I repeated last year's aim of aiming for 200-ish species for the year list, 100+ for the month list. I got to 203 in mid-November and ground to a halt, despite a bit of scarcity-hunting in North Wales in December. I was otherwise detained for most of February on family business so it was nice to find I'd managed to average 107 a month, the same as last year. I also managed to visit a few new places and renew acquaintance with a few others (Formby, Anglesey and Scarborough kept getting on the plan for the week ahead but never got there).
The Kentish plover at Southport and the Blyth's reed warbler at Hope Carr were the highlights of the year's lifers. The ring-necked duck's still at Pine Lake so I'm planning on going up there to see if I get a less distant view and, hopefully, a photo. After seeing the stilt sandpiper at Lunt Meadows I'm pretty sure if I saw another I'd realise it was something different but I'm not altogether convinced I'd get the ID right. It would be nice to actually see a quail, as opposed to hearing something calling from the middle of some rustling barley stems, and while I'm wishing I'd like better views of pomarine and long-tailed skuas than brief fly-bys. 2019 was the year I finally found a blue-headed wagtail, and found another one a couple of weeks later. Crossens was good value as always, providing my first Todd's Canada goose and "grey-bellied" brent goose.
Some of the year's bogey birds come as a bit of a surprise. I can virtually guarantee that I'd been within a hundred yards of a grey plover, spotted redshank or little stint but I just couldn't see them. I think I've been over-relying on New Brighton for purple sandpipers, I'll have to do a Winter trawl for them somewhere in North Wales. No luck with any redstarts or redpolls, either.
Always good to get out to nice places for a walk, and plenty to see along the way.
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| Twites, Southport |
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| Black-tailed godwits, Leighton Moss |
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| Pied flycatcher, Keg Woods |
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| Common tern, Pennington Flash |
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| White wagtail, Crosby |
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| Blue-headed wagtail, Seaforth |
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| Egyptian goose, Pennington Flash |
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| Stock dove, Pennington Flash |
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| Blyth's reed warbler, Hope Carr |
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| Willow tit, Sale Water Park |
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| Kentish plover, dunlin and ringed plover, Southport |
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| Cirl bunting, Dawlish Warren |
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| Whooper swans, Banks Marsh |
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| Spoonbills, Leighton Moss |
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| Cormorant, Leighton Moss |
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| Long-billed dowitcher, Bowling Green Marsh |
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