Monday 31 December 2018

2018: Review of the Year

Although I haven't nailed many killer shots in my opinion, 2018 has probably been my best birding and bird photography year so far.

Here's a quick list of my birding achievements in 2018:
  • 21 Lifers seen
  • 217 species seen
  • 2 BirdGuides 'Photos of the Week'
  • 9 BirdGuides 'Notable Photographs'
  • Reader's letter with Desert Wheatear published in BirdGuides
  • Double-page spread in Birdwatch magazine using one of my Brambling photos
  • Requests to use my photos by:
    • Clwyd Bird Recording Group (NE Wales) - Lekking Black Grouse
    • Heysham Bird Observatory -  Chough in Flight (actually late December 2017).
    • Surrey Arts Festival - Kingfisher
  • My first bird photography presentation - 'Adventures in a Birdmobile'
I've never been birding from a boat before and this year I did my first 'pelagic' trips:
  • Liverpool Bay with Richard Steel, Steve Round, Austin Thomas, Mike Nesbitt, Dave Williams and Paul Foster
  • RSPB Boat trip to Bempton Cliffs
  • Liverpool Bay - a repeat trip with even less birds so we ended up eating the mackerel onboard
  • Diving Gannet Experience with Steve Race at Yorkshire Coast Nature
I've also been to Mull, Minsmere, East Yorkshire, Dumfries and Galloway.

I've had a few flops including the Ospreys at Horn Mill Trout Farm in Rutland and one of the Liverpool Bay trips, but on the whole not a bad year's birding - here's to some more adventures in 2019 with the following possibilities:
  • Cairngorms (booked January 2019)
  • Norfolk (booked February 2019)
  • Skomer
  • Shetland
  • Scilly Islands - pelagic
Other targets:
  • Cambridge Fens for Short-Eared Owls
  • Padley Gorge for Pied and Spotted Flycatchers
  • Stanage Edge for Ring Ouzels
  • Suffolk for Nightingales and Stone Curlews
  • Dunwich Heath and Minsmere again for Dartford Warblers, Bitterns and Marsh Harriers
  • Kent for Hobbies and Cuckoos
And desperately wanting ...
  • Capercaillie
  • Hoopoe
  • Wryneck
  • Red-necked Phalarope
  • Albatross!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please leave a comment by typing your message in the text box, selecting 'Anonymous' from the 'Comment as' drop down menu and then finally clicking the 'Publish' button. It would be nice to see your name in the text if possible - thanks.