Top 5 of 2023 (3 Viewers)

[Larry Sweetland]

For me the birds have to include my two only lifers: Stejneger's Scoter and Canada Goose. Followed by my patch highlight mega: Little Ringed Plover, and finally scoring my two biggest patch bogey birds: Cuckoo and Grasshopper Warbler.

For non birds: Lesser Emperor dragonfly on patch, and ladybird find highlights: Horseshoe Ladybird (on patch) and Schmidt's Scymnus

 

[lgonz1008]

Two proper birding trips and extensively birded South Florida while guiding this year, still got over 500 lifers for the year, so it's hard to pick the highlights unless I go by location:

US (Florida and Texas):

1. Greater Roadrunner (Texas)
2. King Eider (Florida)
3. Red-throated Loon (Florida)
4. Red-crowned Parrot (Texas)
5. Red-legged Honeycreeper and American Flamingo (not lifers but self-found rarities in Florida)

Kenya (I already don't like this top 5 because I have 10 other contenders, but that's the result of a successful trip! Summary of this top 5: forest birding is tough, but the rewards feel so much better at times):

1. Golden-breasted Starling (Samburu)
2. Great Blue Turaco (Kakamega Forest)
3. Jameson's Wattle-eye (Kakamega Forest)
4. Bar-tailed Trogon (Kakamega Forest)
5. Silvery-cheeked Hornbill (Mt. Kenya)

Top 5 Mammals (I really made a top 5 and managed to not include some iconic mammals...it's all about the experience):

1. Leopard (Maasai Mara)
2. American Mink (Toronto)
3. Black Rhinoceros (Nairobi)
4. Cheetah (Maasai Mara)
5. Gerenuk (Samburu)

 

[hookem2010]

As a Texan, I just have to comment on how crazy and fun it is to see great-tailed grackle in somebody's top 5. They are a bit of a symbol of Austin, due to their ubiquity and endearing personalities. Truly the quintessential parking lot bird around here.
However, I've had eurasian wigeon and white wagtail on my top 5 lists in the past, which I'm sure seem equally mundane to many of you. This is one of the fun things about joining a site populated by many non-Americans. And I will say, the parulidae that made their way across the ocean are just as fun for us when they begin to arrive in the spring.

 

[Prestdj]

As a Texan, I just have to comment on how crazy and fun it is to see great-tailed grackle in somebody's top 5. They are a bit of a symbol of Austin, due to their ubiquity and endearing personalities. Truly the quintessential parking lot bird around here.
However, I've had eurasian wigeon and white wagtail on my top 5 lists in the past, which I'm sure seem equally mundane to many of you. This is one of the fun things about joining a site populated by many non-Americans. And I will say, the parulidae that made their way across the ocean are just as fun for us when they begin to arrive in the spring.

its a about birds in context for me ...................travelled to america a few times and been to 13 states the bird are great but even better this side of the pond

 

[kb57]

I've done so little birding this year I'm struggling to find a top five...

1. Iberian Green Woodpecker - Portugal: not only a lifer, a lifer seen from my apartment, and in juvenile plumage too - seen a couple more since too.
2. Canada Jay - Canada: not a lifer, and wouldn't normally put it ahead of the much sexier Steller's Jay, but wins my no. 2 spot on account of stealing someone's chip as they were about to put it in their mouth at Revelstoke - I like a bird with character!
3. Red-necked Nightjar - Portugal: I just really like nightjars, and it's great I seem to have found a reliable local site for this species.
4. Mountain Chickadee - Canada: one of my few lifers this year, a really nice looking little bird which partially makes up for not seeing a willow tit in UK (worryingly, as they're usually quite reliable where I stay)
5. Black-winged Kite - Portugal: saw a total of 4 birds across the course of the year, having only seen one before - still very special for me to see.

I've seen even fewer mammals, but my first ever Cougar is an easy no. 1 - although Mountain Goat is a worthy runner up (both from Canada); breaching Bottlenose Dolphins off St. Mary's Island, England were my only cetacean, and complete my top 3.

 

[Jonny721]

An amazing birding year during which I have apparently seen 838 species, of which 561 have been lifers, in large part down to my first two proper overseas birding trips - Costa Rica in February and Gambia in November. I will limit this top 5 to my UK highlights of the year, though I may do an international one in the coming days.

1. Bay-breasted Warbler. I think the 23rd September will feature in many 2023 highlight reels, and rightly so. Having seen the Magnolia Warbler the previous morning, the 23rd started off with the Alder Flycatcher on Skokholm, before racing round the coast to Ramsey for the Bay-breasted Warbler at lunchtime, and finishing off with the Canada Warbler late afternoon (managing good views after a couple of hours), a 3-lifer day in the UK! Perhaps controversially, the Bay-breasted Warbler was actually my favouite of the three warblers that weekend, a really beautiful little bird.

2. Stejneger's Scoter - A nice grip-back after dipping in Lothian at the end of 2022, my only dip that year, and even nicer to refind it on its first twitchable morning at Lower Largo, half a mile down the beach from where the rest of the crowd were searching. From the sublime to the surreal a couple of hours later when, back at the original viewpoint, I realised that there were two drake White-winged Scoters present as we were watching them simultaneously, part of a five-Scoter morning.

3. Grey-headed Lapwing - Just a stunning looking wader that showed fantastically well on the scrape at Low Newton-by-the-Sea on its first day.

4. Ptarmigan - Away from the rarities, my favourite birding encounters are often those where the birds are completely at ease with your presence, allowing for intimate views as they go about their natural behaviour. An encounter with a pair of Ptarmigan at Bealach na Bà in July perfectly encapsulated this, the birds feeding at literal touching distance from us for an extended period.

5. Red-necked Phalarope - Following the same theme as the Ptarmigan, a spur of the moment detour whilst travelling down the M1 one August evening resulted in point blank views of this juvenile Red-necked Phalarope at Kingsmill Reservoir, often too close to focus with my camera meaning I just sat back and watched it feed.

 

[01101001]

Away from the rarities, my favourite birding encounters are often those where the birds are completely at ease with your presence, allowing for intimate views as they go about their natural behaviour.

That's why I like passerines more than most other birds.

Stunning pictures!

 

[Stonefaction]

Should probably go with the one lifer I got this year (Blyth's Reed Warbler) but despite it singing a lot, I only had a few seconds worth of a decent view and a few rather more fleeting partial views as it skulked in the bushes and trees, so I'll go with some of my own 'self-found' birds within Dundee this year.

1119 : After Work Warbler. (2/6/23 & 3/6/23)

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

1. Pomarine Skua - Have had Bonxies and Arctic Skuas before over the Tay (and over the city, in the case of the Bonxie), but even so, I wasn't expecting a fully spooned adult Pomarine while out wandering in the summer. To make it even better, an Arctic Skua flew up to intercept it.

1133 : Jaeger Bombed! (26/7/23)

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

2. Ring Necked Duck - my local pond has some Tufted Ducks and I always look through them in the forlorn hope of finding a Scaup, Lesser Scaup or Ring Necked Duck - though more in hope than in any sort of realistic expectation. That was until February, when what appeared to be long-staying bird from a site in Fife, popped across for the day. Unfortunately, those who had to wait till the following day to catch up with it, were out of luck.

1074 : Swannies Surprise! (4/2/23)

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

3. Red Backed Shrike - Back before Riverside Nature Park opened, I thought it might prove to be a decent site for a Great Grey Shrike some winter. In 2013, a male Red Backed Shrike was found there by BF member Kawauser. And 10 years later, and just a few days before the Blyth's Reed Warbler showed up - about 100 metres further on), I managed to find one there too. It went missing for a few hours until I was pointing out where it had been, to a latecomer, who noticed it had actually returned again.

1117 : Swannies Saturday and a Sunday Surprise. (27/5/23 & 28/5/23)

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

4. Storm Petrel - Storm Babet's strong easterlies pushed a lot of seabirds into the Firth of Forth and I ventured out in the hope of finding something in the Tay. Within half a mile of the city centre, I spotted a Storm Petrel feeding close in to the seawall, just downriver from the Tay roadbridge.

1172 : Stormie Weather (20/10/23)

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

5. Little Auk - Things had calmed down a little by the following day, though it was still a bit wet and windy. I saw a potential Little Auk being carried downriver but I couldn't be sure (though pics later showed it actually had been one). Thankfully, all doubt was removed when one (same?) flew past much closer heading towards the roadbridge.

1173 : Another Little Surprise (21/10/23)

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

Supporting cast included Twite, Siberian Chiffchaff, Puffin, Red Kite, Whimbrel, Brent Goose, Raven.....

 

[edenwatcher]

A mixed year. I'll pick 5(ish) in chronological order.
I'll start with 3 birds that have already featured in this thread: the 3 alpine swifts near Dunbar in March. Daniel and I crossed the Forth to enjoy cracking views as they sped overhead - shame the light wasn't better.
My mother fell and broke her hip in February and succumbed to an infection in hospital just before Easter. I had seen her in hospital 2 days before and narrowly failed to make it back down to Lincolnshire in time to see her one last time. I could do little over Easter weekend so I went to Far Ings for some birding therapy. I was treated to the best views of bitterns that I have ever had. A real bittersweet moment that will live long in the memory.
My birthday at the end of April coincided with the scoterfest in Fife. A great morning with 5 scoter species topped by Stejneger's (plus an American wigeon later).
On our annual holiday near Fort William Daniel and I had a road trip to Ardnamurchan including super views of otter and with an eleventh hour save when the stunning Steppe grey shrike appeared on the fence in front of us.
I'm going to cheat for the last one and summarise it as small, stripey passerines! I had been spending a few days sorting my mum's house out coinciding with Storm Babet, so I missed the seabird bonanza in Fife. However we called in at Newbiggin on the way north and saw at least 10 grey phalaropes. However the show was stolen by the stunning firecrest in the car park. The following weekend I found my own firecrest - bizarrely hopping around on tarmac at Kilminning and to complete the stripeyness saw the same bird with a Pallas's warbler a couple of days later.

Rob

 

[cwpbirder]

Jealous. Just missed Pharaoh Eagle Owl there.

OK, my five for the world:

1. Hypocolius - Kuwait - December
2. Hylocitrea - Indonesia - July
3. Egyptian Plover - Ethiopia - November
4. Erect-crested Penguin - New Zealand - February
5. Black Crowned-crane - Ethiopia - November (my last crane).


For the ABA region:

1. Red-flanked Bluetail - Seen in New Jersey this morning. First record for the species anywhere on the east coast.
2. American Flamingo - Pennsylvania - September
3. Red-legged Kittiwake - Alaska - May
4. Eyebrowed Thrush - Alaska - May
5. Evening Grosbeak - New York - March

Jeff, well done on all the Cranes…… my last Crane a few years ago was Wattled Crane in Botswana.

 

[pbjosh]

I feel very fortunate looking back; I’ve had a tremendous year with a lot of travel, a lot of amazing time with friends, and a lot of nice birds! Hard to choose so I’ve kind of gone for the “lister’s selection” of the rarest / hardest and the “emotional choices” of my favorites… both of which exclude a lot that other people might consider the “best” but hey they’re my lists!

The rarest/hardest/most impressive from a global listing perspective:
Sooty Barbthroat - I don’t really know but I don’t think more than few dozen birders have seen this species; eBird records are dominated by the handful of local birders in Fr Guiana.
Rusty Tinamou - I really don’t know how many people have actually seen this bird. It’s not very accessible to birders in Brazil and not frequently seen anywhere, perhaps Fr Guiana is actually the best place to see it?
Long-billed Bush-Warbler - Recently “rediscovered” / a location for it found by James Eaton which prompted our very successful and very enjoyable PK trip.
White-throated Pewee - A cute little fat dumpling of a Pewee. I just don’t think many people try to see this bird, though it’s not hard if you get to where it is.
Golden-crowned Manakin - There’s currently an accessible lek for this bird but getting to Novo Progresso may or may not be worth it for what is honestly not an exciting Manakin

My personal favorites:
Band-tailed Antshrike - mega cool bird, one of the best Antbirds!
Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo - third time seeing this species, this time the amazonicus subspp so perhaps an armchair tick in the future?
Southern Ground-Hornbill - along with Helmeted Hornbill, this thing is surely a living dinosaur
Long-tailed Potoo - a bird I have looked for and wanted to see for a really long time, finally found one for great views
Orange Bullfinch - incredible bird, not much to add

Some of the birds that didn’t make the cut - feel free to laugh/cry/flame me for not including some of these: Kagu, White-winged Potoo, Pel’s Fishing-Owl, Blue Swallow, Araripe Manakin, Vulturine Parrot, Golden Parakeet, Bare-eyed Antbird, Capuchinbird, Mikado Pheasant, Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Purple-breasted Cotinga

 

[pbjosh]

3. Greater Roadrunner. A real bucket list bird. No photos as I was too busy horse hanging on. And also regretting the amount of jalapeños and beers I’d had the night before. But a morning to remember.

This is just a freaking awesome bird. If it were rare or in a hard to get to place it would be considered a global mega I’m convinced. It only “suffers” for being a bit widespread and common but it literally always makes me smile or makes my day to see one.

 

[pbjosh]

As a Texan, I just have to comment on how crazy and fun it is to see great-tailed grackle in somebody's top 5.

I’d say Great-tailed Grackle or Great Egret are the two that have most raised my eyebrows. Not criticizing, just reacting It’s great to see the different ways people rate / enjoy birds, honestly.

 

[Nightjar61]

Magnolia Warbler in the UK was mentioned a few times here. It’s a gorgeous bird, but it’s so common in the spring, summer, and fall that after a while I don’t appreciate it as much as I should.

It is neat, though, seeing people get so excited about a bird that’s common here but a mega there.

Dave

 

[pbjosh]

Magnolia Warbler in the UK was mentioned a few times here. It’s a gorgeous bird, but it’s so common in the spring, summer, and fall that after a while I don’t appreciate it as much as I should.

It is neat, though, seeing people get so excited about a bird that’s common here but a mega there.

Dave

Agreed. Twitching GT grackles, Great Egrets, Cattle Egrets though is mildly chuckle inducing.

I have a friend who is a twitcher and I am decidedly not. I give him hell for all the birds he twitches and he cannot believe I won’t bother to twitch a boring bird 30 mins from home 🤣

 

[pbjosh]

though to be fair I did recently consider renting a boat to twitch a Purple Heron and would have if I’d had enough time 🤣

 

[Rob Hunt]

1. Incredible views of 2 Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoos at an army ant swarm in Panama.
2. Ocellated Antbird, again at an ant swarm in Panama.
3. Black-crowned Antpitta, also in Panama.
4. Lekking Black-billed Capercaillies in Mongolia.
5. Pallid Harrier. Much closer to home at WWT Llanelli this morning. In June I had the frustration of watching a Pacific Golden Plover from the Carmarthenshire shore of the Burry Estuary, with the bird being on the Glamorgan side. It stubbornly remained on that side. The Pallid Harrier was initially seen on the Glamorgan side of the estuary, but made a brief appearance on the Carmarthenshire side on Sunday. This morning it gave prolonged views on our side before flying back into Glamorgan. It’s the first record for both counties. Many thanks to Bernie Beck for locating it on our side.

 

[Owene]

I’d say Great-tailed Grackle or Great Egret are the two that have most raised my eyebrows. Not criticizing, just reacting It’s great to see the different ways people rate / enjoy birds, honestly.

The grackle was a really cool bird to watch. I enjoyed watching boat tailed and common in Florida this summer too. Wouldn’t have gone for it if there wasn’t a legit tick 15 minutes away but it was fun

 

[Owene]

1. Incredible views of 2 Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoos at an army ant swarm in Panama.
2. Ocellated Antbird, again at an ant swarm in Panama.
3. Black-crowned Antpitta, also in Panama.
4. Lekking Black-billed Capercaillies in Mongolia.
5. Pallid Harrier. Much closer to home at WWT Llanelli this morning. In June I had the frustration of watching a Pacific Golden Plover from the Carmarthenshire shore of the Burry Estuary, with the bird being on the Glamorgan side. It stubbornly remained on that side. The Pallid Harrier was initially seen on the Glamorgan side of the estuary, but made a brief appearance on the Carmarthenshire side on Sunday. This morning it gave prolonged views on our side before flying back into Glamorgan. It’s the first record for both counties. Many thanks to Bernie Beck for locating it on our side.

Was so happy seeing in twitter Bernie had had it from the British steel hide. He’s put the work in on that bird

 

[David_]

After reading this thread over the last couple of days I thought I had my top 5 ready to post once I find a little bit of time at the weekend. Little did I know, Christmas came early this year as today brought a new number one bird for the year:

1. Wallcreeper: I don't know why but yesterday evening I had the idea to search if there are some wintering wallcreeper north of the alps. Turned out that there is one at a castle ruin right next to the Rhine and even better it's easily reachable from Düsseldorf by train (I don't have a car so I can't twitch a lot of birds even if I want to). Took the train at 6:30 arrived at 10:00. The wallcreeper had just appeared from some wehere in the ruin and gave an amazing show just 20 meters in front of a small group of birders.
2. Bird migration in Falsterbo: Feels a bit like cheating as this is not a single bird but this was my first visit to a migration hotspot. As I was there for the first weekend of October I was too late for Raptor migration but the sheer number of migrating passerines was absolutely mind-blowing. Not much to see in terms of rarities but standing all morning in a never ending stream of birds more than made up for this. Highlights are a Spotted Nutcracker and Pallid x Hen Harrier hybrid.
3. Heligoland: My first trip to Heligoland and I am 100% sure I will be be back next year (and probably the years after that). Besides lots of amazing birds and a couple of lifers I really liked the atmosphere and getting to know other birders and meet up with a few I already knew. Lifers included Greater short-toed lark, Red-flanked Bluetail, Pied Wheatear, Hume's Warbler, Little Bunting, Yellow-browed Warbler and Germany's 1st Amur Stonechat (if accepted). Had to leave a day earlier because of a storm which cost me a couple more lifers but I don't care too much as it was an amazing trip.
4. Black-winged Pratincole: Twitched the bird by train and spend a a couple of hours watching it hunting insects on the wing.
5. local waders: Düsseldorf is not a good place to see the waders. Besides Snipes, Little Ringed Plovers and the occasional Dunlins and Redshanks along the Rhine there are basically no waders to see. In spring I put in the effort to visit the retention basin next to the Düsseldorf airport nearly daily after work in hope to find some waders. Besides the common Snipes I found Black-tailed Godwit, Spotted-Redshand, Ruff, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper and Redshank.

Mammals highlights:

1. A fox cub playing on a trail just in front of me while it mother observed me carefully from the bushes along the trail but decided that it was okay for me to kneel and watch. One of the best wildlife encounters of my life. Truly magical. Even better this happened just a 20 minutes walk from my apartment while I was out looking for stag beetles and it was the most successful evening for stag beetles I had till now. Found at least 80 beetles
2. Hamster: went on a trip to Vienna and Lake Neusiedl in summer. The Hamsters were the clear highlight of the trip but Vienna in general is an amazing city to watch wildlife. Highlights besides the Hamsters included European Pond Turtle, White-backed Woodpecker, Red-breasted flycatcher, Balkan Goldenring
3. Sousliks: On the same trip I visited the the Sousliks at Sankt Andrä am Zicksee
4. local beaver: finally managed to see one of the local beavers a few weeks ago. Since last year there have been a couple of sightings and this year they started breeding. Took me couple of visits to finally see one of them, a large adult.