Didn't miss getting Merlin on early in the day this month and it telling me what should be "Bird of the Day".
Addendum from Jan. As alluded to in the Wales thread in Jan whilst watching a Firecrest I took my eyes off the Firecrest as I heard Long-tailed Tit coming through which was the BotD - who knew I'd be more more interested in LTT than Firecrest!
Now I can't Google-fu how this works over a year as it on the one hand says unique bird but there will be very few locations that get 365 different species. Or birders in UK that get that annually anyway so be interesting to see how the year patches out. This months grips Willow Tit on day I had no chance to go sit at the feeders at Moore, Blackbird (seen on every one of the other 27 days) and Jay - was in perfect territory for a few hrs but none. Iceland Gull would have been a mega - only two records in UK on services I have on that day and the two adjacent. Black-necked Grebe I thought was taking the mick two days ago but they turned up at Woolston today whilst I was off chasing Gulls elsewhere!
Anyway here are the score on the doors for Feb.
Miss
0
0%
Yes
18
64%
No
10
36%
01-Feb-26
Fieldfare
No
02-Feb-26
Siskin
No
03-Feb-26
Cettis Warbler
Yes
Norton Marsh
04-Feb-26
Wigeon
Yes
Sandbach Flash
05-Feb-26
Common Gull
Yes
Wigg Island
06-Feb-26
Sparrowhawk
No
07-Feb-26
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Yes
WRC
08-Feb-26
Magpie
Yes
WRC
09-Feb-26
Meadow Pipit
Yes
Norton Marsh
10-Feb-26
Goldfinch
Yes
BWD
11-Feb-26
Song Thrush
Yes
Home
12-Feb-26
House Sparrow
Yes
Pengy
13-Feb-26
Little Egret
No
14-Feb-26
Blackbird
No
WTF none at home or at Rowing Club or 2hrs on Mersey!
A bit of a different take on twitching to say the least!
The Cornell University Merlin App when you open it suggests a Bird of the day you are likely to see. I believe based on location season and Ebird reports in that area.
I don't know the algorithm behind it works........as it says a new bird each day through the year...well I ain't going to get 365 different species in Cheshire this year. Mr. A Hugh Pulsford and Jane Turner might be having words with me if I claimed that many birds in Cheshire!
So we will see how the Merlin App decides what is MY "Bird of the Day" (BOTD) (it does seem to take your location from when your first open the App on a day) it might be worth waiting to open the Merlin App actually at the place you are birding?
Some days I also forgot to look so they are "Miss" days (4/13% in table).
But at least six or seven days I managed to look before I left the house and thought "Ah, not Marbury today, need to go to Spike Island", "First visit of the year to Woolston #3 bed", "Nah scratch that.....go to Rixton for Skylark".
And the No....well just had life, work, kids etc so sometimes it was not to be.
So here is my January.
55% I found my bird of the day (BOTD). 13% I missed my bird of the day as I forgot to check on Merlin what it was.
01-Jan-26
Miss
Miss
4
13%
02-Jan-26
Goldeneye
Yes
Moore
Yes
17
55%
03-Jan-26
Canada Goose
Yes
WRC
No
10
32%
04-Jan-26
Greenfinch
No
05-Jan-26
Mute Swan
No
06-Jan-26
Dunnock
Yes
Marbury
07-Jan-26
Jackdaw
Yes
Garden
08-Jan-26
Miss
09-Jan-26
Tufted Duck
Yes
Marbury
10-Jan-26
Lapwing
Yes
Wigg Island
11-Jan-26
Redshank
No
12-Jan-26
Pheasant
Yes
Glazebury
13-Jan-26
Mallard
Yes
Birchwood
14-Jan-26
Linnet
No
15-Jan-26
Gadwall
Yes
Marshside
16-Jan-26
Miss
17-Jan-26
Jay
No
18-Jan-26
Little Grebe
Yes
WRC - Rowing on Mersey (me rowing, not the Grebe)
19-Jan-26
Great Blacked-back Gull
No
20-Jan-26
Skylark
Yes
Rixton
21-Jan-26
Miss
22-Jan-26
Raven
No
23-Jan-26
Grey Heron
Yes
Victoria Park
24-Jan-26
Pink-footed Goose
No
25-Jan-26
Stonechat
No
26-Jan-26
Shelduck
Yes
Spike Island
27-Jan-26
Blue Tit
Yes
Victoria Park
28-Jan-26
Redpoll
No
29-Jan-26
Long-tailed Tit
Yes
Morfa Madryn
30-Jan-26
Bullfinch
Yes
Moore
31-Jan-26
Pochard
Yes
Moore
-- Edited by Andy Slee on Saturday 31st of January 2026 11:11:46 PM
