Top 5 of 2022 (2 Viewers)

[ClarkWGriswold]

Ok so I’m a little bit early but it I’ve haven’t been able to go birding for the last 5 weeks so I’m bored 😜 So what’s your top 5 for 2022?

We’ve been lucky to see sime cracking birds this year in some stunning locations.

1. Pink-footed Goose. Still my favourite sight in North Norfolk.
2. Barn Owl. Having lived where we have for c 15 years it was amazing to step out the front door and see one hunting in the field opposite. A proper moment.
3. Belted Kingfisher. A filthy twitch with my youngest. Boy almost lost a dap in the mud. A stunner. Good faggots in the Green Dragon (Welshpool) on the way home as well.
4. European Bee-eater. Another shock to the system. Walked out of the cottage on North Uist and there it was. Sat on the wires alongside some Linnets. Some brilliant views of Hen Harriers and Shorties on the Uists as well.
5. Red-breasted Flycatcher. A beauty of bird with great company, and great cakes as well. Point blank views of a Wryneck made for a very memorable day on Spurn.

In the play off positions were Red-breasted Goose (so close to my top 5), Turkestan Shrike and a simply amazing view of a Goldie whilst out with Rob on South Uist.

Top food had to be the chips in the High Street Fisheries, Flamborough; the Cornish Pasties in McFaddens (St Just - and thanks to Barry(aka Ginger Birder) for the recommendation; the Langoustines at Namara and Westford Inn and the Vegan pastie at WWT Welney.

Top mammal had to be the Otter we were watching off Mousehole. Very unexpected.

Top dip. LEO - again😓

Rich

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

1) Emperor Penguin - Antarctica
2) Jocotoco Antpitta - Ecuador
3) Bee Hummingbird - Cuba
4) Moseley's Rockhopper Penguin - Falkland Islands
5) Garganey - New Jersey

 

[Val35]

1. Broad Billed Sandpiper (Georgia). Observed a flock of 6 at very close range in Poti, north of Batumi. Lifer.

2.Krüper's Nuthatch (Georgia). Great observation of at least 4 individuals in Batumi Botanical Gardens. Sadly no great pics but very cool bird ! Lifer.

3.Dusky Warbler (Corsica). Not great views unfortunately but enough to be sure it was this species (very vocal too), it's a first for Corsica. It had been ringed a couple of days ago and the bird stuck around the ringing station. Lifer.

4.White Rumped Swift (Corsica). One of the highlights of the year for sure. A new breeding species for Corsica and France. Nesting has been confirmed at at least 3 locations. I was lucky enough to see 4 individuals flying together in the evening. Not a lifer but I had not seen them in over 10 years, since my Extremadura trip.

5.Razorbill (Corsica). Saw the two that were staying in the port of Bastia at very close range. Found two myself later at different locations. Not a lifer but new to my Corsican list which now stands at 235 species.

Had plenty of other lifers or interesting birds in Georgia that could be on this list too (Levant Sparrowhawk, Grey Headed Swamphen, Lesser Grey Shrike...)

Top mammal : European Mouflon (Corsica). Not a lifer obviously, but they showed well again this year !

Top herp : European Leaf-Toed Gecko (Corsica). Not a lifer but love these tiny guys.

Top insect : Balkan Emerald (Corsica) . Found a male wandering around at an unexpected location. Lifer.

"Top" dip : Oriental Honey Buzzard. Haven't seen any during my Georgian trip...Next time !

 

[Owene]

Corsica sounds very cool

 

[Euan Buchan]

1. Nuthatch at my local patch in February
2. Yellowhammer at my local patch June
3. Swifts at Cramond Beach June
4. Crested Tit at Loch Garten October
5. Treecreeper at Loch Garten October

 

[Farnboro John]

My year started with a great day out in Hampshire on 1 January and the next great event was my retirement on 31 of that month. Having the rest of the year free incited me to do a 300 year list one more time, which was brought to fruition on 4 October with a Barred Warbler at Lunna on Shetland (at time of writing it's 309); when the 300 came up I'd covered 17,900 miles (this excludes local birding within 10 miles of home, which I don't log). I had a 2 week touring holiday round Scotland, a 3 week summer holiday in Finland and of course two weeks in Shetland. So here are four top fives:

Birds UK

1. Blackburnian Warbler - world tick and total wow bird.
2. Eleonora's Falcon - British tick, stunning views.
3. Least Bittern - world tick. In the hand but it's the season of goodwill to all. Plus I won't change my mind.
4. Greater Sand Plover - just a great bird in super plumage showing well in sunshine.
5. Fea's Petrel - the exhilaration of a bird like this on a seawatch, going from total panic when it is called to utter relief and joy when you get on it, never goes away. And it hung around being chased by an Arctic Skua for a bit.

Birds Finland

1. Three-toed Woodpecker at the Bear Centre.
2. Thrush Nightingale in the garden.
3. Black-throated Diver - a glorious group of five in full summer plumage.
4. White-backed Woodpecker in the garden.
5. Common Rosefinch - two juveniles, first time I've seen them abroad, and I found them.

Mammals

1. Brown Bear Finland at the Bear Centre - mega views and pix.
2. Wolverine also Finland at the Bear Centre - fabulous views but photography more difficult.
3. Mountain Hare leveret in form up the Cairnwell in Scotland - I'd never seen a small leveret of any hare species till then.
4. Stoat in partial ermine up the Findhorn Valley. I found this by looking below a screaming Common Gull. Just saying.
5. Team Red Fox at my doorstep throughout the year.

Invertebrates

1. Striped Hawk-moth in my own trap in my own garden. Woo hoo!!!
2. Azure Hawker sitting on my jacket audibly munching the head off a male Large Red Damselfly in tandem with an oblivious female.
3. Yellow-spotted Emerald at Siikalahti in Finland.
4. Scarce Copper in the garden near Savonlinna in Finland.
5. Small Pincertail in the garden near Savonlinna in Finland.

A pretty amazing year all round and hopefully more to come next year.

Merry Christmas to all, and hi to all the birders I've met and chatted with throughout the year; a special hi to Owen for giving me good information on sites at ludicrously short notice at the end of my stay in Finland. Much appreciated my friend.

John

 

[Val35]

Corsica sounds very cool

Yes ! Excellent birding in spring, autumn always has a few rarities and winter is good for waterbirds/mountain species.
Summer birding there can be a little boring but there's plenty of other things to see

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

My year started with a great day out in Hampshire on 1 January and the next great event was my retirement on 31 of that month. Having the rest of the year free incited me to do a 300 year list one more time, which was brought to fruition on 4 October with a Barred Warbler at Lunna on Shetland (at time of writing it's 309); when the 300 came up I'd covered 17,900 miles (this excludes local birding within 10 miles of home, which I don't log). I had a 2 week touring holiday round Scotland, a 3 week summer holiday in Finland and of course two weeks in Shetland. So here are four top fives:

Birds UK

1. Blackburnian Warbler - world tick and total wow bird.
2. Eleonora's Falcon - British tick, stunning views.
3. Least Bittern - world tick. In the hand but it's the season of goodwill to all. Plus I won't change my mind.
4. Greater Sand Plover - just a great bird in super plumage showing well in sunshine.
5. Fea's Petrel - the exhilaration of a bird like this on a seawatch, going from total panic when it is called to utter relief and joy when you get on it, never goes away. And it hung around being chased by an Arctic Skua for a bit.

Birds Finland

1. Three-toed Woodpecker at the Bear Centre.
2. Thrush Nightingale in the garden.
3. Black-throated Diver - a glorious group of five in full summer plumage.
4. White-backed Woodpecker in the garden.
5. Common Rosefinch - two juveniles, first time I've seen them abroad, and I found them.

Mammals

1. Brown Bear Finland at the Bear Centre - mega views and pix.
2. Wolverine also Finland at the Bear Centre - fabulous views but photography more difficult.
3. Mountain Hare leveret in form up the Cairnwell in Scotland - I'd never seen a small leveret of any hare species till then.
4. Stoat in partial ermine up the Findhorn Valley. I found this by looking below a screaming Common Gull. Just saying.
5. Team Red Fox at my doorstep throughout the year.

Invertebrates

1. Striped Hawk-moth in my own trap in my own garden. Woo hoo!!!
2. Azure Hawker sitting on my jacket audibly munching the head off a male Large Red Damselfly in tandem with an oblivious female.
3. Yellow-spotted Emerald at Siikalahti in Finland.
4. Scarce Copper in the garden near Savonlinna in Finland.
5. Small Pincertail in the garden near Savonlinna in Finland.

A pretty amazing year all round and hopefully more to come next year.

Merry Christmas to all, and hi to all the birders I've met and chatted with throughout the year; a special hi to Owen for giving me good information on sites at ludicrously short notice at the end of my stay in Finland. Much appreciated my friend.

John

Would have gone for that Sandplover John, but it did a bunk just before our long weekend in Flamborough unfortunately.

 

[Farnboro John]

Would have gone for that Sandplover John, but it did a bunk just before our long weekend in Flamborough unfortunately.

Bad luck! Next time....

John

 

[Owene]

1. Griffon vultures (Spain). I’d done a tiny bit of European birding before this year but it was amazing to finally start seeing some real iconic European species and seeing vultures on the ground fighting over a carcass were Probably the birds that really brought that home

2 wryneck at spurn. Great to meet up with Clark and Kevin, had two lifers that day but the very approachable wryneck was the birding highlight.

3. Osprey. Cyprus. Saw some at distance in Cumbria as well but had one right overhead for quite a while in Cyprus then when we moved off a little to look for butterflies found it perched up on a ruin just across a small stream from us. Absolutely knock out views.

4 Wilson’s petrels. 3 or 4 of them on a pelagic out of Milford haven. Stayed with the boat for ages. Great to see them in wales

5 red flanked bluetail
A classic drop everything and get across town twitch when this came up on a Sunday afternoon. Only had my spare car binoculars and I’m pretty sure I would have found it impossible to find the bird but with the cream of Cardiff birding giving it 2 hours searching it was was eventually rediscovered. Amazing to see it so close to home and a classy bird in any circumstances


Wasn’t a great year for me and mammals. Mink my only new one in the U.K. the two highlights were probably an unexpected Fin Whale in Tenerife and visiting a fruit bat cave in Cyprus.

Butterflies were probably my main interest all year. So many new ones and so many amazing sites that birding wouldn’t have brought me to.

1. Duke of burgundy on my finger
2 mountain ringlet after going up the wrong mountain track and then reorienting myself. Amazing to suddenly come across this little patch of hillside alive with butterflies
3 Spanish festoon. Just so beautiful.
4 two tailed pasha in Cyprus. Very unexpected. Had nice views for a few minutes then couldn’t relocate but absolutely hyped while I saw it.
5. Heath fritillary on exmoor. Another one where the climb up to the right patch of hill made a really beautiful butterfly even sweeter

Reptiles
Smooth snake in Dorset. Lovely trip with my wife and saw one almost immediately at arne. Just one British reptile species left.

Green turtles in Cyprus. Superb watching them under water

adders in Barry. Great to see and the links I made led to me starting adder surveying at another nearby site.

Starred agamas in Cyprus. Lots of cool lizards there, 6 lifer lizards for me but the agamas were so charismatic and posey

 

[Xenospiza]

(1) Rondonia Bushbird, just in time before its home was turned into yet more cattle feed...
(2) Black-chinned Emperor Tamarin, the best of a pretty impressive series of mammals in SW Brazil which included Tamandua and Puma.
(3) Blue-eyed Ground Dove, shuffling about at our feet in some very nice cerrado.
(4) Barau's Petrels gathering off-shore to fly to their nest sites on Réunion's mountains – it's curious how the birds on this pretty island have been wiped out even more decisively than those on its trashed neighbour Mauritius.
(5) Arctic Skua over my head on a quiet autumn day in inland Germany.

 

[Richard Prior]

No lifers for the third year in a row, I would have twitched anything new for me within a two hour drive but the nearest was a White-throated Sparrow about 3 hours away so I haven't had to fire up the Yeti in 2022. Birding therefore mostly in the region apart from a visit to England in March and Armenia in June.
Totting it all up I see I'm on 222 species for the year, impressive eh?
My top five:
Brent Goose After fifteen years without a seawatch it was great to do a 3 hour stint from dawn at Dungeness in early March, the highlight seeing several flocks of Brent powering east into the wind close to shore.
Little Crake A hunch paid off in late March when I went a'crake hunting by the Rhône having seen the first reports from the S of France. I found Little and Spotted plus a couple of Water Rail, a magic couple of hours.
Montagu's Harrier Best birding moment (well 30 minutes!) of the year, we came across several pairs up at 2000m asl in Northern Armenia, display, sky dancing, food passes and skirmishes, unforgettable!
Dalmatian Pelican This felt like a lifer as I'd previously seen just the one, a distant blob in a Bulgarian heat haze in1997. We bumped along some dodgy Armenian roads for a good hour to get to Lake Arpi where the only Armenian breeding site exists alongside the world's biggest Armenian gull colony.
Pallid Harrier Although we saw one briefly in Armenia, the shiny pale adult male we saw at the migration watchpoint by the Rhône was not only beautiful, but a French tick

 

[Richard D]

1. Dawn views of a Night Heron as it returned to roost.
2. A long staying passage Wheatear that was both confiding and almost always present on part of my patch.
3. Dartford Warbler - a self found patch first.
4. Red-Crested Pochard pair - another self found patch first.
5. Osprey out on the Swale.

Oare provided me with: Green Winged Teal - good company with other birders, but a frustratingly distant view, Bonapartes Gull - saw it so many times I got blase, White Front Goose, Wood Sandpiper and several other waders. Mammal wise, probably a stoat that clambered over my tripod leg.

 

[dwallace]

1). Eleonora's Falcon in Kent.
2). Cape Gull in Cambridgeshire.
3). Common Nighthawk in Wantage. Probably the most cooperative bird ever.
4). Puffin on Skomer. Not a lifer but great to see them at close quarters.
5). Leach's Petrel at Hill Head. An unexpected patch tick.

Moths:

Pseudozarba bipartita. A first for Britain in the garden.

Dave W

 

[Mysticete]

I didn't do any international traveling this year, but I did do two separate trips in the ABA area to fill some holes in my continental ABA list, Southern California and South Florida. I did pretty well in both overall. With the exception of Golden (Mangrove) Warbler, I think I saw everything I realistically could expect. I of course also did quite a bit of birding around Wisconsin, mostly local and with only a few twitches, although really only one which was successful.

Birdwise, I would probably rank them as follows:

1. California Condor: ALMOST missed this one, in fact one of several birds I only managed to see at the very last minute on this trip. Awesome bird and you really can't quite understand just how big one is without seeing them in person.
2. The Noddy/Sooty Tern colony in the Dry Tortugas. What an option trip, even if I was a way past peak migration. The spectacle of the joint nesting colony was awesome, and it didn't hurt that both were lifers.
3. The massive parrot roost in Temple City, seen on the Socal trip. Within a few blocks, perched in largely bare trees, there was something like 150 Mitred and Red-masked Parakeets, alongside 400+ Amazons, mostly Red-crowned with a scattering of Lilac-crowned, Red-lored, and Yellow-headed. While not a native species, seeing this many parrots getting ready to roost was an awesome visual and auditory spectacle.
4. La Sagra's Flycatcher. Seen with another birdforum member, the bird took two efforts and given the lateness of the season AND the fact that a Tropical storm had just come through, it's a miracle I was able to connect with this continuing bird. By far the rarest ABA bird I saw this year (and a lifer). Would probably rank higher, but it's probably one of the drabbest Myiarchus flycatchers.
5. Purple Sandpiper. A surprise January twitch when a couple of birders decided to winter in Milwaukee. Although annual in Michigan, for some reason they don't like this side of the lake, and are a much rarer bird.

Honorable mentions would probably go to local White-winged Crossbills, Some good patch birding, Swallow-tailed Kites in Florida, Island Scrub-Jay, and just the weirdness of Key West Junglefowl.

On the mammal front, the award for best sighting goes to Island Fox, probably one of the cutest canids in the world, and one that was quite happy chilling a couple feet from us on Santa Cruz Island. Actually, although this year was pretty poor for mammals, it was good for Foxes, since a den was dug out on campus, resulting in a new generation of red foxes that are remarkably human tolerant. Outside of foxes, Gray Whale was a nice mammal to finally see.

This also wasn't a great year for herps, and would have been dismal if the Florida trip hadn't happened. Best herps were Eastern Musk Turtle and several Cottonmouths, marking my first successful solo herping night drive. Also Peter's Rock Agama, which are just cool even if introduced, and American Crocodile, which I have seen before but again...always awesome.

 

[pbjosh]

I like these kinds of reviews. Nice to reflect on the year. Essentially no new world birding for me this year. Taking advantage of living closer to Asia but that means I miss S America dearly. Here goes:

1 Sumatran Ground-Cuckoo
2 Masked Finfoot
3 Bornean Peacock-Pheasant
4 Bulwer’s Pheasant
5 Great Indian Bustard

Honorable mentions - White-eared Night-Heron, Lesser Florican, Helmeted Hornbill (not a lifer, and heard only this year but still one of the very best birds in the world), Sumatran Laughingthrush, Spoon-billed Sandpiper…

It’s been a heck of a fun year and I hope to be so fortunate next year also!

 

[dandsblair]

Four from recent trip to West Papua and a long standing target we finally got in Finland

1. Forest Bittern (never thought I'd see this bird)
2. Wilson's Bird of Paradise (a wanted bird for years)
3. Western Parotia
4. Arfak Catbird
5. Siberian Jay

Mammals

1. Spotted Cuscus
2. Brown Bear
3. Arctic Hare

 

[foresttwitcher]

No birding again for me this year outside my relatively bird-poor inland patch and a few short half-day trips to work sites and to nearby reservoirs - so not as exotic as others on this thread but most were good for me in recent years:

1. Barn Owl;
2. Corn Bunting;
3. Whinchat;
4. Green Sandpiper;
5. Grasshopper Warbler.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I've apparently seen over 1100 species this year, which is more than I suspected. Hard to pick five, but these were all really good.

1. Pink-headed Warbler, San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico on New Year's Day.
2. Green-breasted Pitta, Kibale, Uganda
3. Grauer's Broadbill, Bwindi, Uganda
4. Black-breasted Barbet, Kidepo, Uganda
5. Great Shearwater, Girdle Ness, Aberdeen

 

[Original PaulE]

1) Green-winged Teal at Rye Harbour, final relief after multiple dips
2) Black-browed Albatross at Bempton should be No. 1 really, fabulous views
3) Red-backed Shrike at Medmerry very friendly bird
4) Arctic Skuas on Shetland, great to see right over my head
5) Eleanora's Falcon at Worth Marshes more fabulous close views of an awesome bird!

mentioned in dispatches
American Robin in Eastbourne
Radde's Warblers at Beachy
and Wheatears everywhere!!

Probably forgotten something something from what has been a pretty good year!!!