My friend Mike started it. He no doubt borrowed the idea from someone else, but each April he commits himself to adding 30 new birds to his Peterborough area year list. How is this possible, I hear you cry? Well, April is when spring migration really gets juicy.

Our local breeding summer migrants are arriving for the first time, and the list is boosted further by the chance of a scarce wader heading north to the Arctic, or a passerine that usually breeds in the uplands dropping into a local hedgerow. All of this makes it possible—just about—to see 30 new birds in 30 days.

The Peterborough area is too large for me to take part in such a challenge properly. My birding time is often limited, and Deeping Lakes is right on my doorstep, so I stick to a year list for there, as you know, dear reader. My friend Hugh watches the Maxey and Etton Gravel Pit complex, which is considerably larger than Deeping Lakes, and last year he also took part in the challenge—but just for his patch.