My Bird Photography Wishlist Update

Way back in March 2023, I put together a post detailing my bird photography wishlist - essentially a rundown of particular birds I'd love to photograph one day. In the past year and a half, I've had the opportunity to visit new wildlife reserves, as well as spend time at the magical WWT Washington, and I thought it high time I updated this list. 

See the original post here > My Bird Photography Wishlist

If it wasn't clear that birds are a big part of my life, I'm sure you must be new here haha. I suppose you could say birds are my 'special interest' and every day of my life includes some bird-related activity -  from feeding my garden visitors to going on nature walks photographing birds and editing photos to share with others just how lucky we are to share the planet with such creatures and how we must protect them.

Below are the 15 species I wrote about in my original post and a little update on how my photo-hunt is going...

     Jay     

     Kingfisher     

     Avocet     

     Owl     

Green Woodpecker

Goldcrest

White-Tailed and Golden Eagles

     Greenfinch     

Brambling

Capercaillie

Fieldfare

     Waxwing     

European Nightjar

Snipe, Jack Snipe and Woodcock

Cuckoo

So, as you'll see from the photo at the top of this post I did get to photograph a Jay. I actually have photographed a couple, but I'm not happy with any of the photos. They've been taken in duller conditions or are not as crisp as I'd like but it still doesn't take away the excitement of finally catching one on camera.

Of course, visiting the wetlands (where the Jay was actually photographed each time), has provided many incredible sightings of so many birds not even on this list and I've since photographed both Avocet and Greenfinch on numerous occasions. One sighting that was completely unexpected at the wetlands was a Kingfisher! Not that they aren't seen there at all, but because the hide they are most often seen from is usually full and we don't bother to go in. On this day, it was empty and Mr H spotted a blue flash in the distance that I managed to get one photo of before it flew off. It all seemed like such a lucky moment! Hopefully one day I'll get to photograph another closer up. 

Another I can technically tick off, but that I do need to photograph more closely is an Owl. I know there are many species and I didn't particularly have a preference. The Owl I had the pleasure of seeing was a Barn Owl in the early morning glow of Bempton Cliffs, and it was majestic! It would have been better had there not been a hoard of older birders running to photograph it with their cameras that cost more than my car, but I stayed back and watched it from a distance which was a privilege. 
A privilege and an unexpected sighting again was these Waxwings as seen above, that appeared one day in the trees behind our house. I don't know how I spotted them, where they came from and where they went but I'm over the moon to have gotten a few good shots of the pair. 

While I can't believe how many birds I've been able to tick off both this written list and my 'lifer' list, I also realize that many on my list may never happen. Birds like the Capercaillie are incredibly rare. Their numbers are in crisis due to several reasons including habitat loss, climate change and disturbance by people. I will keep them on my list, however, in the hopes that populations get better in the future and one day I will be lucky enough to see some of these gorgeous birds. Others are less rare and hopefully, I'll get to photograph at least two of these species in the next year. 

Green Woodpecker

Goldcrest

White-Tailed and Golden Eagles

Brambling

Capercaillie

Fieldfare

European Nightjar

Snipe, Jack Snipe and Woodcock

Cuckoo

In addition to those still on my wishlist, I'd like to add the following birds:
Willow Tit
Golden Plover
Lesser Redpolls
Redwing
Hawfinch
Bearded Tit
Bittern
Red-Throated Diver
Any/All Shearwaters and Petrels

Birds are so cool man. Haha.