2016 - A Brief Review

Well it'll soon be the turn of another year. Regardless of whether 2016 has been a good, bad, boring, potentially tragic (not specifically mentioning any politics...), memorable etc etc, I find that there's always something oddly satisfying about heading into a New Year.

With regards to birding, 2016 has been a pretty good year with a few decent twitches & self finds both on and off patch. Here's a few re-posted snaps from 2016 - this is a selection of the rarer birds I saw rather than the better pics!

American Wigeon - Bowling Green Marsh

Green-winged Teal - Black Hole Marsh

Glossy Ibis - Seaton Marshes

Pallas's Warbler - Portesham

Iceland Gull - River Axe estuary

Montagu's Harrier - Colyford Common

Montagu's Harrier - Colyford Common

Hoopoe - Lower Bruckland

Hoopoe - Lower Bruckland

Red-footed Falcon - Morden Bog

Great Spotted Cuckoo - Portland

Dalmatian Pelican - Drift Reservoir

Collared Pratincole - Ham Wall

Least Sandpiper (1 of 2 birds present) - Black Hole Marsh

Red-backed Shrike - Beer Head

Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Davidstow Airfield

Pectoral Sandpiper - Davidstow Airfield

Pectoral Sandpiper (left) & Buff-breasted Sandpiper (right) - Davidstow Airfield

Lesser Grey Shrike - Plymouth

Baird's Sandpiper - Davidstow Airfield

Turtle Dove - Bridge Marsh

There were plenty of other good birds through the year but I've tried to keep this post to the rarest species only to reduce the chance of monotony creeping in! UK wide the Turtle Dove isn't really in the same 'rare' category as most of the other species above but this was the first I've seen, it was on patch and it's also a rapidly declining species, so I think it is well deserving of some more online coverage before 2017 rolls in...