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magnetothemagnificent · 6 months

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I guess it's time I share my list of birds from this past Jewish year (I've been keeping two Big Year lists, Jewish year and secular year). All are from the US, except the last few which are indicated.

1. Ruby-crowned kinglet

2. American Robin

* Leucistic American Robin

3. Song sparrow

4. Rock pigeon

* Melanistic rock pigeon

5. Chipping sparrow

6. Hairy woodpecker

7. Mourning dove

8. Northern flicker

9. Eastern towhee

10. White crowned sparrow

11. White-throated sparrow

12 Savannah sparrow

13. House sparrow

14. European starling

15. American Crow

16. Common Raven

17. Gray catbird

18. Northern mockingbird

19. Canada Goose

20. Spotted Sandpiper

21. American herring gull

22. Marsh wren

23. Limpkin

24. Great white heron

25. Cattle egret

26. Anhinga

27. Snowy egret

28. Great blue heron

29. Black-crowned night heron

30. Wood stork

31. Common gallinule

32. Blue-gray gnatcatcher

33. Turkey vulture

34. Black vulture

35. Yellow rumped warbler

36. Tufted titmouse

37. Little blue heron

38. White ibis

39. Cooper's hawk

40. Cardinal

41. Green heron

42. Carolina wren

43. Palm warbler

44. Pine warbler

45. Sandhill crane

46. Carolina chickadee

47. Bluejay

48. Osprey

49. Chimney swift

50. Red-tailed hawk

51. Prairie warbler

52. American kestrel

53. Glossy ibis

54. Pied-billed grebe

55. Double-crested cormorant

56. Grey kingbird

57. Brown pelican

58. Fish crow

59. Royal tern

60. Bald eagle

61. Painted bunting

62. American white pelican

63. Common grackle

64. Boat-tailed grackle

65. Great-tailed grackle

66. American purple gallinule

67. American coot

68. Brown-headed cowbird

69. Tricolored heron

70. Mallard

71. Black-bellied whistling duck

72. Eastern kingbird

73. Yellow-billed cuckoo

74. Muscovy duck

75. American bittern

76. Ring-billed gull

77. American Pekin

78. Mallard-Pekin hybrid

79. Eastern bluebird

80. Yellow-bellied sapsucker

81. Red-winged blackbird

82. White-eyed vireo

83. Mottled duck

84. Broad-winged hawk

85. Dark-eyed junco

86. Brown thrasher

87. Sharp-shinned hawk

88. House finch

89. Eastern Phoebe

90. Downy woodpecker

91. Fox sparrow

92. Loggerhead Shrike!!!!

93. White breasted nuthatch

94. Red-bellied woodpecker

95. Brown creeper

96. Pileated woodpecker

97. American goldfinch

98. House wren

99. Barn swallow

100. Tree swallow

101. Black and white warbler

102. Red eyed vireo

103. Yellow warbler

104. Mute swan

105. Rusty blackbird

106. Common yellowthroat

107. Warbling vireo

108. Northern waterthrush

109. Veery

110. Swamp sparrow

111. Wood duck

112. American redstart

113. Orchard oriole

114. Greater Yellowlegs

115. Lesser Yellowlegs

116. Baltimore oriole

117. Hermit thrush

118. Wood thrush

119. Ovenbird

120. Indigo bunting

121. Black-throated blue warbler

122. Scarlet tanager

123. Worm-eating warbler

124. Northern rough-winged swallow

125. Blue-headed vireo

126. Northern parula

127. Prothonotary warbler

128. Philadelphia vireo

129. Blackburnian warbler

130. Magnolia warbler

131. Cedar waxwing

132. Blackpoll warbler

133. Yellow-throated vireo

134. Eastern wood pewee

135. Acadian flycatcher

136. Tennessee warbler

137. Caspian tern

138. Laughing gull

139. Forster's tern

140. American oystercatcher

141. Green-winged teal

142. Purple Martin

143. Least tern

144. Field sparrow

145. Killdeer

146. Grey-cheeked thrush

147. Rose-breasted grosbeak

148. Great-crested flycatcher

149. Swainson's thrush

150. Bay-breasted warbler

151. Chestnut-sided warbler

152. Willow flycatcher

153. Ruby-throated hummingbird

154. Peregrine falcon

155. Hooded crow IL

156. Laughing dove IL

157. Eurasian collared dove IL

158. Eurasian jackdaw IL

159. Common myna IL

160. Rose-ringed parakeet IL

161. White spectacled bulbul IL

162. European bee eater IL

163. Chukar IL

164. Short toed snake eagle IL

165. White stork IL

166. Little egret IL

167. Pygmy cormorant IL

168. Eurasian hoopoe IL

169. Alpine swift IL

170. Graceful pinia IL

171. Eastern Olivaceous Warbler IL

172. Tristan's Starling IL

173. Fan tailed raven IL

174. Eurasian black cap IL

Here's to at least 200 next year!

#birding #birds #big year

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dansnaturepictures · 5 years

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9 of my favourite pictures from September 2019

1. Botallack, Cornwall

2. Looking towards Land’s End at Cape Cornwall

3. Pendeen lighthouse in Cornwall

4. View from Godrey in Cornwall

5. One of my favourite birds the Chough also at Godrevy

6. One of my favourite birds the Peregrine Falcon at Winchester Cathedral

7. Autumn leaves at Lakeside Country Park

8. Another really sunny day this month at RSPB Lodmoor in Dorset

9. Fox at Titchfield Haven in Hampshire

September was generally another fantastic month for me this year for many reasons. The very summery in the end Cornwall holiday will always dominate the memories and it led to a huge amount of landscape pictures I was proud to take. Its probably been my best ever year of landscape pictures in terms of quality and quantity and Cornwall was so key to that. It’s also been a month where I have seen a lot more autumnal signs wildlife and landscape and especially I have enjoyed autumn leaves in my pictures a lot.

It’s definitely been a premier month of birdwatching for me too though as my list of life ticks in 2019 grew from four to six, and the Brown Booby which we timed the Cornwall trip perfectly to see at Kynance Cove and Eastern Olivaceous Warbler back home at Farlington Marshes were not only two of my greatest birds seen over the last six years but ever. I got 7 year ticks this month my highest since June. It made my year list on many of the dates in September competing well with my highest ever year list 2018 as to what was my highest year on that date.

Furthermore it’s now guaranteed to be my third highest ever year list total behind last year and 2017 having surpassed my 181 birds seen in 2016 early in the month. It might not end there if lots of things go my way between now and December my top two year lists could be given a run for their money.

So the Cornwall trip was crucial for birds with Chough and Manx Shearwater star year ticks as hoped that week too. It also helped make it a memorable month for mammals with the Grey Seals we saw at Godrevy as did experiences at home too with New Forest pigs out for pannage and the Fox experience at Titchfield Haven yesterday. Whilst I’d really wrapped up seeing all of them I was going to in 2019 for butterflies and dragonflies in August this year I saw many great ones this month too especially getting a good range of butterfly pictures still always good for September I think as well as a dragonfly one too.

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zoobirdy · 6 years

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Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Iduna pallida - AK MUKALLİT #easternolivaceouswarbler #idunapallida #akmukallit @best_birds_of_ig @ig_birdwatchers @allmightybirds @thetweetsuites @birdextremefeatures @thebirdingsquad @sassy_birds @ig_discover_birdslife @meet_green #wildlife_vision @kings_birds_ @eye_spy_birds @pocket_birds #total_birds @bns_birds #bırds_illife #best_birds_of_ig #your_best_birds #bird_brilliance #bestbirdshots #feather_perfection #birding_lounge #birdfreaks #nuts_about_birds #kings_birds #fridayfowl #16x9club #16x9_special #16x9only #16x9_pictures #16x9pictures #16x9fordays #unsquares #16x9worldwide #total_16x9 #16x9nature #16x9_birds #total_birds ("Yüreğir Ptt.evleri")

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boyahia · 6 years

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هازجة زيتونية (الاسم العلمي: Hippolais pallida) (بالإنجليزية: Eastern Olivaceous Warbler) هو طائر ينتمي إلى (فصيلة: Acrocephalidae). تتشابه في الحجم والشكل بهازجة القصب الأوروبية، فلديها قنة مسطحة ومنقار طويل، لكن الهازجة الزيتونية أكثر رمادية مع ذيل بنهاية مربعة أو مدور قليلاً وغطائيات أسفل الذيل أقصر. يمكن الالتباس كثيراً بينها وبين هازجة الشجر الأكبر والأكثر رمادية وكذلك الهازجة المنتعلة الأصغر حجماً. الأجزاء العليا بنية زيتونية وبها صبغة رمادية على الرأس والوشاح، الأجزاء السفلية بيضاء مصفرة والحنجرة بيضاء، الذيل والأجنحة بنية، وحواشي الذيل بيضاء لكنها ليست واضحة، أما نهاية الريش الخارجي فهي بيضاء. ========== @boyahia ========== The eastern olivaceous warbler (Iduna pallida) is a small passerine bird with drab plumage tones, that is native to the Old World. For the most part it breeds in the northern Afrotropics and winters in southeastern Europe, the Middle East and adjacent western Asia. The eastern olivaceous warbler (Iduna pallida) is a "warbler", formerly placed in the Old World warblers when these were a paraphyletic wastebin taxon. It is now considered a member of the acrocephaline warblers, Acrocephalidae, in the tree warbler genus Iduna. It was formerly regarded as part of a wider "olivaceous warbler" species, but as a result of modern taxonomic developments, this species is now usually considered distinct from the western olivaceous warbler, Iduna opaca. (at Egypt)

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squawkoverflow · 2 years

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A new variant has been added!

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna pallida) © tomodachibirb

It hatches from arid, dry, harsh, long, olive, other, pale, pallid, prominent, scratchy, similar, slender, small, and strong eggs.

squawkoverflow - the ultimate bird collecting game 🥚 hatch ❤️ collect 🤝 connect

#squawkoverflow #eastern olivaceous warbler #iduna pallida #birds #tomodachibirb

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squawkoverflow · 2 years

Photo

A new variant has been added!

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna pallida) © John Gerrard Keulemans

It hatches from arid, dry, harsh, long, olive, other, pale, pallid, prominent, scratchy, similar, slender, small, and strong eggs.

squawkoverflow - the ultimate bird collecting game 🥚 hatch ❤️ collect 🤝 connect

#squawkoverflow #eastern olivaceous warbler #iduna pallida #birds #john gerrard keulemans

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tomodachibirb · 4 years

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Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna Pallida), frlm a banding. Jerusalem Bird Observatory (JBO). 21.4.20

#Eastern Olivaceous Warbler #Iduna Pallida #Warbler #passerine #bird #birds #birb #birbs #birblr #bird photography #birdphotography #bird ringing #bird banding #my photo #my hand #Jerusalem bird observatory #jbo #tomobirb #tomodachibirb

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tomodachibirb · 5 years

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Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna Pallida), from a banding. Jerusalem Bird Observatory (JBO). 1.4.19

#eastern olivaceous warbler #warbler #iduna pallida #birb #bird banding #bird ringing #bird photography #birdblr #jerusalem bird observatory #jbo #my photo #tomobirb #tomodachibirb #my hand #passerine

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dansnaturepictures · 5 years

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15/09/19-Lymington and Pennington for reserve open day, Farlington Marshes for the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and Farlington playing fields

This morning we went to Lymington to spend some time in the Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve open day. I took the first four pictures in this photoset of Lymington and then fishtail lagoon further down the coast in the reserve on a very sunny and warm day. As you may have read my Redshank picture at the reserve taken last year was in the wildlife part of the photography competition exhibition there, a link to it shown in the exhibition should have been my last post.

The exhibition was on boards you had to walk past to get into the open day events. It was a moment of pure joy when I saw this and spotted my picture there. It was a really surreal moment I’d not seen one of my pictures at anything like this before and I was just thrilled and it felt like one of my happiest moments this year and in the 10 years I have been taking photos. What a thing to happen in that big anniversary year that I talked about a lot too. But what made it all the better was seeing my picture on two boards for the wildlife and landscape parts of the competition with so many incredibly high quality pictures of really varied subjects across this wonderful reserve too. Everyone involved should be really proud of their work in this exhibition.

The open day generally was a brilliant way to showcase this special area with a great atmosphere. I first ever came here on a similar open day in 2008 so it was very close to my heart today what a big part of my hobby this reserve is. I really enjoyed at the open day too chatting to the many local charities, groups and wildlife experts, watching some bird ringing at the demonstration run by Wild New Forest and getting a rare chance to go into the private hide which was opened today to overlook Normandy lagoon. The highlights here was seeing two Greenshanks as well as many Swallows flying. Between here and the little look at Pennington before leaving I saw many Swallows and Red Admirals today which was great.

Afterwards the calibre of my day and indeed weekend with a good day in one of my other hobbies yesterday became clear as high as we headed to Farlington Marshes to look for the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler. Soon after arriving we were lucky enough to get a view of it. It’s a really beautiful and mega bird. We looked around the reserve a bit on a very nice sunny day as shown in the landscape the fifth picture in this photoset I took today and then came back and got some more brilliant views of it as it became more mobile. I took the record shot in the ninth picture in this photoset when back.

This is a stunning bird to see. Brown Booby in Cornwall was my last life tick earlier in the month and what a way to follow it seeing a bird of this standing was the only way. I felt extremely lucky to have seen both in a month. This was my sixth life tick of 2019 taking my bird life list to 265 and year list 184 still a highest a year list of mine has ever been on this date. As we walked around the reserve I took the sixth picture in this photoset of a Greenshank there were four about here so a star bird for me today on the day my Redshank picture got its moment kept from getting my “Bird of the day” award only by the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler and seventh and eighth of Starlings in a mini murmuration I’ve enjoyed these a lot this year with the season coming on now.

We also took a quick stop off at Farlington playing fields as shown by the tenth picture in this photoset with a bird I’d never seen before sighted here I noticed on the goingbirding website before leaving but we didn’t see it. What an amazing day for my wildlife and photography hobby though I feel like this is one I will remember forever. And this feels a good point to reflect and thank you all for your continued support.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: (Lymington-Keyhaven) Two of my favourite birds the Little Egret and Shelduck, one of my favourite butterflies the Red Admiral, one of my favourite dragonflies the Southern Hawker, Grey Heron, Canada Goose, Redshank, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Mallard, Black-headed Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Swallow, Starling, Great Tit, Pied Wagtail, Wheatear, Blackbird, Speckled Wood, Large White and Meadow Brown. (Farlington Marshes) My first ever Eastern Olivaceous Warbler, two of my favourite birds the Little Egret and Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, Redshank, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Green Sandpiper, Teal, Shoveler, Coot, Grey Heron, Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Starling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Whinchat, one of my favourite dragonflies the Southern Hawker and Large White butterfly. (Farlington Playing Fields) One of my favourite dragonflies the Southern Hawker again, Magpie, Woodpigeon, Starling and Speckled Wood.

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tomodachibirb · 3 years

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Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna Pallida), from a banding. Jerusalem bird observatory (JBO). 16.6.21

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tomodachibirb · 4 years

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Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna Pallida), from a banding. Jerusalem bird observatory (JBO). 10.5.20

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tomodachibirb · 4 years

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Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (Iduna Pallida), from a banding. Jerusalem bird observatory (JBO). 6.7.20

#Eastern Olivaceous Warbler #Iduna Pallida #olivaceous Warbler #Warbler #idupal #passerine #bird #birds #birb #birbs #birblr #bird photography #bird banding #bird ringing #my photo #jbo #jerusalem bird observatory #tomobirb #tomodachibirb

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dansnaturepictures · 4 years

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15 of the rarest birds I’ve ever seen

I felt like doing a different kind of post this morning I have wondered about doing before. So below I talk through, in chronological order with the dates and places I’ve ever seen these species at and an indication of which photo (mostly record shots) I took of this species in this photoset for ten of the species, 15 birds which I consider to be some of the very rarest I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing over the years.

Pomarine Skua - Seen from Farlington Marshes - 11/11/2007

A real throw back to towards the end my very first year being into birdwatching. On our first ever visit to precious reserve for us Farlington Marshes I notched up 100 birds seen in my lifetime with life ticks of a range of birds from Curlew and Meadow Pipit to Common Scoter. There was an event there that day where some volunteers/wardens had telescopes set up for you to look through and they’d point things out. 10 year old me had one of my luckiest ever moments in birdwatching to this day when one of the guides had found a Pomarine Skua in the harbour which we were able to look through the telescope at. An incredible and priceless classic moment of my early birding.

White-tailed Eagle - Old Basing - 13/03/2011 and Slochd Summit in the Caringorms - 18/01/2019

As someone from a town in southern England its unsurprising two eagle species appear on this lists its something of the ultimate bird really. Even if the Isle of Wight birds really change things for Hampshire birders the one that was around for a large part of 2011 is something we’ll talk about for years and after a five hour unsuccessful twitch for the bird at Hordle by the New Forest it was fantastic to be a part of it as we saw this gigantic bird when it had relocated to Old Basing in the March. It was just as joyful and a key part of my 21st birthday birdwatching trip to Scotland for a tour with Heatherlea when we saw the one in the first picture I took in this photoset fly over whilst travelling on the bus.

Black-winged Stilt - RSPB Lodmoor - 05/05/2014

On another very memorable and packed day last decade this was a species I had long heard of and wondered about seeing that we got a distant but brilliant view of that sticks right in the mind. We must try and see one again some day.

Surf Scoter - Stokes Bay - 01/03/2015

This one just had to make the list as I believe only the fifth record of one for Hampshire when we saw it. That choppy, blustery and largely wet weekend we turned up and could not see the bird first of all. With many people gone by the time we came back to the area after a dog walk at Gilkicker Point. We had seen our second ever Red-throated Dive fly by though identified by a kind man with a telescope. When back after the walk we had a glorious moment as we spotted a group of three birds in the sea. As the record shot from that day the second picture in this photoset shows (if you look closely enough) it was the Surf Scoter with two brilliant Common Scoters. What an exotic bird to see, simply one of my greatest ever birdwatching moments.

Hoopoe - Crawley - 26/04/2015 and Badminston - 02/02/2020

The only way to follow a Surf Scoter for new birds that year. This has always been a big goal of mine to see and it made my dreams come true in 2015 and then again earlier this year. Both times I enjoyed exceptional views of them. One of my best ever birding stories five years ago when we looked down the path and saw a load of birders in the optics as though they were looking at us but they were looking down on the path and there was the Hoopoe that had seemed to disappear beforehand! Another against the odds sighting and then this year with a few others on breaks and gone me and one other noticed the Hoopoe fly into the horse field. Hoopoe sightings don’t came along every year so you just have to truly make the most of them when they do and I will always treasure these moments. I took the third picture in this photoset of it in 2015.

Greater Yellowlegs - Titchfield Haven - 06/06/2015

For what’s now a modest amount of birds for me really of 168 that year for me a year always likely to be hindered by a lesser amount of locations we could visit with my late Nan’s dementia diagnosis, of the eight I saw 2015 sure did have one of my best sets of life ticks with alongside 2018 the most first sightings in this post. This one followed the Hoopoe and this special wader allowed more intimate views of a mega species perhaps which was amazing to see one sunny Saturday. I took the fourth picture in this photoset one of a few of it that day.

Stilt Sandpiper - Pennington - 22/05/2016

It beat the likes of Marsh Sandpiper two years later here, Long-billed Dowitcher earlier in the decade and then again and two Semipalmated Sandpiper sightings to this list in a strong pool of waders I’ve been lucky to see. There just seemed a lot of prestige about this distinctive bird and I have such fond memories of seeing it, the day after my football team won the FA Cup it was one of the weekends of my life.

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Portland - 29/05/2016

Only a week after the Silt Sandpiper, a day after my first ever Corn Bunting and shortly before our first ever Nightjars in the New Forest this was the crowning glory of one of my greatest ever two weeks of birdwatching. It was all so shortly after my Nan passed away and I do wonder if there was something fateful about it all. This was a proper twitch going to Portland a big day trip for us on bank holiday Sunday in the sun. One I’d looked up what the bird looked like beforehand and when there it looked like we might not be lucky. Sensational though as we headed back down the path and it flew right over our heads! I got a beautiful view of it and knew instantly what it was. What a moment! We then watched this divine species settle and I got the record shot the fifth picture in this photoset of it. A top moment in a year I didn’t see a Common Cuckoo.

Barred Warbler - Titchfield Haven - 09/12/2017

One of my greatest birds of 2017 and one of the rare birds I’ve got most closest to over the years. A phenomenal few minutes getting crippling views of this bird in a bush very close to the visitor centre of this the first reserve we ever visited. Certainly one for photos and posing and I loved taking the sixth picture in this photoset of it.

Crested Tit - RSPB Loch Garten and another part of the Cairngorms - 18/01/2018

When I finally found out my guesses were true and I’d achieve a dream of visiting Scotland and not only that the Cairngorms for my 21st birthday present that all of my family had paid for Crested Tit was one of the first species to see that sprang to mind. Only weeks after the Barred Warbler we were treated to wonderful views of this precious species as the seventh picture I took in this photoset shows. What a powerful moment I will never underestimate how lucky I’ve been to see this local to there specialty of a bird in the snow.

Capercaillie - Cairngorms - 18/01/2018

Of all the species seen in Scotland on those phenomenal two days away, new for me or not in the mountains or the coast, this was truly one of the most special. That very brief view of this gigantic bird the whole tour group got flying in the snow was the stuff of legends and dreams. They could so easily not be something I can see as I get older on for many reasons and I sort of feel it was quite a peak moment in my birding. I just can’t put into words how much of an honour it was to see this species.

Golden Eagle - Strathdearn - 18/01/2018

To cap off that day in Scotland which is one of the best in my life, unprecedented in the last decade for how much I was seeing that was new, it was another eagle now one of my favourite birds that I always had the dream of seeing. My Mum had seen one as a teenager in Switzerland so I always needed to catch up and it felt like a massive moment. As we saw 5+ soaring about on a sunny day in the snow it was just sensational some of my best ever memories. I feel so much happiness about that moment it was a fairytale for me it really was. I felt for myself this day just how special seeing even one of these birds are and what a true bird of wilderness they are. Seeing them on and around snowy mountains was so special. I took the eighth picture in this photoset of one summing up my feelings for the birds seen in that moment.

Brown Booby - Kynance Cove - 03/09/2019

This bird was in quite a different league as we timed our Cornwall holiday perfectly when two of these megas showed up on the Cornish shores. It turned out two of the first three ever to be recorded in the UK last year. We got there to see crowds looking over at rock on that gloriously sunny day. One kind person let us look in his telescope and we instantly saw what a beautiful and very exotic bird it was. This one we will talk about for years and years to come one of my finest birdwatching moments ever. I’m glad I could take a record shot or three as it was I believe of it, one the ninth picture in this photoset.

Eastern Olivaceous Warbler - Farlington Marshes - 15/09/2019

How do you follow seeing Brown Booby was a valid question last September, it turned out with this super and pretty rare bird itself. On a generally special day for me after seeing my November 2018 Redshank photo displayed at the photography competition exhibition at the Lymington-Keyhaven nature reserve open day, that Sunday we could not resist following reports to come here and see this bird. On another big twitch we got lucky getting an exceptional if fleeting view of this amazing bird in vegetation. I managed the record shot the tenth and final picture in this photoset of it too. One of the rarest birds I’ve ever seen and definitely the rarest at Farlington since the skua on our first ever visit in 2007.

Great Bustard - Toyd Down - 08/02/2020

Ending with this year one of the more iconic names on this list. A species reintroduced fairly locally its a crime I hadn’t really tried to see one earlier I suppose but we put that right just before the named storms arrived in February to come to this new Hampshire location for us and again in a kind person’s telescope after a good chunk of time looking when we saw it we instantly recgonised it and it filled my heart with joy on a generally amazing day of birds and photos for me and a butterfly too.

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dansnaturepictures · 4 years

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My 10 Wildlife/Photography 2019 highlight blogs: Opening blog about another brilliant year of birds for me

People who have known me for a while may recall that in 2016, 2017 and 2018 I had sensational birding years by my standards and with what I achieved with the bank of species seen, fast starts to year lists and year list totals with each of these years overtaking everything else and being my highest ever year list they got better and better and 2018 seemed an impossible act to follow. Here I examine how well I did follow it, and tomorrow the post at around the same time is solely about experiences with some of my 28 favourite birds that I saw this year.

My 2019 followed 2018 perfectly, I have seen 195 species currently making it my second highest year list ever. Many of the species I have seen have been phenomenal again. The start definitely was what I will call fast again in that I saw a lot of birds in January, it was my second highest amount seen on New Year’s Day after 2016 where two woodpeckers Great Spotted and Green, two thrushes Redwing and Fieldfare and Siskin starred across a few locations. In the early days it was behind where 2017 and 2016 had been on those dates with how many birds I had seen, then all of a sudden when I had a week off it was the highest a year list of mine had ever been on on given dates. In mid-January when a year before my Scotland trip had happened in 2018 and all those year ticks 2018 was the highest on the given dates, but 2019 stayed closely behind it as the second highest my year list had been on on these dates which I was thrilled with. This continued in February and in March it even overtook where 2018 had been on certain dates. The same happened in April as I reached the milestone 150 birds a day earlier than I had in 2018, and it was neck in neck between the two going into May. In June and into July it even overtook what I had seen on 2018 on the dates, it fell behind again over the summer but pulled back level and began to overtake what my 2018 had been on on certain dates again in September and these two year lists were way ahead of every other year for me on those dates going into October too. Of course last year in this post I remarked how I was on amounts of birds seen in 2018 that I only reached two months later in 2017 and other years. So I just thought it was going to be more normal this year and I would notice how far 2018 was ahead. I have appreciated my high numbers of birds seen last year but also been right there with it on the dates this year which I am thrilled with. In November and into December now it has stayed neck in neck again but actually for a good while now I have been in a position where I have seen seen more birds on these days than I had a year ago. No matter what, to even stay as close to the exceptional year that was 2018 for me as it did with more modest places visited really and species ranges available was something I was so proud of.

The week off in January I had from work spent birdwatching was crucial to my start and whole year. It took me on my first of four trips away of the year so I was lucky with that, two nights in Gloucestershire so I could visit WWT Slimbridge on my birthday. On that magical day reserve specialities Bewick’s Swan (shown there in the 1st picture in this photoset), Common Crane, White-fronted and Barnacle Geese were star birds seen, alongside Peregrine Falcon, Water Rail (shown in the 2nd picture in this photoset that I took that day), Golden Plover and Ruff. When back from that week off I remember saying one morning at work I could tell you the highlight birds from that week but I would be here until lunch time. But so many amazing birds seen in home areas and on the way to our trip away that week included; Waxwing (as shown that day in the 3rd picture in this photoset at Totton the first major quality bird I saw this year and one of the biggest highlights in 2019), Jack Snipe, Red Kite, Bearded Tit, Marsh Harrier, Ring-necked Duck, Cattle Egret, Purple Sandpiper, Greenshank, Common Gull, Shag, Black-necked Grebe, Gannet, Guillemot, Fulmar, Great White Egret, Yellow-browed Warbler, Yellow-legged Gull and Goldeneye.

The theme of seeing top birds continued throughout the year, some of my other greatest birds I saw in 2019 included; Spotted Redshank, Eider Duck, Goosander, Barn Owl, Sanderling, Crossbill, Hawfinch, Bar-tailed Godwit, Scaup, Mediterranean Gull, Corn Bunting (shown in the 4th picture in this photoset at Martin Down in May), Red-legged Partridge, Lesser Yellowlegs, Bittern (shown at Blashford Lakes in the 5th picture I took in this photoset), Lesser Redpoll, Brambling, Hooded Crow, Little Owl, Spoonbill, Little Ringed Plover, Redstart, Glossy Ibis, Razorbill, Yellowhammer, Little Tern (shown at Lymington in the 6th picture I took in this photoset), Common Sandpiper, Sand Martin, Dartford Warbler, Cuckoo, Sandwich Tern, Hobby, Sedge Warbler, Red-necked Phalarope, Lesser Whitethroat, Woodlark, Kittiwake, Puffin, Roseate Tern, Dipper, Spotted Flycatcher, Wood Sandpiper, Osprey, Black Tern, Whimbrel, Whinchat, Chough, Manx Shearwater, Common Scoter, Yellow Wagtail, Long-billed Dowitcher, Ring-necked Parakeet , Ring Ouzel, Garganey, Black Redstart, Long-tailed Duck, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Snow Bunting and three Short-eared Owls flying gloriously around us one of my standout moments this year on one of my standout birding days of 2019 with so much else seen at Portland Bill and isle that day. Twelve of the birds I saw this year I saw for only the second time in my life or it was only the second individual I’d seen of the species which really stood out as a unique point in my birding this year.

A big bird at Blashford Lakes in late April was the Bonaparte’s Gull and I was lucky enough to get a very distant view of it but watch it for quite a while. This was a fantastic species to see and made me so happy. It ended a longer wait compared to recent years as it was my first new bird of 2019. This took my life list to a bit of a milestone as it was bird 260 in my life.

My next life tick came in Northumberland in June with the Arctic Terns I saw on Coquet and Farne Islands, which l talk about more in my sixth of these posts about that holiday. During this week away we also dropped in on Druridge Pools and saw the very rare duck the Baikal Teal that was there my first ever, another beauty.

In July I saw a bird I hadn’t seen flying about in the wild before when I saw one of the White Storks on a day at Knepp. I got a beautiful view of this species and saw where they had attempted to nest so it felt very rewarding to see at this rewilding project at exciting times for these birds going forward now. Our timing was perfect in September when we had our holiday to Cornwall the first week and two of the first few Brown Boobies in the UK ever seen had turned up! On the second day of the holiday we went to Kynance Cove where one had been reported and saw it sitting on a rock. An honour to see this it was a mega and a Champions League standard bird for sure I was over the moon to see it. I talk about this more in my penultimate post of this thread on Christmas Eve about the Cornwall holiday.

The only way to follow the Brown Booby would be with another mega and that we did later in the month by seeing the Eastern Olivaceous Warbler that dropped into Farlington Marshes. It was a really beautiful bird to see and one that was so distinctive. I was lucky to get some really good views of it that day as it flew in and out of thick vegetation. This top bird sighting came at such a good point in my year that weekend too with so much else happening to make it one of my most memorable two days.

My next new bird came on 21st October as we finally managed to catch up with a Wryneck after so many times trying to see one. This was at Hill Head where we had a really good search for apparently two that had showed up. We and some other birdwatchers got some joy when we looked around the chalet area and were thrilled to spot one in someone’s garden. We enjoyed a glorious good few minutes with this beautiful and sensational species watching it fly west, giving some fantastic views in trees and on the ground. I took the 7th picture in this photoset of it. It was such a feel good twitch and really one of my main standout moments in my 2019 birdwatching a year that has been amazing for me. This was the fourth woodpecker species I’ve ever seen, my 266th bird in my life and a very important milestone 190th bird of 2019 for me which took it level with my 2017 as my joint second highest ever year list that day. I did go onto see more than 190 bird species this year of course.

Other bird pictures I took in 2019 I have included in this photoset are; Moorhen and chick along the river Itchen in June one of my favourite spring pictures this year, Pied Wagtail during winter’s Big Garden Birdwatch for the RSPB a standout moment I had a really good year for seeing a variety of garden birds generally and other wildlife around the garden and house like a Hedgehog, butterflies and moths and Avocet at Brownsea Island, Dorset in October. Going back to the garden birdwatch and I very much enjoyed doing a similar event yesterday Birdaware Solent’s Great Solent Birdwatch doing it at Weston Shore as I said in my post last night. These were just two of a whole host of citizen science surveys for various organisations I was proud to take part in this year for all wildlife. On another avian photography note in November I found out some of my bird photos from this year (Lesser Redpoll at Blashford Lakes, another Waxwing, Totton one and Blackbird out the back) I’d entered into the Blissful Birder calendar competition earlier in the year had made their ‘Birds of England’ calendar 2020. I was very proud of this. It was a real honour to see some of my pictures alongside some superb work which displays how proud we should be of English birds. It was fitting this happening as one of my earliest birdwatching memories was buying an RSPB calendar which led me to join their Wildlife Explorers with a link to it on the back a big early staging post in my interest after I had got the famous (for me) sticker book of birds which started my interest. So 10 years into me being into photography started by birds to get my own pictures on a commercial calendar felt amazing.

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