A Birding Hornet

The Hornet's Nest began way back in 2004 as a record of my birdwatching (or 'birding') in and around my home town of Leamington Spa. 

Although much of my birding is random and unplanned (it's amazing what you see while walking cycling, driving or simply staring out of the window), when I do head out with birding in mind, it is most often to my 'patch', an area to the north-east and east of Leamington - all within 10 miles or 20 minutes drive time of home. The patch includes a couple of notable local reserves or hotspots such as Brandon Marsh Nature Reserve and Draycote Reservoir, along with some more local spots which, with time and patience, have thrown up some good birds. 

This post from 2004 explains more about my patch.

Like many (most?) birders, I keep lists of all the birds I've seen in the UK since I started birding (my Life List), in my home county of Warwickshire (my County List), on my local patch (my Patch List), and the year (funnily enough, called my Year List, although to be honest 2005 was the last time I had a serius attempt at building a year list).