Birding Through 2014

Hello readers this is it the final post that 2014 has to offer from this blog. And as I do every year it's an overview of the year I have had in birding terms, what new species have I got in the bag? What were my best moments? Well this post is the answer to those questions. Like I do every year I will go through my lifers from 2014 and the stories behind them, you may remember some of these stories so have a read through and enjoy. I hope everyone has a happy new year and a happy birding through 2015!

So what was the first lifer I got in 2014 lets have a look back a walk down memory lane is due I feel. Well I had to refer back to my life list for this one it was actually the Yellow Browed Warbler at Uffmoor Wood, I saw it back in February its very strange because this doesn't feel like it was that long ago but it was. The wood was in a terrible state as I remember thick mud everywhere we walked pretty much all the way round the entire wood and finally managed to see the bird where it was originally spotted, however the amount of effort was worth it seen as we had stunning views of it, a bird with yellow eye brows something I will always remember.

Where to next I hear you ask, well we have a more common species coming up now but a good one that I wanted to see for a quite a while but never actually got round to seeing. The Kittiwake is what I am referring to my first and currently only Kittiwake was seen as Chasewater, we thought we were going to be sitting around for hours looking for it but then we spotted the bird right in front of us very close in showing very well! My first Kittiwake seen at our favorite gull watching scene.

My first Kittiwake, Chasewater. 

Where do we move next with this post well over to Warwickshire two lifers in one day on this occasion one of the best birding days of the year. We firstly took a long drive over to Morton Baggot, with the help of the Morton Baggot Birder and a few others we got the location correct and we were on our way to see a Green Winged Teal the bird had been there fore a while when we arrived but that didn't matter if we saw it. On arrival we found the right area pretty quickly and managed to get good views of the bird which was with a group of Teal. After seeing the Teal we decided to head to another location to see a stunning species I had never seen a Firecrest we managed to see the bird but very briefly however it was pretty close so the views were very good when we got them, as I am sure you know these birds are very quick moving so it was harder to get good views for long.

On to the 10/04 now and in Staffordshire, John Holian gave me a call on this day and we went up to Belvide for a look at a stunning species of Grebe that being the Slavonian Grebe in winter plumage these birds are a little less colorful however this bird was pretty much in full summer plumage and looked stunning, it showed relatively well but this guy over here didn't bring his camera along so no pictures of this stunning bird. A species that evaded me for a quite long time was the Arctic Tern however while up in the Clent Hills we heard a bit of news from a couple of other birders that was promising on the 23/04. Over at Edgebaston Reservoir we managed to see I think 10 or 11 Arctic Terns at once, they were part of a big influx of the species at the time they were popping up all of the West Midlands in big numbers.

Another species that had also always managed to evade me was the Grasshopper Warbler I had been feet away from them in the past but not seen them. This time I would not be defeated, reports had been coming in for a while now at Middleton lakes so we headed straight there to see if we could get the bird in the bag. After a while we heard the recognizable call of the Gropper and headed straight for it, we eventually landed up staring at a bush for about half and hour, and then movement the bird popped up and showed very well for about ten minutes if I remember correctly and a "tart" was in the bag.

Gropper at Middleton Lakes

Belvide again now and a rarer species had turned up and John Holian was going up for it and offered a ride up to see it, I gladly accepted and we went up toe Belvide for the Roseate Terns that had arrived that day.We arrived and walked very quickly in the July heat across to the far side of the reserve to get the birds, we managed to get very good flyby views of them and also had a good walk up to the far bank and saw the birds sitting down stationary, we were quite lucky because as far as I know shortly after we left the birds left the reservoir so we got some of the last views had of them!

One of two Roseate Terns at Belvide back in July

Wait do I hear Middleton lakes coming up again yes I do. Another visit to Middleton Lakes was in order for a regional first species, it created some speculation on its ID at first but it was finally decided as being a Pacific Golden Plover a good rarity that drew in some crowds. We managed to get distant but actually quite good views of the bird which made the trip well worth it, one of the top birds of the year for me a good rarity and lifer for me to have gotten.

Our holiday to Norfolk got me quite a few "tarts" this year in the form of sea species, the two lifers I got from the holiday were Turnstone and Fulmar both I managed to photograph well, I got great views of a single Turnstone on Scroby sands this year it was in stunning plumage and showed very well with Sanderling. The Fulmar (two birds) flew in on a very windy day on Caister beach and flew right past my head, it was an unexpected lifer I didn't think I would get from the holiday, for birding it was the best visit to Norfolk I have had. 

Turnstone Scroby Sands

Fulmar on Caister Beach

Where next I hear you ask? My next lifer was in the form of a Whinchat a quick look at a field down in Lutley produced the goods we looked through a few fields before hitting this one but the white tape on the fences proved to me it was the right field because it matched the same tape in a picture of a Whinchat in the same area taken a few days before, we got to the field and there it was a nice looking Whinchat sitting on a fence post showing well another good lifer for me to get. 

The horrific record show of the Whinchat. ;)

Next we move to another "tart" bird, a species I had been wanting to see for a long time this being the Marsh Harrier, we arrived at Aqualate Mere for a visit to see a Marsh Harrier, and we didn't have to wait long to get stunning views of it, hunting over the reeds and showing well, every time it flew by all the wildfowl moved away pretty quickly I didn't know just how big these birds it was great to see one so very well.

Stunning Marsh Harrier at Aqualate. 

My final Lifer of the year was too distant to photograph but it was perhaps one of the best looking birds I have seen in the year 2014, this being the Grey Phalarope this bird was at Edgebaston Pool and was a great species for me to see this year. We stayed for quite a while and kept on the bird in the process got close up views of Kingfisher and a Peregrine hunting but the star bird was the Phalarope and it was something great to see.

So all that's left to say is..........

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL BLOG VIEWERS, TWITTER FOLLOWERS, AND ANYONE ELSE HAVING A READ OF THE BLOG!!!!!

Have a good year birders and happy birding to all in 2015, who knows what will turn up next year, all I know is I've gotta get up to Chasewater and get all the gulls again which is always a cold job, thanks to everyone who has stuck with me this year, the blog has increased this year and we are almost at 6000 views it means a lot to me and I really hope you stick with me for another years birding and hopefully you will be reading another post like this, this time next year! Let my first full year as the Wondering Birder begin here's to birding 2015!

Happy birding 2015 from- WB