Top 5 of 2022 (1 Viewer)

[lgonz1008]

Probably my best year of birding since I started, with a few personal milestones and birding goals included, so forgive me if I do more than just the top 5 and talk a bit of my favorite moments of the year.

Top 5 Birds:

1. Guianan Cock-of-the Rock (lek and nest) in Cock-of-the-Rock Trail, Guyana
2. Capuchinbird (lek) in Iwokrama River Lodge, Guyana
3. Chestnut-naped Antpitta in Reserva Zuro Loma, Ecuador
4. Lanceolated Monklet in Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary, Ecuador
5. Black-footed Albatross in Westport, Washington

Top 5 Mammals:

1. Giant Anteater in Caiman House Field Station, Guyana
2. Orca in Port Angeles, Washington
3. Giant River Otter in Burro Burro River
4. Northern Right Whale Dolphin in Westport, Washington
5. Hoary Marmot in Mt. Rainier, Washington

Top 5 Other Wildlife:

1. Black Caiman in Caiman House Field Station, Guyana
2. Giant Earthworm in Bella Vista Cloud Forest Lodge, Ecuador
3. Bullet Ant in Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary, Ecuador
4. Dwarf Caiman sp. in Burro Burro River
5. American Crocodile in Everglades National Park, Florida

Top 8 experiences by time and place:

• Guyana in February
  • Mega target picking day around Atta Lodge, we pretty much went from spot to spot around the lodge grounds and main road to see of the best birds of the region. Highlights included seeing all 5 possible Potoo species of Guyana within 24 hours, seeing 2 white sand forest specialties within 10 minutes of each other (Black Manakin and Olivaceous Schiffornis), a calling Pelzen's Tody-Tyrant out in the open, and seeing/hearing 3 different owl species while having dinner (Tawny-bellied Screech-Owl, Black-banded and Crested Owl).
  • Highway to hell, not what you'd expect as a highlight day since it was just driving from the savanna interior back to the capital by the coast, but being able to connect with some of our missing targets in the few stops we made was amazing, these included walking next to a Giant Anteater for nearly 30 minutes, me getting the only Sooty-capped Hermit of the trip in a gas stop, connecting with our 2 missing white sand specialties in Bronzy Jacamar and Rufous-crowned Elaenia, and after 5 different dips in 3 different locations, I finally saw and photographed wild Gray-winged Trumpeters crossing the road.
• Washington State in August
  • First West Coast pelagic and got everything I could hope for and more, over a dozen lifers including Black-footed Albatross, all three species of Jaeger, breeding plumage Sabine's Gull, seeing both Leach's Storm-Petrel and Buller's Shearwater at the same time through the bins, and, though not a lifer, seeing 3 Tufted Puffins. Mammal experience further boosted the moment with breaching Humpback Whales, Northern Right Whale Dolphins and Pacific White-sided Dolphins playing in the surf of the boat, and briefly seeing a Northern Fur Seal before diving beneath the waves.
  • Morning of birding around Winthrop, saw my main targets on this point of the trip in the forms of Dusky Grouse and Lewis's Woodpecker, with a nice supporting cast that included Pygmy Nuthatch, Red-naped Sapsucker and a surprise Black Swift.
• Mindo, Ecuador in October
  • Milestone 1,000 in Refugio Paz de las Aves while waiting for breakfast in the form of White-throated Daggerbill, seeing and photographing all 5 Antpittas (Yellow-breasted, Ochre-breasted, Giant, Scaled and Chestnut-crowned), owling to get greats views of Lyre-tailed Nightjar, and and having a mega flock of over 40 species obviously helped.
  • Difficult choice between Rio Silanche and Amagusa, but Amagusa won out because of how many great shots I got of the regional endemic tanagers, seeing a Black Solitaire in the middle of the road as my first bird of the day, plus being able to connect with Choco Vireo and Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl were unexpected surprises. The afternoon birding in Guayabillas road, including being the first birder to hike a new trail through a private Choco reserve helped to get me connected with Brown-billed Scythebill, Yellow-green and Scarlet-and-white Tanager, Black-tipped Cotinga and hearing my first Wattled Guans.
• South Florida (Local patch)
  • Amazing fall migration in late October through a city park in a walk I guided. Seeing over 70 species, including over 15 warbler species, all expected bunting/grosbeak species, plus I found and connected with a nemesis bird in the form of Wood Thrush.
  • Middle of November, got my first century day in the US by birding Everglades National Park and park entrance. Some of the highlights included my first state record of Western Tanager, all possible wintering flycatchers in South Florida, a surprise lifer with a pair of American Pipit, and to end the day, I had a King Rail cross the road in front of the car on the way out of the park.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Since we're doing mammals, too.

1) Southern Long-nosed Armadillo (Argentina) - my first live armadillo!
2) Orca (Falkland Islands)
3) Leopard Seal (Antarctica)
4) Kinkajou (Ecuador)
5) Commerson's Dolphin (Falkland Islands)

 

[David_]

I wasn’t travelling this year and basically all my birding was locally or at least within the state of North-Rhine Westfalia

Top 5 birds:

1. Red-necked Phalarope in breeding plumage
2. Local (inland) Red Knot coming so close I my camera couldn’t focus anymore. Stayed for couple of days and didn't care about me at all. Saw it preening and feeding from within 50cm on eye level while laying on the ground
3. Self found Red-throated Pipit
4. Self-found Pallid Harrier circling close above my head (even if I didn’t manage to identify it as Pallid 😳)
5. Parrot Crossbills

Honorable mentions: two Bluethroats which stayed at a local patch for nearly two weeks in autumn and close up views of a sedge warbler at the same location (also during migration)

In general local birding was surprisingly good even though I mainly skipped the best known local nature reserve as the water level was so low that there was nothing to see all summer (besides the resident Cetti’s warbler).
During autumn I made a dedicated effort to regularly bird a small patch along the Rhine where there is basically never another birder. Even though Düsseldorf is in general a bad place for waders I managed to find a couple of species not recorded every year (and also the Red-throated Pipit).

Mammals: Amazing views of a curious Least Weasel. It came looking at me while I was having lunch on trip looking for Southern Skimmers.

Odonata: Difficult to do a top five as it was the first year I made dedicated trips looking for species I had not seen before. Managed to see 51 species in North-Rhine Westfalia without using a car (most by bike, some using a combination of train and bike or train and hiking) and as a result there were so many highlights I can’t really rank them.

 

[Nightjar61]

Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo (Panama)--My number one target for my trip to Panama. A very shy and hard-to-see species, arguably the most difficult bird to see in Central America. We had three at once working an ant swarm only a few yards away, and not concerned at all about a group of gob smacked birders looking on. One of the greatest experiences of my birding career.

Black-crowned Antpitta (Panama)--My number two target for my trip to Panama. Another one of the hardest-to-see species in Central America. Seen the same morning I saw the ground cuckoo.

Crested Bobwhite (Panama)--Not a particularly rare bird, but it was a top target for my trip to Panama. Distant but good scope views as the bird perched up on a dead branch in the middle of a field. Even heard the "bobwhite" call, similar to the call of Northern Bobwhite, found here in North America.

White-fronted Quail-Dove (Dominican Republic)--Quail-doves are always difficult, and this is the one endemic I thought I might not see. My guide hadn't even seen one on any of the trips he led over the last couple of months. However, I got lucky, and one bird gave great views as it walked nonchalantly down the middle of a mountain road for about 50 yards before hopping into the roadside bushes.

Upland Sandpiper (Preston County, West Virginia)--While not necessarily a rare bird in North America, it is extremely rare here in the mountains of West Virginia. It is the bird I most wanted to add to my Preston County list. As is often the case, I stumbled upon one when I had no expectation whatsoever of seeing one. Both a state and county lifer.

Dave

 

[01101001]

1. Common Pochard
One day I went for a walk to sort myself out a bit, and so I took the bus to the underground, left at a random station, went to the nearest eBird hotspot, then to another park and one more, after which I noticed a tram stop, so I waited for a tram and rode as far as I could, and then I left and travelled on foot through three different districts, and then I saw a pond, and--sure enough--there they were, five of them--3 males and 2 females. A lifer for me. One of my favourite patches from now on, although, on the whole, it's pretty lousy when it comes to birds.
2. Jack Snipe
Flushed twice from a clump of grass near at an eBird hotspot near a village by the Bug River. Just because it's a cool bird, and it was a lifer as well.
3. Common Nightingale
There's a meadow very close to the place where I live that was--among others--surrounded by five breeding territories of Common Nightingales (I heard three of them singing together at most). I found birding in small patches of habitat in the vicinity of my home quite entertaining, and I even managed to see some mildly interesting bird species, or at least ones that I wouldn't expect to encounter there.
4. European Goldfinch
Watching goldfinches and maybe even greenfinches (I wasn't sure about the presence of the white spots) right out the window as they were feeding on some sunflowers in early autumn. The flowers are of the decorative variety, as far as I know, but they go to seed every year, and every year some of the seeds fall on the ground and give rise to a new generation of self-sown sunflowers.
5. Black Woodpecker
The other day when on a ramble down a forest path in a nature reserve, I saw a bird fly right over me. I thought jackdaw, then I thought jay, but I realised that it was all black save for the red crown, so it must've been a Black Woodpecker, and it was one indeed. That day's sighting served to solidify my assumption that they do silent flyovers and perhaps even extensively so. The woodpecker stuck around for a while, braving three clueless joggers in the process, all the while affording pretty good views. Then it flew off farther into the woods.
Just a friendly reminder for potential future visirors: when in a nature reserve in Poland, don't go wander off track, especially when signs prohibit passage. Not that someone would care to catch you out or anything; it's just that you wouldn't want to find yourself face to face with a cyclist keeping his pony-sized dog on a five meter leash, popping out from among the trees.

 

[Stonefaction]

I've done the vast majority of my birding in Dundee this year, purposely limiting my horizons, in an attempt to get 140 species from within the city boundaries. There have been some big surprises along the way, and not all of them have been birds (though 3 of the 5 are), so in reverse order they are....

5. Puffin - an unexpected Autumn visitor to the Tay in October, seen at a distance to start with. I was hoping for a Razorbill that day, and got one a little later, but to get the ID confirmed we had to pop across the border into Angus for a closer look as the bird wasn't staying on the surface for long and Puffin wasn't even considered as a possibility. There was also a tern we were trying to get a firm ID of - it was an Arctic, and we had to leave the Puffin before getting decent photos of it, to nail the tern ID, as a walker looked likely to flush it. Unfortunately we failed to refind the Puffin.

4. Not a bird, but the first record of Speckled Wood butterfly for Dundee, at the end of April in Broughty Ferry . By the end of the Autumn, I'd seen one in 2 further locations within the city.

3. Back to the birds again - a very unexpected raptor sighting at Riverside Nature Park. A ringtailed Hen Harrier over the Tay, and Invergowrie Bay early in August. Lost sight of it to the north of Invergowrie as I was getting word out to other local birders. Had a Marsh Harrier a few minutes later as well. A 2 Harrier day. In Dundee!

2. My rarest bird find this year. While talking to a couple of ladies at Balmossie in late September, a bird flew over and I looked up and realised I had no idea what it was. I grabbed a couple of quick photos and still couldn't quite work out what it was, as it didn't look like anything on the list of 'possibles'. Posting the photos online later and referring to a call I thought I'd heard, it was suggested that I check out Rose Coloured Starling calls. The call and the markings fitted. Although I've checked Starling flocks for one, just in case, in previous years, it was so out of context and from an unhelpful angle - not to mention it wasn't an adult, that it just didn't register.

1. Not a bird for the top spot, but even less expected than Rose Coloured Starling was an early morning sighting on my way to Riverside Nature Park. I wasn't anywhere near the outer edges of the city, in fact I probably couldn't have got much more central. Magpies and Blackbirds were mobbing something in a stand of trees, so I went for a better look in the hope of an owl. My camera was in my bag, which was a mistake. It wasn't an owl, but it was unmistakable. It was a Pine Marten. So focussed on the Magpies that it didn't appear to notice that I was stood about 6 feet below and behind it. Unfortunately it disappeared into the greenery. The Magpies and Blackbirds didn't move off which suggested the Marten was still close by. Out came the camera and I waited. The Pine Marten showed again briefly but I got enough in the 3 out of focus shots to prove the sighting. I've seen a Pine Marten before, once, as one ran along a road ahead of the car I was in, but I like my first sightings of birds and animals to be unexpected chance encounters, rather than a 'stake-out' at a feeding station type scenario and although it wasn't a first, it was my first for Dundee, and probably couldn't have been any more unexpected.

Honourable mentions also to Hawfinch, Ring Ouzel, a Spring Little Stint, Green Sandpiper, Marsh Harrier, Red Kite, Raven, White Tailed Eagle and an escaped Saker Falcon which I've had great views of at various spots across the city, including from my living room as it upset the local pigeons.

 

[MKinHK]

Frustrated by the rain keeping me indoors I'm delighted to have discovered this thread and as always thoroughly enjoy reading fellow-beers best moments. This year mine are split between my last few months in Hong Kong and the first discoveries of our new chapter in Australia.

in no particular order my top 5 of 2022 are:

1) Breaking 100 species in a day on my San Tin patch
2) Self-finding a Yellow-streaked Warbler while walking the dogs five minutes from home
3) An epic six-albatross pelagic just a few weeks after arriving in Sydney
4) Watching a pair of Australian Brush Turkeys excavate their nesting mound and laying their eggs
5) Photographing an impossibly cute family of Tawny Frogmouths on my Cremorne Point patch.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Around 700 bird species in the year. My Top Five birding experiences:-

1. Blackburnian Warbler, Bryher, Isles of Scilly, 14th October. Having dipped Least Bittern on Shetland the previous weekend & after a Tennessee Warbler did not hang around overnight on Skokholm during the week, a desperate attempt to get to the Blackburnian Warbler on its first day ended with no sign in the last half hour or so of light despite best efforts. A relatively cold & uncomfortable night on a church floor on Bryher was rewarded by excellent views with a friend shortly after first light. Excellent to have it to ourselves initially & a colossal relief as well as being an excellent long-awaited bird. Most of the morning was spent with the bird.

2. Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Khok Kham, Thailand, 10th November. My first dedicated bird trip outside of the Western Palearctic was to Thailand in November. Excellent views of a single bird dug out from around three thousand waders in the heat of the midday sun.

3. Brown-backed Needletails, Khao Yai, Thailand, 9th November. A delightful hour or so watching around two hundred coming to drink. Stunning experience. Sincerely hope a British Needletail will appear in one of these lists at some point for me in the future having dipped by an hour, a few hours (after it hit a wind turbine) & a day.... Fourth time lucky will be needed.

4. Corsican Nuthatches, Col de Sorba, Corsica, 9th May. Another delightful hour watching a pair come and go having found a nest hole on my second visit to Col de Sorba. Clear highlight of six shorter European trips between March & June.

5. Common Nighthawk, Wantage, Oxfordshire, 26th September. A cracking bird in an absurd location which does actually prove that pretty much anything can happen. Really enjoyed the experience & it triggers so many thoughts as to how it appeared where it did & when it did... Not a tick & there were other sightings that were. A close call with Eleonora's Falcon in Kent but pretty happy with that list & for the Nighthawk to make it.

My main non-bird nature interest is moths. My Top Five Mothing experiences:-

1. Bisigna procerella, Dungeness, Kent, 17th July. A recent colonist & a new moth for me in 2022 that I recorded at two sites in Kent. An absolute stunner. I must target a few more of the sparkling micros next summer. Part of a cracking July at a number of sites with more than 200 species recorded on a number of nights.

2. Striped Hawkmoth, Clevedon, North Somerset, 23rd May. One of six patch macro moth ticks for me this year. (Patch macro list is somewhere in the 460s.) Part of a large national influx this year & I was away for the best nights so beyond happy when I spied one in the garden trap after I thought that the boat had already sailed...

3. Speckled Footman, Dorset Heaths, 9th July. A few nights spent on the Dorset Heaths lending my traps, energy & limited expertise to efforts to understand the ecology of this moth a bit better. Many excellent moths seen & a few of these that I had seen a few times before - for the first time two decades ago... But nevertheless always a highlight when you find your quarry.

4. Clifden Nonpareil, Watercress Farm, North Somerset, 26th September. I started some moth surveys at a rewilding site in June & have chalked up over 300 moth species there since. Always good to get a few notables to keep you going & Clifden Nonpareil was one of the targets. Phone pic. Hopefully something will feature from there in 2023.

5. Dewick's Plusia, Clevedon, North Somerset, 6th September. This is the second patch Dewick's Plusia. I fluffed potting the first a month beforehand so this again was a really pleasing experience. We ended the year with five patch records of this coloniser. I suspect more colonisers to come as moth populations are pretty fluid.

A few other wildlife experiences:-

1. Otter, Clevedon, North Somerset, 3rd March. A number of sightings of our local Otters in the last few years & I have always done my best to follow them up when reported. Indeed, I dipped a couple only last week. A special experience with one on 3rd March that gave better views than most sightings.

2. Common Dolphins, Berry Head, Devon, 4th September. A couple of seawatches at Berry Head this year. On 4th September, the Common Dolphins showed exceptionally & I completely ignored the seabirds during that experience.

3. Lar Gibbon. Kaeng Krachen, Thailand, 13th November. My first Gibbon sighting and an extraordinary personal first for me to see it swinging through the canopy in a Thai National Park.

4. Stump-tailed Macaque, Kaeng Krachen, Thailand, 13th November. An enjoyable experience watching some proper group behaviour.

5. Unidentified Lizard, Tenerife, Canaries, 22nd June. A few reptiles over the year & none as yet identified for which I feel a touch guilty but I did enjoy this one waving to me on Tenerife so a fitting finale...

I kept myself busy in my first full year of retirement. Plenty of planning for a few experiences in 2023....

All the best

Paul

 

[Torview]

Single Waxwing Sculthorpe Moor last January.
Watching a pair of Nightjars fly really close for a good ten minutes in Suffolk in June.
Helping some lovely Ladies get their first Dartford Warbler at Dunwich Heath in June.
Swallow Tail butterfly at Strumpshaw fen June.
A pair of Lesser Yellowlegs at Hayle in October (first for me)

 

[Scridifer]

Around 700 bird species in the year. My Top Five birding experiences:-

1. Blackburnian Warbler, Bryher, Isles of Scilly, 14th October. Having dipped Least Bittern on Shetland the previous weekend & after a Tennessee Warbler did not hang around overnight on Skokholm during the week, a desperate attempt to get to the Blackburnian Warbler on its first day ended with no sign in the last half hour or so of light despite best efforts. A relatively cold & uncomfortable night on a church floor on Bryher was rewarded by excellent views with a friend shortly after first light. Excellent to have it to ourselves initially & a colossal relief as well as being an excellent long-awaited bird. Most of the morning was spent with the bird.

2. Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Khok Kham, Thailand, 10th November. My first dedicated bird trip outside of the Western Palearctic was to Thailand in November. Excellent views of a single bird dug out from around three thousand waders in the heat of the midday sun.

3. Brown-backed Needletails, Khao Yai, Thailand, 9th November. A delightful hour or so watching around two hundred coming to drink. Stunning experience. Sincerely hope a British Needletail will appear in one of these lists at some point for me in the future having dipped by an hour, a few hours (after it hit a wind turbine) & a day.... Fourth time lucky will be needed.

4. Corsican Nuthatches, Col de Sorba, Corsica, 9th May. Another delightful hour watching a pair come and go having found a nest hole on my second visit to Col de Sorba. Clear highlight of six shorter European trips between March & June.

5. Common Nighthawk, Wantage, Oxfordshire, 26th September. A cracking bird in an absurd location which does actually prove that pretty much anything can happen. Really enjoyed the experience & it triggers so many thoughts as to how it appeared where it did & when it did... Not a tick & there were other sightings that were. A close call with Eleonora's Falcon in Kent but pretty happy with that list & for the Nighthawk to make it.

My main non-bird nature interest is moths. My Top Five Mothing experiences:-

1. Bisigna procerella, Dungeness, Kent, 17th July. A recent colonist & a new moth for me in 2022 that I recorded at two sites in Kent. An absolute stunner. I must target a few more of the sparkling micros next summer. Part of a cracking July at a number of sites with more than 200 species recorded on a number of nights.

2. Striped Hawkmoth, Clevedon, North Somerset, 23rd May. One of six patch macro moth ticks for me this year. (Patch macro list is somewhere in the 460s.) Part of a large national influx this year & I was away for the best nights so beyond happy when I spied one in the garden trap after I thought that the boat had already sailed...

3. Speckled Footman, Dorset Heaths, 9th July. A few nights spent on the Dorset Heaths lending my traps, energy & limited expertise to efforts to understand the ecology of this moth a bit better. Many excellent moths seen & a few of these that I had seen a few times before - for the first time two decades ago... But nevertheless always a highlight when you find your quarry.

4. Clifden Nonpareil, Watercress Farm, North Somerset, 26th September. I started some moth surveys at a rewilding site in June & have chalked up over 300 moth species there since. Always good to get a few notables to keep you going & Clifden Nonpareil was one of the targets. Phone pic. Hopefully something will feature from there in 2023.

5. Dewick's Plusia, Clevedon, North Somerset, 6th September. This is the second patch Dewick's Plusia. I fluffed potting the first a month beforehand so this again was a really pleasing experience. We ended the year with five patch records of this coloniser. I suspect more colonisers to come as moth populations are pretty fluid.

A few other wildlife experiences:-

1. Otter, Clevedon, North Somerset, 3rd March. A number of sightings of our local Otters in the last few years & I have always done my best to follow them up when reported. Indeed, I dipped a couple only last week. A special experience with one on 3rd March that gave better views than most sightings.

2. Common Dolphins, Berry Head, Devon, 4th September. A couple of seawatches at Berry Head this year. On 4th September, the Common Dolphins showed exceptionally & I completely ignored the seabirds during that experience.

3. Lar Gibbon. Kaeng Krachen, Thailand, 13th November. My first Gibbon sighting and an extraordinary personal first for me to see it swinging through the canopy in a Thai National Park.

4. Stump-tailed Macaque, Kaeng Krachen, Thailand, 13th November. An enjoyable experience watching some proper group behaviour.

5. Unidentified Lizard, Tenerife, Canaries, 22nd June. A few reptiles over the year & none as yet identified for which I feel a touch guilty but I did enjoy this one waving to me on Tenerife so a fitting finale...

I kept myself busy in my first full year of retirement. Plenty of planning for a few experiences in 2023....

All the best

Paul

Paul I think your lizard has to be Tenerife Lizard Gallotia galloti.

Chris

 

[dwatsonbirder]

5) Wader watching at Goldcliff lagoons - this is now the nearest decent wader site for me (50 mins), and regularly supports a good selection of birds with few people - the ideal combo. An early morning here in May was very successful, with 15 spp present including Temminck's stint, a rare bird in Wales.
4) Various finds - I'm out in the field a fair bit for work and am fortunate to occasionally bump into some good birds, with finds this year including Hooded Crow (Glamorgan), Pec Sand (Hebrides), 2 Glossy Ibis (Lincs), Citrine wagtail (1st for Gwent) and Red necked Phalarope (Devon).
3) Cranes and wild goose chasing in Hungary - My first post Covid trip watching 15k Crane moving about on a daily basis, and scouring through thousands of geese before being rewarded with Red Breasted and Lesser Whitefront. Pretty good birding.
2) Long-eared Owl roost - Ok, a bit of a cheat as part of the same trip as no. 3, but having only ever seen the rear end of any previous LEO, walk away views of multiple roosting birds has to be the ornithological highlight of my year. First sitting was 2.5hrs, then went back for seconds!
1) Fairy-shrimp - I can't say much about this as it is sensitive, but locating a previously unknown and rather significant population of these little creatures in the UK was the undoubted highlight of the year - hopefully a paper will be forthcoming in the near future.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Paul I think your lizard has to be Tenerife Lizard Gallotia galloti.

Chris

Many thanks Chris

 

[William Lewis]

1) golden eagle
2) white tailed eagle
3) collared dove (me and the boys called him Colin when we were in gran canaria and we'l were convinced he'd followed us home when we saw them again when we got back.
4) Cory's shearwater
5) common snipe

Most are not new birds to me but I've enjoyed them none the less.

 

[Prestdj]

no lifers this year but a good year for birds from a UK veiwpoint for me

1

white billed diver.....portsoy april a stunning summer plumaged bird was a great sight despite needing new brakes on the campervan as we drove down the steep road to the harbour, the diver took ages to find but no problem as we were stuck until monday. but no better place than portsoy to breakdown, we even stayed overnight in the van at the harbour, great local people fell in love with the place




2

great northern diver.... gruinard bay just to sit on the beach drinking coffee watching the day dawn and hear them calling just blew me away




3

black browed albatross......bempton saw it 3 times in 2021 but its just awesome! so just had have another look




4

pallas warbler......flambourgh just so lucky to see it in the hand right place right time




5

stone curlew........hard one for me living in yorkshire but seen one at spurn but my only others were at weeting. so after an overnight stay at stonehenge we headed to winterbourne down rspb which resulted in 2 birds very distant but worth it




been a good year

and all of it would not be possible without the love and support of my partner in crime colette and jessie

 

[ovenbird43]

My top five are all from my recent trip to Colombia (just returned Monday night), edging out the otherwise awesome sweep of Puerto Rican endemics from earlier in the year:

1. Crescent-faced Antpitta. !!! This could take all five top places, my most-wanted South American bird species. Crushing views of an individual coming to worms at Hacienda El Bosque.
2. Hooded Antpitta. Another rare and enigmatic antpitta, this one richer yet for having to track down a calling individual at dawn rather than waiting for one to come in to worms. Got it on the second try and got good close views, could've gotten good photos but I had left my camera packed away as it was still somewhat dark and I was clambering around the forest sneaking up on this guy. El Cedral, above Otun-Quimbaya reserve.
3. Chestnut-crested Antbird. Well I have a thing for antbirds, especially the professional army ant followers. Got a good half hour of watching these guys up close at an ant swarm in Mitu.
4. Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock. Need I say more?
5. Buffy Helmetcrest. Stunning endemic hummingbird of the paramo. Parque Nacional Nevado del Ruiz.

My top five insects, as I've become increasingly obsessed with both moths and odes:

1. Clearspot Bluewing (Zenithoptera lanei), Mitu - my most-wanted dragonfly in Colombia, got it the first day at a little stream in white sand forest.
2. Yellow-sided Clubtail (Stylurus poteluns) - a very range-restricted North American Stylurus that I went to see at the Perdido River between Alabama and Florida. Stunning, black and yellow with blue eyes.
3. Polyphemus Moth - I found an unknown cocoon in my yard this summer and covered it in bird netting. I looked out one day to see a beautiful, nelwy-emerged female Polyphemus already being mated by a male. Wow! I cut off the bird netting and she was on her way that night.
4. Imperial Moth - another silk moth lifer which I got while blacklighting at a state park in north Mississippi
5. Dragonhunter - spectacular large dragonfly which I found at one of my regular ode spots in south Mississippi. Wow!

 

[lammergeier05]

1. Malaysian Rail-Babbler, Panti Reserve, Malaysia (runners up Garnet Pitta and broadbills)

2. Trumpeter Finch, Igdir, Turkey (runners up See-see partridge and Greater Hoopoe Lark)

3. La Selle Thrush, Zapoten, Dominican Republic (runners up White-fronted Quail-Dove and Spotted Rail)

4. Black-throated Shrike-Tanager, Yucatán, Mexico and runner up Altamira Yellowthroat, my final endemic Yellowthroat of Mexico and likely the least frequently seen

5. Thicket Antpitta, Rancho Naturalista, Costa Rica (runners up Ocellated Crake and Wrenthrush)

 

[hookem2010]

Birding was more limited for me this year than previous due to the arrival of my #1 mammal, my son. Even so, I had some good birds, all lifers for me.

5. American woodcock- The most expected bird on this list, but it was still incredible to head out to a restored prairie on my patch and watch their display flights at dawn.
4. White-winged scoter- One of my personal rarest finds, on a central TX lake. Just feet from shore and not at all skittish.
3. Fork-tailed flycatcher- A twitch to the county just north of me, the day after a 12-hour round-trip for my #1.
2. Bridled quail-dove- My #1 target on a babymoon to the USVI, and I saw 3!
1. Bat falcon- Woke up at 2 AM and carpooled from Austin to the Rio Grande Valley for the first ABA record of bat falcon. Good thing we didn't leave at 2:05, because someone drove past the bird and honked a minute after we arrived and it was not reported the rest of the day. Tracked down 6 additional lifers, including ABA code birds crimson-collared grosbeak and golden-crowned warbler before heading out and making it home around 1 AM.

 

[wolfbirder]

I only bird Western Palearctic in the main, and have decided to stick to that, though maybe Canada again one day.

Best 5 birds this year: -

1) Common Nighthawk - Wantage, Oxfordshire - best bird of the year for me, waited until it flew around at dusk, well worth it.

2) White-faced Storm Petrel - saw around 6 of these amazing little critters along with several Wilson's and many Band-rumped Petrels, and 2 Barolo's Shearwaters, on a physically-draining Lanzarote Pelagics tour to Banco de la Concepcion.

3) 12 Desertas Petrels (aka Fea's), 3 putative Zino's Petrels, and over 100 Bulwer's Petrels on a leisurely catamaran cruise from Funchal, Madeira to Desertas Islands. Also saw a Monk Seal, Flying fish, Loggerhead Turtle, and a Portuguese Man of War. Also saw the white silhouettes of about 10 Zino's on the night-time mountain walk in Pico do Arieiro.

4) Blackburnian Warbler - Bryher, IOS - cracking little bird at a great location.

5) Slender-billed Barn Owl - found a lovely bird around the fields and agricultural roads just outside Orzola on Lanzarote

 

[LittleBitOfBreadNoCheese]

1. Great Skuas on Hoy, my only new species of the year and completing the set of the 'Big 4' WP Skuas.
2. Great Northern Diver, Thurso harbour.
3. Hen Harrier over Forsinard (seen from the train).

 

[lockbreeze926]

Darrell - that shot of Portsoy featured heavily in the last season of Peaky Blinders, masquerading as St Pierre/Miquelon.