Steve_Atkins_Cutacre Country Park credit Dave Steel
Steve Atkins Cutacre Country Park credit Dave Steel

Steve Atkins is from Rochdale, Greater Manchester

What is it that excites, motivates and inspires him to record?

“There are many things that excite me about recording wildlife. These include discovering a new species on my local patch, Watergrove Reservoir, the rarest being a broad-billed sandpiper found in May 2005 which at the time was the first for Greater Manchester until an old record from 1971 was reviewed and accepted by BBRC. Long-term monitoring (since 1993) of the same site, documenting trends, the arrival of new breeding species and losses.The impact of habitat creation (tree planting) has had on the numbers of willow warblers breeding at a site. Witnessing the start of species recovery after many years of decline e.g. twite in the South Pennines. Re-discovering a species after a 20-year absence, e.g. wall (Lasiommata mergera) found only last week in SD9015, my first sighting in this 1-km square since August 2006.”

“What motivates me? – again many things, including: Supporting the selection of Local Wildlife Sites, contributing to national datasets such as BTO Breeding Bird Survey (my first survey was in 1999), Heronry Census, Bird Atlas 2007-11 and WeBS.”

“Engaging, enthusing and supporting the personal development of new recorders which was a key aspect of my work at the Greater Manchester Local Record Centre from 2008 to 2022. Developing my ID skills and learning to identify new species.”

You can find out more about Steve on X – @RochdaleBirder