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

Foot It - prolonging the assault

 

83 species - 36 miles - 74k steps

I am typing this on approximately two hours sleep. Two hours is sub-optimal in terms of how much sleep I would ideally have. I much prefer eight to ten hours. 

Anyway, I left the house at 05:30 on. the. dot.

05:30 moon - shortly after seeing a shooting star! 

The sky was clear and a near full moon was casting, bright-white light, helpful for the nocturnal navigator. I paused to take a photo of the moon and before I got my phone out a shooting star descended in front of me. An extremely strong portent and proof that the gods smile on mile-eating, all day birding. 

The next portent, assuring me I am on the correct path, was an urban fox running around like a nutter as I walked into town.

I covered the six miles to Lackford in darkness and in under two hours. Efficient moving given the circumstances. 

The moon - pre-dawn at Lackford

On the recent Two Jonnies podcast Chris warned Foot It participants to ensure they have the correct kit for conditions and their environment:

I also posted a kit check last night, to assist the more inexperienced Foot It'er:

People are always asking what core #FootIt kit looks like for 20+ miles in zero temps. I always tell 'em to mind their own business and shut up. ♠️ Seeing as it's cold this weekend - in the name of safety I've decided to share my base kit... #FootIt #Unlimited #MileEater

[image or embed]

— Jonny (@suffolkseawatcher.bsky.social) January 2, 2026 at 8:12 PM

One other safety point is around trespassing. The UK is full of overzealous land owners who would lay an egg if a birder took a short cut across their land or dared access a field. You will trespass in pursuit of Foot It greatness, a little bit or even a lot of a bit. But you will trespass. The only rule of trespassing is; do not get caught. You can trespass for three metres or three miles, it really doesn't matter, as long as you do not get caught. Now that is cleared up; happy trespassing and Foot It!

Moving onto the todays birds; I secured no less than 15 addition Foot It ticks. In order of appearance:

1. Tufted Duck
2. Great White Egret
3. Reed Bunting
4. Crossbill
5. Siskin
6. Water Rail
7. Wigeon
8. Common Gull
9. Pochard
10. Shelduck
11. Marsh Tit
12. Mistie Thrush
13. Red poll
14. Chiffchaff
15. Treecreeper 

Added to yesterday's haul that puts me 83 up. I believe 100 in achievable this month, with a fair wind and not just a little bit of luck... 

Crossbill - Lackford

White-fronted Geese in flight - Flempton

Some of the same White-front flock when I found them on December 30th 

Record shot of the 4 Green Sandpipers wintering at Hall Farm

Sun up at Lackford 

Sun down close to home 

The year list...

Great White Egret - Lackford

I am in an extremely elite WhatsApp birding group. A small membership, but the very best Scottish and English birders are on there. Mainly northerners, but there is an outlier in Norfolk and I am the southernmost member - residing in dirty Suffolk. As well as the crème de la crème of bird finders, Jonny Holliday is a member of the group too.

The premise of the group is birding 25km from your home, with motorised and non-motorised lists as well as a house year list. Those residing on Shetland have already had some pretty punchy species and the 100 barrier has well and truly been smashed by a few members.

Despite having eclipsed the big 100 on a New Years Day list locally in the past - the big 100 has been hard-won in 2025, taking until today! I haven't been slouching either, it is just an odd year locally. For example, there are no Goldeneye around and just a single Goosander! At the other end of the spectrum there are Great White Egrets absolutely everywhere, bordering on as common as Little Egret.   

Because presumably everyone will be utterly gripped by it, I have decided to put together some words and photos of my journey to one hundred, in the 25km from home radius, in 2025...

I started the new year at our coastal haunt of Blythburgh, which was of no use whatsoever to my 25km from the house list. The assault on 25km commenced on the morning of the 02nd January, starting as I intended to go on with a drake Mandarin at Brandon Country Park:

Mandarin - Brandon Country Park

Annoyingly, whilst I was trying to enjoy the drake Mandarin and look at the Mallards a Firecrest was calling and feeding at head height, just a few metres away:

Firecrest - Brandon Country Park

My local Little Owl was extremely obliging the first week of the year, warming itself in the afternoon sun: 

Little Owl - Bury St Edmunds

Winter thrushes fell on the 03rd with Fieldfare flaunting themselves amongst Redwing and commoner cousins:

Fieldfare - Ampton

 

Song Thrush - Hall Farm, Fornham

Wild swans were in the fields in extreme north west of my 25km near Lakenheath. As in Lakenheath village, not the RSPB reserve north of the railway line. If the Lakenheath reserve was within my 25km it wouldn't really be a challenge. I'd just waltz about the place and bathe in Crane, Bittern, Bearded Tit and all the other species that will be nigh on impossible in my 25km radius.

Whooper Swan - Lakenheath

Pursuit of new year ticks has also led me to enjoy commoner species, like the humble Wren and taken-for-granted Meadow Pipit. Class birds:

Wren - Lakenheath

Meadow Pipit - Hall Farm, Fornham

Somehow House Sparrow took until the 05th of the month to fall, they're usually outside the house and my office. Year listing makes no sense. Total chaos. 

On the 09th I was asked to assist the BTO with their bird watching and graciously attended the Nunnery Lakes reserve, ticking the absolute crap out of a Goosander. The only Goosander within my 25km! 

Goosander - Nunnery Lakes

Kingfisher - Nunnery Lakes

Whilst I was attending the reserve I noticed a neck-ringed Canada Goose:

Canada Goose - Nunnery Lakes

The bird was ringed as an adult male in July 2014, with subsequent records all in or around Thetford. However, no one had reported it for a calendar year - since 15th January 2024! No one is suggesting that I am more observant than the entire staff of the BTO. That would be ridiculous. The average life span of a Canada Goose is 6 years, so this bird going strong for well over a decade is something to celebrate. 

The 10th of the month was a bit of a red letter day with Hen Harrier, White-fronted Goose and Tree Sparrow all making it onto the year list. The harrier and goose could easily have evaded my list all year - so it it is gratifying to get them secured in this first winter period. The Tree Sparrows were a worry - as before the 10th I couldn't find any of my local colony. Just three birds came out of a communal roost with Goldfinch on the morning of the 10th:

Tree Sparrow - Hall Farm, Fornham

Green Sandpiper - Hall Farm, Fornham

Hen Harrier - Livermere

White-fronted Goose - Micklemere

White-fronted Goose - Micklemere

Grey Wagtail is usually easy work, hanging around outside my office or generally just flying about the place, almost anywhere! Not sure why it took till the 13th to materialise! 

Grey Wagtail - Livermere

The local Parakeets didn't show in the freezing fog on an earlier visit, but six of the lurid green beauts were flaunting themselves on the 16th: 

Ring-necked Parakeet - Fornham Golf Course

The 99th species was Redshank, added in a visit to the extreme west of my 25km. A bird I would expect at some point, but good to get it on so early: 

Redshank - Islesham Washes

This meant that the honour of the big 100 went to... drumroll... Lesser Redpoll! 

Lesser Redpoll - Cavenham

Lesser Redpoll - Cavenham

Notable records in pursuit of glory so far this year include:

• Firecrest - Brandon Country Park on 02nd;
• Great Crested Grebe - Lackford Lakes on 02nd - the only bird seen so far - which disappeared in the cold snap;
• Green Sandpiper - Hall Farm, Fornham on the 03rd. One of two wintering birds;
• Bullfinch - a single female at Lackford on 07th and none seen since, anywhere! 
• Raven - a flock of 4 on a deer corpse up at Puttocks Hill on 07th;
• Brambling - a single female in with Chaffinch also at Puttocks on 07th. Thin on the ground this year!
• Tree Sparrow - just the 3 birds remaining in the Hall Farm colony;
• White-fronted Goose - single bird at Micklemere on 08th;
• Goshawk - Livermere 08th January;
• Hen Harrier - ring-tail Livermere on 08th and the same or possibly a sperate bird at Puttocks Hill on 14th;
• Goosander - single red head at Nunnery Lakes on 09th;
• Woodcock - singles at Nunnery Lakes on 09th and Cavenham on 18th;
• Grey Wagtail - just a single bird so far, at Livermere on 13th January; and
• Ring-necked Parakeet - 6 birds, Fornham Gold Course on 16th.