted Goose
4. Barnacle Goose
5. Canada Goose
6. Mute Swan
7. Egyptian Goose
8. Common Shelduck
9. Northern Shoveler
10. Gadwall
11. Eurasian Wigeon
12. Pintail
13. Mallard
14. Eurasian Teal
15. Common Pochard
16. Tufted Duck
17. Goldeneye
18. Goosander
19. Common Pheasant
20. Grey Partridge
21. Red-legged Partridge
22. Rock Dove
23. Stock Dove
24. Common Woodpigeon
25. Collared Dove
26. Water Rail
27. Common Moorhen
28. Eurasian Coot
29. European Golden Plover
30. Northern Lapwing
31. Snipe
32. Green Sandpiper
33. Black-headed Gull
34. Common Gull
35. European Herring Gull
36. Lesser Black-backed Gull
37. Great Black-backed Gull
38. Little Grebe
39. Great Cormorant
40. Little Egret
41. Great White Egret
42. Grey Heron
43. Bittern
44. Eurasian Sparrowhawk
45. Goshawk
46. Western Marsh Harrier
47. Red Kite
48. Common Buzzard
49. Tawny Owl
50. Little Owl
51. Common Kingfisher
52. Great Spotted Woodpecker
53. Eurasian Green Woodpecker
54. Common Kestrel
55. Merlin
56. Peregrine Falcon
57. Ring-necked Parakeet
58. Raven
59. Eurasian Jay
60. Common Magpie
61. Eurasian Jackdaw
62. Rook
63. Carrion Crow
64. Coal Tit
65. Marsh Tit
66. Eurasian Blue Tit
67. Great Tit
68. Eurasian Skylark
69. Woodlark
70. Common Chiffchaff
71. Cetti's Warbler
72. Long-tailed Tit
73. Goldcrest
74. Firecrest
75. Eurasian Nuthatch
76. Eurasian Wren
77. Common Starling
78. Mistle Thrush
79. Song Thrush
80. Redwing
81. Eurasian Blackbird
82. Fieldfare
83. Stonechat
84. European Robin
85. Dunnock
86. House Sparrow
87. Tree Sparrow
88. Grey Wagtail
89. Pied Wagtail Wagtail
90. Meadow Pipit
91. Common Chaffinch
92. Brambling
93. European Greenfinch
94. Redpoll
95. Common Crossbill
96. Common Linnet
97. European Goldfinch
98. Bullfinch
99. Eurasian Siskin
100. Common Reed Bunting
101. Yellowhammer