14th Nov
By late August, I was thinking that 200 was probably beyond me. By the end of September, I had accepted that I was bust. Sitting offshore, I had watched too many reports as target birds passed through my local area. Birds that I had missed for the same reason in the Spring, now took advantage of my absence in the Autumn. I had calculated at the beginning of the year, that I would need in the region of 30 lifers. I am currently on 21.
This year has by no means been a disaster. In fact it has been a great year. Strangely enough, it has not been the real rarities that have let me down, such as Red-Crested Pochard, Sooty Tern and yesterday's Hoopoe. It is some of the scarce but gettable birds like Bearded Reedling, Yellow Wagtail and Black Tern that have inflicted much pain on me, despite great effort.
I am not sure that 200 in a year will ever be possible on an offshore rota, unless I travel much further afield, but I look forward to trying again next year. As for this year, I'll keep trying, just to see how close I can get.:t:
Montrose Basin
185. Hoopoe