This year was an absolute write off. Due to a combination of many things, there was little birding, especially towards the end of the year and I ended on a measly 160 species for the UK. There is a lot more motivation, free weekends and hopefully less illness for 2016. Having said that, there were some great birding highlights and the year was rounded off with a trip to Majorca (more on that in the next post).
In January I had my first taste of American birding with a trip to Disney World where I got a few bits of birding time in. A trip to Wales in April saw great views of a Little Bunting and driving through 14 countries in Europe in May provided a few lifers, including Black Stork and Olive Tree Warbler. A Greater Yellowlegs punctuated an otherwise quiet summer for us. To finish our collection of phalaropes we went to see the Wilson's Phalarope in September. An excellent weekend in Norfolk in October got us Isabelline Shrike, Pallas's Warbler, Red-flanked Bluetail and Olive-backed Pipit and then we all but gave up on birds until the end of the year.
In January I had my first taste of American birding with a trip to Disney World where I got a few bits of birding time in. A trip to Wales in April saw great views of a Little Bunting and driving through 14 countries in Europe in May provided a few lifers, including Black Stork and Olive Tree Warbler. A Greater Yellowlegs punctuated an otherwise quiet summer for us. To finish our collection of phalaropes we went to see the Wilson's Phalarope in September. An excellent weekend in Norfolk in October got us Isabelline Shrike, Pallas's Warbler, Red-flanked Bluetail and Olive-backed Pipit and then we all but gave up on birds until the end of the year.