It's year 3 of birds!!
At the end of 2021 I decided that 2022 was going to be my first real attempt at a 'Big Year', or at least the biggest big year I could really practically do.
A Big Year in simple terms is where bird watchers/enthusiasts spend the year attempting to see and identify as many different species of birds in the wild as possible. There are leader tables that include the US & Canada and Worldwide birders but the traditional Big Year can end up being terrible for the environment, of which is home to the beautiful birds being spotted, due to the amount of travel undertaken, including numerous flights throughout out the year.
That being said, my Big Year will seem like a very Little Year to many as I stuck to my home counties as well as a couple of places we drove to on small holidays. I have neither the time nor money to dedicate a full 365 to doing nothing but travelling the width and breadth of the UK in search of birds but I can still compete with myself and previous years haha!
Some people also count birds they have physically seen, however, I am only counting those who I have photographed. There were a few awesome bird encounters had in 2022 that were sadly not caught on camera but that's just tough ha.
In 2020 my annual total was 34, with 4 more at 38 in 2021. See the birds I photographed in both 2020 and 2021 in the posts below.
At the end of 2021 I decided that 2022 was going to be my first real attempt at a 'Big Year', or at least the biggest big year I could really practically do.
A Big Year in simple terms is where bird watchers/enthusiasts spend the year attempting to see and identify as many different species of birds in the wild as possible. There are leader tables that include the US & Canada and Worldwide birders but the traditional Big Year can end up being terrible for the environment, of which is home to the beautiful birds being spotted, due to the amount of travel undertaken, including numerous flights throughout out the year.
That being said, my Big Year will seem like a very Little Year to many as I stuck to my home counties as well as a couple of places we drove to on small holidays. I have neither the time nor money to dedicate a full 365 to doing nothing but travelling the width and breadth of the UK in search of birds but I can still compete with myself and previous years haha!
Some people also count birds they have physically seen, however, I am only counting those who I have photographed. There were a few awesome bird encounters had in 2022 that were sadly not caught on camera but that's just tough ha.
In 2020 my annual total was 34, with 4 more at 38 in 2021. See the birds I photographed in both 2020 and 2021 in the posts below.
The Birds of 2020:
The Birds of 2021:
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Birds Photographed in April!
Jackdaw
Red Kite
House Sparrow
Mallard
Release Dove
Rock Dove
Common Starling
Goldfinch
Total - 8
Yearly Total - 26
Jackdaw
Red Kite
House Sparrow
Mallard
Release Dove
Rock Dove
Common Starling
Goldfinch
Total - 8
Yearly Total - 26
Carrion Crow
Herring Gull
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Blackbird
Black Headed Gull
Fulmar
European Robin
Common Starling
Rock Dove (Common Pigeon)
House Sparrow
Collared Dove
Wood Pigeon
Dunnock
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Cormorant
Jackdaw
Raven
Release Dove (White Rock Dove/Common Pigeon)
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Wren
Blackbird
Partridge
Red Kite
Mallard
April brought the Spring in full force, with blooming trees and birds in the breeding swing. We had a trip to Berwick where we actually only ended up photographing a Sparrow and a couple of Mallards, a day at Beamish that treated us to a Jackdaw and Red Kite sighting and the rest of the birds featured this month were seen from the comfort of our own gardens.
A total of 26 bird species were photographed in 4 months...how many do you think will be on the list at the full 12-month mark?
Until next time!
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