Well the latter quarter of 2010 was very poor birding-wise for me, not being able to get out much. There was almost a two month gap between going birding at the beginning of November and next going out at the end of December.
Part of the reason why was because I got a little disheartened when I did go out on that early November time. It was a grey horrible day at Pagham, and it seemed that everything of interest or note was just that little too far to see well without a scope. I came to the conclusion that places like Pagham are hardly worth going to if you don't have a scope. And as I won't be able to afford a scope until some time in the second half of the year then why bother!?
Anyway, by the end of December I was getting very itchy feet and couldn't wait to have the time off work to get out birding again. Trips to Pulborough Brooks and WWT Arundel got me back into the swing, with my most recent life tick at Arundel (a Firecrest). And early morning birding at West Beach Littlehampton and a bit later at Arundel again gave me a decent start to my year list.
List situation as at the end of 2010:
Life list is now 130, with the Firecrest the latest addition, and Avocets prior to that. At the end of 2009, my life list had 105 birds, so I managed to add 25 to it in 2010.
Britain 2010 Year List ended with 121 birds, which I was pleased about.
Sussex 2010 Year List ended with 114 birds.
So what does 2011 mean for me in terms of birding? I have my wedding in June so I will be putting a lot of my time and effort into that event, so consequently birding opportunities may well suffer. However, I do have the intention of getting out and about more than I did in the second half of last year, and expanding on my already-growing knowledge. Adding to my life list is not a big incentive for me, but there are some fairly common species I should be able to bag if I make the effort to go somewhere new (e.g. guillemots, razorbill, fulmar, kittiwake - all should be easy ticks in the breeding season if I go to the right location(s)).
Part of the reason why was because I got a little disheartened when I did go out on that early November time. It was a grey horrible day at Pagham, and it seemed that everything of interest or note was just that little too far to see well without a scope. I came to the conclusion that places like Pagham are hardly worth going to if you don't have a scope. And as I won't be able to afford a scope until some time in the second half of the year then why bother!?
Anyway, by the end of December I was getting very itchy feet and couldn't wait to have the time off work to get out birding again. Trips to Pulborough Brooks and WWT Arundel got me back into the swing, with my most recent life tick at Arundel (a Firecrest). And early morning birding at West Beach Littlehampton and a bit later at Arundel again gave me a decent start to my year list.
List situation as at the end of 2010:
Life list is now 130, with the Firecrest the latest addition, and Avocets prior to that. At the end of 2009, my life list had 105 birds, so I managed to add 25 to it in 2010.
Britain 2010 Year List ended with 121 birds, which I was pleased about.
Sussex 2010 Year List ended with 114 birds.
So what does 2011 mean for me in terms of birding? I have my wedding in June so I will be putting a lot of my time and effort into that event, so consequently birding opportunities may well suffer. However, I do have the intention of getting out and about more than I did in the second half of last year, and expanding on my already-growing knowledge. Adding to my life list is not a big incentive for me, but there are some fairly common species I should be able to bag if I make the effort to go somewhere new (e.g. guillemots, razorbill, fulmar, kittiwake - all should be easy ticks in the breeding season if I go to the right location(s)).
