It's been a rather rubbish year in general, with little time for local (Sussex) birding, very few foreign trips, hardly any twitching, and the biggest of all, the death of my dear Mum.
Thankfully, the year was saved in the latter few months with two trips to Spain (both leading for Naturetrek), some decent finds both in the UK and in Fuerteventura and a short twitch from County Durham for the amazing Belted Kingfisher in Lancashire! Also, seeing over 5000 Razorbills in an hour past Splash Point a week before Christmas was also rather epic.
My best finds for this year were in short supply, but did comprise the following:
- Hornemann's Arctic Redpoll on Shetland
- Little Bunting in Sussex
- Leach's Petrel in Sussex
- Wryneck at Tide Mills (the start of an invasion)
- the stunning Honey-buzzard at Beachy Head simultaneously found with Laurence
Other excellent highlights from the year in Sussex were the White-throated Sparrow at Barcombe, a few Pomarine Skuas and an incredible passage of Common/Arctic Terns past Splash Point, the insane re-find of the Northern Mockingbird at Pulborough and thorough investigation to find the whereabouts of the Monkey Orchid near Arundel!
Away from Sussex, Shetland provided much enjoyment, with a spring visit producing the goods with a Snowy Owl, an adult Long-tailed Skua, two Rose-coloured Starlings and the amazing Storm-petrel experience on Mousa. Finding my last UK dragonfly species (the Azure Hawker) with Dad in Highland was epic, as was the encounter of a Golden Eagle we had in the Findhorn Valley. A number of butterflies and other orchids were also seen.
One of the most adrenaline-fueled moments was being within touching distance of a Red Helleborine in the Chilterns... absolutely epic stuff.
Anyway, the following pictures make-up my stand-out moments of 2021:
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| Northern Mockingbird... mega re-find! |
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| White-throated Sparrow - thorough investigation work meant I could enjoy this yank mega all to myself the day after its discovery! |
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| Snowy Owl on Unst - watching this beast with Dave Cooper late in the evening was class! |
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| Monkey Orchid - Tracking down where this single specimen grew was most rewarding when I set eyes on it. |
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| This delightful Fox family in Peacehaven brought much joy |
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| Red Helleborine - the rarest orchid in the UK |
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| Black-browed Albatross |
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| Clifden Nonpareil - finding this at work and unbeknown to its size was awesome |
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| Azure Hawker - my last UK Odonata species to see |
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| Northern Emerald - probably my best dragonfly photo! |
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| Photographing Common Dolphins on the Scilly pelagics was just as much fun as watching all of the seabirds. |
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| Little Bunting - an amazing inland find at Iping Common |
