Bewick
Connoisseur of WTL
Extremely jealous, is the area a reliable place for wallcreepers?
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Top 5 of 2023 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ClarkWGriswold
- Start date
No, most of the time wallcreepers stick to the south of Germany even when they winter at lower altitudes. But every few years one is found wintering along the Rhine ether in a quarry or at one of the many castles. Sometimes they stay just for a couple of days sometimes for a couple of weeks. Most of the time the views are quite distant so I was lucky to not only see my first wallcreeper but also to get close views of the bird feeding and also taking a sand bath on a small ledge of the castle walls
Amazing collection of highlights. Would love to do that Vienna trip. Were the woodpeckers easy in the city?
They are at Lainzer Tiergarten which is a large parc. I didn‘t know the exact area where the woodpeckers can be found so I started at 8 in the morning and wandered around till early afternoon. At noon I found an area which looked good as there were a lot of old and some of dead trees. After a few minutes I heard a White-backed woodpecker calling and waited for the woodpecker to come closer and 10 minutes later it landed 20 meters in front of me on a dead tree which was laying on the ground. So not easy but doable. If you are planning to go there I can look up the GPS coordinates where I found the woodpecker.
Spending half a day there was totally worth it though. While I was waiting for the woodpecker to come closer I found the Red-breasted flycatcher. And besides the birds Lainzer Tiergarten had large numbers of butterflies, the Balkan Goldenring (but had to watch closely as most Goldenrings were Cordulegaster bidentata), fire salamander and Wild Boar with piglets. As far as I know there are also Ural owls in the Parc but as it is closed after dark there is basically no chance to find them.
Besides Lainzer Tiergarten and the Hamsters at the cementeries the Nationalpark Donau-Auen (Danube national parc) was amazing as well. Vienna is a top destination as it combines Wildlife and culture and everything is reachable by public transportation (which is quite cheap: 17€ for a full week using tram and busses in the city).
Bewick
Connoisseur of WTL
5- Went for waxwings earlier this week and sadly dipped on two groups (Hertford and colchester). So today, around 2pm, I had just been dropped off at my mums house when a group of 14 were reported in the area. Sent text to my dad and luckily he had stopped nearby and he quickly turned back picked me up and we arrived about 10 minutes later. When we arrived, the flock was immediately noticeable. My dad quickly parked the car and we spent about an hour and half just watching the group fly back and forward from the antenna the group was perched on to a small rowan tree. Such a beautiful species, glad to have finally seen this species.
Attachments
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
A great end to the year! - congratulations Bewick
Frank van Drogen
Not so important
Always difficult to choose 
5. Purple Heron. I saw a number of breeding Purple Herons from an observation platform in the Netherlands this spring. They were really nice looking, and rather active.
4. Osprey. Being somewhat new at birding more seriously, I was actually biking through a national park during the same trip to the Netherlands this spring, when I saw a large, white raptor hovering over a small lake. It was an awesome looking bird, but I had no clue what it was. Figured it out fast enough once I was back home with some field guides.
3. Turtle Dove. Collared doves are a dime a dozen where we live in Zurich, hence I weas lazy putting my bins on one I thought to see in the distance while at our place in France. Happy I did try anyway, because it was a beautiful Turtle Dove. Later in summer I realized that some most have bred on or near our property, since there were some juveniles around.
2. Long-tailed Tits. So cute and fun to watch
1. Snipe. This fall we had some Snipe near one of the ponds at our place here in France. A lifer for me, and a pleasure to observe them and see them several days in a row.
5. Purple Heron. I saw a number of breeding Purple Herons from an observation platform in the Netherlands this spring. They were really nice looking, and rather active.
4. Osprey. Being somewhat new at birding more seriously, I was actually biking through a national park during the same trip to the Netherlands this spring, when I saw a large, white raptor hovering over a small lake. It was an awesome looking bird, but I had no clue what it was. Figured it out fast enough once I was back home with some field guides.
3. Turtle Dove. Collared doves are a dime a dozen where we live in Zurich, hence I weas lazy putting my bins on one I thought to see in the distance while at our place in France. Happy I did try anyway, because it was a beautiful Turtle Dove. Later in summer I realized that some most have bred on or near our property, since there were some juveniles around.
2. Long-tailed Tits. So cute and fun to watch
1. Snipe. This fall we had some Snipe near one of the ponds at our place here in France. A lifer for me, and a pleasure to observe them and see them several days in a row.
Warixenjalka
Birdwitcher
Difficult indeed. But at this moment I go with these great moments in nature. On some other day I might put on that list 4 bats (3 Northern bats and 1 Myotis) circled above my head. Or Collared Dove or Great Grey Owl in my patch (see patch-thread), both eco-lifers.
5. I'm so lucky that I being payed for watching birds and other nature. Some call it work 😁.
Anyway, again this summer I had a priviledge to watch the Ospreys raise their chicks until they were able to fly from nest.
4. Again at "work": I watched playing Sparrowhawk. Merlin and two Hen Harriers. They are so acrobatic fliers. Sprawk and one young Hen harrier were on same place several days and sometimes it was hard to say who was bullying who.
3. At the turn of August and September I took a one-week trip to Northern Norway. Lots of birds (but no lifers) and two mammal-lifers: Harbor Seal and Harbour Porpoise.
2. In 2023 I got only 2 lifers (from birds): Sociable Plover and Greater Shearwater. Latter was my first Shearwater species and first GS in Finland, so that was especially great moment.
1. The last great moment wasn't bird. And it wasn't a rare species neither (but not quite an everyday acquaintance either). I was driving home from work (again work related thing) when I noticed that Otter lumbering in middle of the road against me. I stopped car to take few photos from it. After hopping out, I looked around but didn't saw Otter anywhere. Something make me to look under the car and there it was - young Otter. And it wasn't willing to get out from under the car, not at all. I have to work about 15 minutes until I was able to lure it away from the car. But hey, what I mumbling here - you can watched it yourself:
At some point I started to be despair, but it was a absolutely amazing experience 😄
5. I'm so lucky that I being payed for watching birds and other nature. Some call it work 😁.
Anyway, again this summer I had a priviledge to watch the Ospreys raise their chicks until they were able to fly from nest.
4. Again at "work": I watched playing Sparrowhawk. Merlin and two Hen Harriers. They are so acrobatic fliers. Sprawk and one young Hen harrier were on same place several days and sometimes it was hard to say who was bullying who.
3. At the turn of August and September I took a one-week trip to Northern Norway. Lots of birds (but no lifers) and two mammal-lifers: Harbor Seal and Harbour Porpoise.
2. In 2023 I got only 2 lifers (from birds): Sociable Plover and Greater Shearwater. Latter was my first Shearwater species and first GS in Finland, so that was especially great moment.
1. The last great moment wasn't bird. And it wasn't a rare species neither (but not quite an everyday acquaintance either). I was driving home from work (again work related thing) when I noticed that Otter lumbering in middle of the road against me. I stopped car to take few photos from it. After hopping out, I looked around but didn't saw Otter anywhere. Something make me to look under the car and there it was - young Otter. And it wasn't willing to get out from under the car, not at all. I have to work about 15 minutes until I was able to lure it away from the car. But hey, what I mumbling here - you can watched it yourself:
cwpbirder
Well-known member
Two trips to Scilly (UK) for me this year and 2 really memorable birding experiences…….
1. An August boat trip out to Bishop lighthouse west of Scilly, and relief and excitement that the Red-footed Booby was still present perched on the light. Disbelief and much more excitement when, unbelievably, a Brown Booby was then discovered, perched at the base of the tower - 2 very rare tropical seabirds together, and in the UK……
2. Standing on a beach on Bryher in November, and watching Britain’s third, subtly beautiful Cape May Warbler feeding very actively in the pittosporum (with just 6 other birders).
1. An August boat trip out to Bishop lighthouse west of Scilly, and relief and excitement that the Red-footed Booby was still present perched on the light. Disbelief and much more excitement when, unbelievably, a Brown Booby was then discovered, perched at the base of the tower - 2 very rare tropical seabirds together, and in the UK……
2. Standing on a beach on Bryher in November, and watching Britain’s third, subtly beautiful Cape May Warbler feeding very actively in the pittosporum (with just 6 other birders).
5. I suppose seeing my first wallcreeper in Catalunya back in April (seems so long ago now) would have to figure. What a frickin' neat bird though.
4. Goshawks in Berlin. Truly stunning creatures, and to get brilliant views at short distance to these birds that are so habituated to humans was the absolute cherry on the cake.
3. finding the resident female peregrine I'd been watching for the last few years on my annual visits to Singapore on my very first look around. I suppose that might not have been terribly exceptional, but seeing a second bird, a tiercel, whiz through my field of view shortly afterwards was great - confirming there was a pair in that territory again. Not likely to be successful without some human assistance (gravel-filled tray) though...
2. The same tiercel hunting over the river shortly after sunrise, nailing a swift (I think - he made a sudden direction change and his target only appeared in my field of view for a second before he caught it). My 100th observation of a successful hunt by a wild peregrine.
1. seeing an adult male hobby capture a swift on a very windy day in August. The agility from both birds was truly something to behind. As marvellous as anything I've ever seen, and best of all, less than 40 minutes' walk from my London flat.
4. Goshawks in Berlin. Truly stunning creatures, and to get brilliant views at short distance to these birds that are so habituated to humans was the absolute cherry on the cake.
3. finding the resident female peregrine I'd been watching for the last few years on my annual visits to Singapore on my very first look around. I suppose that might not have been terribly exceptional, but seeing a second bird, a tiercel, whiz through my field of view shortly afterwards was great - confirming there was a pair in that territory again. Not likely to be successful without some human assistance (gravel-filled tray) though...
2. The same tiercel hunting over the river shortly after sunrise, nailing a swift (I think - he made a sudden direction change and his target only appeared in my field of view for a second before he caught it). My 100th observation of a successful hunt by a wild peregrine.
1. seeing an adult male hobby capture a swift on a very windy day in August. The agility from both birds was truly something to behind. As marvellous as anything I've ever seen, and best of all, less than 40 minutes' walk from my London flat.
Paul Chapman
Well-known member
On my patch, Black-necked Grebe was a patch tick & Penduline Tit upgraded a frustrating previous heard only patch record. For my British & Irish list, a remarkable eight species stand the chance of making the grade through the various committees – Grey-headed Lapwing, Black-winged Kite, Scopoli’s Shearwater, Red-footed Booby, Tennessee Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler & Red-headed Bunting (an upgrade). Great-tailed Grackle stands no chance but was fun & is a species adapting to its manmade environment by hitchhiking its way around the globe. None of those made my top five but I was very tempted particularly with the Booby & Bay-breasted Warbler. With that list now in the mid-580s, 600 awaits this decade with a fair wind even with priorities elsewhere, a few fallow years & some inevitable misses to come..…
For my Western Palearctic list, five of those eight British & Irish ticks were also WP ticks. I also made efforts to catch up with Marsh, Maghreb & Pharoah Eagle Owls, Atlas Wheatear, Atlas Flycatcher & Rock Partridge & Category C frivolity included Orange-cheeked & Black-rumped Waxbills. So at the end of the year, my WP list (on an IOC basis & traditional BWP boundaries) sat at 834 species. I ought to tick that up to in excess of 850 species at some point. Much higher would mean an Egyptian trip where c20 additions await. Again, none of those WP ticks made my top five. My travelling companion who shared seven hours’ effort over two days on getting my Orange-cheeked Waxbill pic will be particularly disappointed. He has no real interest in Category C WP nonsense but had got some proper ticks out of that Spanish trip. That effort pushed him very close to the edge… 😊
The main focus of my year was spreading my wings a bit more outside of the WP. My first visit to Central America (c15 days in Costa Rica), a trip to Ontario & Michigan (c15 days), my first visit to South America (c30 days in Peru) & my first visit to Australasia (over 40 days in Australia, New Zealand South Island & the Subantarctic Islands). At the end of the year, my 2023 yearlist was in excess of 2,000 species of which I have photographed in excess of 1,750. I will verify that before the usual New Year’s Day Patch Bash. Over 1,500 of those species were new. A steep learning curve.
A few phone pics of a monumental year – dawn at Point Pelee (19th May), the Andes (21st August), Bishop Rock twitch – solo at sunset (14th September), St Kilda twitch (16th September). Ramsay Island – a lowlight with the RSPB pretending for two days, the island was inaccessible & then arranging a police presence (23rd September), Deniliquin sunset (18th November), Macquarie Island (10th December), Aurora australis (14th December), Chatham Island Robin twitch – my rarest bird of the year (17th December) & Sweetwater Reserve Chatham Islands – highlight of the year with inspirational pragmatic & proactive conservation engaged with the local community – the opposite of our British conservation organisations & failures (18th December).
A few pics of some of the other wildlife along the way with particular highlights in the Subantarctic Islands & Peru – Leopard Seal (7th December Snares Islands), Killer Whale (10th December Macquarie Islands) & Emperor Tamarin, Giant River Otter & Black Caiman (6th September Peru).
My Top Five in the end were split between Peru and my Australia, New Zealand and Subantarctic Islands trip. What became very obvious to me in this process is that I identify the bird and the image as a collective experience as part of the highlight:-
5 – Long-tailed Potoo (1st September) – an adult & a chick hiding in plain sight by impersonating a branch. It was our last day travelling along the Manu & it required travelling by boat the wrong way through biblical conditions for about an hour in what was essentially a twitch. It would have been easy to have decided against that effort. But we pressed on & when we found it, it really was one of those occasions when the distance, the effort & the rain did not matter. A truly remarkable example of nature and evolution & when the chick shuffled out to drink some falling rain drops, it was also ridiculously cute. 😊
4 – King Penguin (10th December) – my first ever penguins in 2023 with ten species in the end. King Penguin is one of the absolutely iconic species. A privilege to visit the awesome spectacle of Macquarie Island, Tasmania, Australia on the Heritage Adventurer in December. 100,000 breeding birds. The sheer drama and noise of the larger Royal Penguin colonies running King Penguin very close for selection but at the end of the day, you just had to pick a classic penguin.
3 – Plains-wanderer (18th November) – again, this is totally iconic. It does not really represent any larger group albeit in its absence, I may have been tempted to include another wader (“Shorebird”). 106 ‘wader’ species seen in 2023. I am getting a total of 245 extant wader species on an IOC basis? Less than 100 of those to see now. My other wader favourites in the year were Black Stilt & Australian Pratincole but definitely some key remaining targets for future years with Ibisbill & Egyptian Plover. Plains-wanderer was of course seen whilst guided by the equally iconic Phil Maher – folks.
2 – Hoatzin (30th August) – I travelled in Peru with an experienced guide & an experienced traveller to the country. Hoatzin is a common enough species within its range so both of them were quite blasé to my first. But to be blunt, that experience reflected part of my distance to the numbers game of world birding. You can get excited about your ant somethings or your bamboo specialists but just look at this f###ing bird. How extraordinary is that !?!?! Looking at the pic, I want to see another one now just to check that they really look like that. 😊 Very close to bird of the year for me irrespective of its status.
1 – Light-mantled Albatross (13th December) – such a majestic species. In the end, I saw over a hundred of these beauties over eight consecutive days. Seabirds like waders (Shorebirds) fire my imagination. I am sure that both of those groups have a lot to do with the first two 1980s Helm guides. I have never felt the same about Wildfowl – the third of those early guides. Too many in captivity & too many escapes I suppose? 😊 Peter Harrison was on the Heritage Adventurer trip & the manner in which he speaks about his love of seabirds should inspire the generations. A link to one talk of his here… A Whole World of Seabirds with Peter Harrison - American Birding Association (aba.org) About 150 of his original rather eclectic 1980s “seabird” selection seen during the year. About 50% of that original book. Light-mantled Albatross was both the most beautiful & graceful. Every single one delivered. Peter Harrison said that he would like to spend the last afternoon of his life with Light-mantled Albatross. Good enough for him. Good enough for me. My bird of the year.
More of my bird pics can be found here – Paul's 2023 Photographic World List | BirdForum – and also my Top Twenty – Paul's 2023 Photographic World List | Page 19 | BirdForum
It has been the best year of my life from a birding perspective but I intend to make it typical of as many years as I can in the future! I need to review my plans for 2024. 😊
All the best
Paul
For my Western Palearctic list, five of those eight British & Irish ticks were also WP ticks. I also made efforts to catch up with Marsh, Maghreb & Pharoah Eagle Owls, Atlas Wheatear, Atlas Flycatcher & Rock Partridge & Category C frivolity included Orange-cheeked & Black-rumped Waxbills. So at the end of the year, my WP list (on an IOC basis & traditional BWP boundaries) sat at 834 species. I ought to tick that up to in excess of 850 species at some point. Much higher would mean an Egyptian trip where c20 additions await. Again, none of those WP ticks made my top five. My travelling companion who shared seven hours’ effort over two days on getting my Orange-cheeked Waxbill pic will be particularly disappointed. He has no real interest in Category C WP nonsense but had got some proper ticks out of that Spanish trip. That effort pushed him very close to the edge… 😊
The main focus of my year was spreading my wings a bit more outside of the WP. My first visit to Central America (c15 days in Costa Rica), a trip to Ontario & Michigan (c15 days), my first visit to South America (c30 days in Peru) & my first visit to Australasia (over 40 days in Australia, New Zealand South Island & the Subantarctic Islands). At the end of the year, my 2023 yearlist was in excess of 2,000 species of which I have photographed in excess of 1,750. I will verify that before the usual New Year’s Day Patch Bash. Over 1,500 of those species were new. A steep learning curve.
A few phone pics of a monumental year – dawn at Point Pelee (19th May), the Andes (21st August), Bishop Rock twitch – solo at sunset (14th September), St Kilda twitch (16th September). Ramsay Island – a lowlight with the RSPB pretending for two days, the island was inaccessible & then arranging a police presence (23rd September), Deniliquin sunset (18th November), Macquarie Island (10th December), Aurora australis (14th December), Chatham Island Robin twitch – my rarest bird of the year (17th December) & Sweetwater Reserve Chatham Islands – highlight of the year with inspirational pragmatic & proactive conservation engaged with the local community – the opposite of our British conservation organisations & failures (18th December).
A few pics of some of the other wildlife along the way with particular highlights in the Subantarctic Islands & Peru – Leopard Seal (7th December Snares Islands), Killer Whale (10th December Macquarie Islands) & Emperor Tamarin, Giant River Otter & Black Caiman (6th September Peru).
My Top Five in the end were split between Peru and my Australia, New Zealand and Subantarctic Islands trip. What became very obvious to me in this process is that I identify the bird and the image as a collective experience as part of the highlight:-
5 – Long-tailed Potoo (1st September) – an adult & a chick hiding in plain sight by impersonating a branch. It was our last day travelling along the Manu & it required travelling by boat the wrong way through biblical conditions for about an hour in what was essentially a twitch. It would have been easy to have decided against that effort. But we pressed on & when we found it, it really was one of those occasions when the distance, the effort & the rain did not matter. A truly remarkable example of nature and evolution & when the chick shuffled out to drink some falling rain drops, it was also ridiculously cute. 😊
4 – King Penguin (10th December) – my first ever penguins in 2023 with ten species in the end. King Penguin is one of the absolutely iconic species. A privilege to visit the awesome spectacle of Macquarie Island, Tasmania, Australia on the Heritage Adventurer in December. 100,000 breeding birds. The sheer drama and noise of the larger Royal Penguin colonies running King Penguin very close for selection but at the end of the day, you just had to pick a classic penguin.
3 – Plains-wanderer (18th November) – again, this is totally iconic. It does not really represent any larger group albeit in its absence, I may have been tempted to include another wader (“Shorebird”). 106 ‘wader’ species seen in 2023. I am getting a total of 245 extant wader species on an IOC basis? Less than 100 of those to see now. My other wader favourites in the year were Black Stilt & Australian Pratincole but definitely some key remaining targets for future years with Ibisbill & Egyptian Plover. Plains-wanderer was of course seen whilst guided by the equally iconic Phil Maher – folks.
2 – Hoatzin (30th August) – I travelled in Peru with an experienced guide & an experienced traveller to the country. Hoatzin is a common enough species within its range so both of them were quite blasé to my first. But to be blunt, that experience reflected part of my distance to the numbers game of world birding. You can get excited about your ant somethings or your bamboo specialists but just look at this f###ing bird. How extraordinary is that !?!?! Looking at the pic, I want to see another one now just to check that they really look like that. 😊 Very close to bird of the year for me irrespective of its status.
1 – Light-mantled Albatross (13th December) – such a majestic species. In the end, I saw over a hundred of these beauties over eight consecutive days. Seabirds like waders (Shorebirds) fire my imagination. I am sure that both of those groups have a lot to do with the first two 1980s Helm guides. I have never felt the same about Wildfowl – the third of those early guides. Too many in captivity & too many escapes I suppose? 😊 Peter Harrison was on the Heritage Adventurer trip & the manner in which he speaks about his love of seabirds should inspire the generations. A link to one talk of his here… A Whole World of Seabirds with Peter Harrison - American Birding Association (aba.org) About 150 of his original rather eclectic 1980s “seabird” selection seen during the year. About 50% of that original book. Light-mantled Albatross was both the most beautiful & graceful. Every single one delivered. Peter Harrison said that he would like to spend the last afternoon of his life with Light-mantled Albatross. Good enough for him. Good enough for me. My bird of the year.
More of my bird pics can be found here – Paul's 2023 Photographic World List | BirdForum – and also my Top Twenty – Paul's 2023 Photographic World List | Page 19 | BirdForum
It has been the best year of my life from a birding perspective but I intend to make it typical of as many years as I can in the future! I need to review my plans for 2024. 😊
All the best
Paul
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M02 Killer Whale.JPG -
M03 Emperor Tamarin.JPG -
M04 Giant River Otter.JPG -
M05 Black Caiman.JPG -
A05 Long-tailed Potoo.jpg -
A04 King Penguin.jpg -
A03 Plains-wanderer.jpg -
A02 Hoatzin.jpg -
A01 Light-mantled Albatross.jpg -
M01 Leopard Seal.JPG -
2023.12.18 Sweetwater Reserve.jpg -
2023.05.19 Point Pelee.jpg -
2023.08.21 Andes.jpg -
2023.09.14 Bishop Rock.jpg -
2023.09.16 St Kilda.jpg -
2023.09.23 Ramsay Island.jpg -
2023.11.18 Deniliquin.jpg -
2023.12.10 Macquarie Island.jpg -
2023.12.14 Aurora australis.jpg -
2023.12.17 Chatham Island Robin Twitch.jpg
foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member
Jeff Hopkins
Just another...observer
Indeed. Well done, Paul.
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
From the sublime to the mundane , before the year started I imagined that my Top 5 birds would all come from our only trip abroad this year, to Georgia (via our friends in Armenia) at the very beginning of March. But although the visit indeed yielded my only ticks of 2023 (only four in the end) I include only one in my selection, in admiration of its sheer beauty and tough constitution living in the Caucasus mountains.
5 Black Grouse
Discovering that I could watch displaying and fighting males from the house was thrilling.
4 Black (Cinereous/Monk?) Vulture
After beginning to doubt my identification skills in recent years when other birders were reporting the species locally while all I was seeing were Griffon on our nearby mountains, 2023 saw me redeemed, I actually managed to spot at least three different individuals during the summer, profiting from the leftovers provided by the increasing Grey Wolf population hereabouts.
3 Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush
Several entertaining sightings of this colourful summer visitor, including song flights and territory protection against Cuckoo and Red-billed Chough intruders and also featuring in the next species’ choice.
2 Peregrine
In over 7 years at our current place I have seen just one female, a juvenile one summer, despite males being almost monthly in appearance. So seeing a big juvenile and smaller male juvenile siblings play fighting and calling around a mountain pass on the longest of our summer hikes a few kms from home was great to see, capped by the female breaking off from the games to swoop down and narrowly miss catching a food carrying male Rock Thrush.
1 Guldenstadt’s Redstart
What a smart bird, incongruous colours in a wintry monochrome landscape.
, before the year started I imagined that my Top 5 birds would all come from our only trip abroad this year, to Georgia (via our friends in Armenia) at the very beginning of March. But although the visit indeed yielded my only ticks of 2023 (only four in the end) I include only one in my selection, in admiration of its sheer beauty and tough constitution living in the Caucasus mountains.5 Black Grouse
Discovering that I could watch displaying and fighting males from the house was thrilling.
4 Black (Cinereous/Monk?) Vulture
After beginning to doubt my identification skills in recent years when other birders were reporting the species locally while all I was seeing were Griffon on our nearby mountains, 2023 saw me redeemed, I actually managed to spot at least three different individuals during the summer, profiting from the leftovers provided by the increasing Grey Wolf population hereabouts.
3 Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush
Several entertaining sightings of this colourful summer visitor, including song flights and territory protection against Cuckoo and Red-billed Chough intruders and also featuring in the next species’ choice.
2 Peregrine
In over 7 years at our current place I have seen just one female, a juvenile one summer, despite males being almost monthly in appearance. So seeing a big juvenile and smaller male juvenile siblings play fighting and calling around a mountain pass on the longest of our summer hikes a few kms from home was great to see, capped by the female breaking off from the games to swoop down and narrowly miss catching a food carrying male Rock Thrush.
1 Guldenstadt’s Redstart
What a smart bird, incongruous colours in a wintry monochrome landscape.
PaulCountyDurham
Well-known member
1. Male Blackbird. In a league of his own.
2. The bold and brave Mistle Thrush currently sat in a tree over the road who chases anything that dares to encroach on his patch, including crows.
3. The Robin.
4. Stonechat. Beautiful little birds going around joined at the hip.
5. Take your pick, one of hundreds, maybe the male Pied Flycatcher with his beautiful song.
Paul Chapman
Well-known member
From the sublime to the mundane
5 Black Grouse
Discovering that I could watch displaying and fighting males from the house was thrilling.
4 Black (Cinereous/Monk?) Vulture
After beginning to doubt my identification skills in recent years when other birders were reporting the species locally while all I was seeing were Griffon on our nearby mountains, 2023 saw me redeemed, I actually managed to spot at least three different individuals during the summer, profiting from the leftovers provided by the increasing Grey Wolf population hereabouts.
3 Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush
Several entertaining sightings of this colourful summer visitor, including song flights and territory protection against Cuckoo and Red-billed Chough intruders and also featuring in the next species’ choice.
2 Peregrine
In over 7 years at our current place I have seen just one female, a juvenile one summer, despite males being almost monthly in appearance. So seeing a big juvenile and smaller male juvenile siblings play fighting and calling around a mountain pass on the longest of our summer hikes a few kms from home was great to see, capped by the female breaking off from the games to swoop down and narrowly miss catching a food carrying male Rock Thrush.
1 Guldenstadt’s Redstart
What a smart bird, incongruous colours in a wintry monochrome landscape.
Gripped by the Redstart. Embryonic plans for an attempt in 2024........
All the best
Paul
A tough choice this year, I've had to leave out some good bird lifers (Little Bunting, Pacific Golden Plover and Eleonora's Falcon amongst others) not to mention a whole array of butterflies and Violet Dropwing but here goes:
5) This would have been the pick of a good year for herps beating Eastern Slow Worm, Yellow-bellied Toad Greek Stream and Perez's Water Frogs, but eventually got bumped down a place by No. 4 Leopard Snake
4) Tagged along on a trip with some English herpers, one of whom was only one species short of having photographed every European snake. Sadly (and somewhat surprisingly) we didn't find Blotched Snake, but did find probably Europe's rarest Reddish Whip Snake
3) Only a year tick for me but the euphoria after getting my two customers and my friend's (who had been all over Europe in search of it) clients on to it will live long in the memory. Wallcreeper
2) Balearic Warbler on Mallorca.
1) Finally connected with this bird at the fifth attempt and on our last morning on the island. Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch
5) This would have been the pick of a good year for herps beating Eastern Slow Worm, Yellow-bellied Toad Greek Stream and Perez's Water Frogs, but eventually got bumped down a place by No. 4 Leopard Snake
4) Tagged along on a trip with some English herpers, one of whom was only one species short of having photographed every European snake. Sadly (and somewhat surprisingly) we didn't find Blotched Snake, but did find probably Europe's rarest Reddish Whip Snake
3) Only a year tick for me but the euphoria after getting my two customers and my friend's (who had been all over Europe in search of it) clients on to it will live long in the memory. Wallcreeper
2) Balearic Warbler on Mallorca.
1) Finally connected with this bird at the fifth attempt and on our last morning on the island. Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch
