For me, going out and exploring is absolutely essential. Getting lost provides me with an escapism incomparable to anything else. It enables me to pause, mull and re-calibrate, helps me to reflect and re-connect with myself and permits me occasionally to witness the natural world as independent of humanity. When I get lost enough, sometimes I forget about the Anthropocene. I am able to stand in awe, to ramble, revel and enjoy the natural world on its own terms. In a nutshell, that is the joy of birding. Like most things worthwhile, it is the journey that matters rather than the destination.
This year that journey took me to Norfolk, Cornwall, Somerset, Kent, Essex, Gloucestershire, Surrey and Sussex. All in all I recorded 178 species, not including the famous ringed teal of Welney WWT (a suspected escapee) and one or two muscovy ducks. Here are just a few snapshots from the year, taken on my phone through the lens of my spotting scope.
Kestrel @ RSPB Pulborough Brooks, UK 
Kestrel @ RSPB Pulborough Brooks, UK 
Lapwing @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Whooper Swan @ Westhay Moor NNR, UK 
Sedge Warbler @ RSPB Dungeness, UK 
Snipe @ RSPB Pulborough Brooks, UK 
Little Ringed Plover @ RSPB Titchwell Marshes, UK 
Grey Plover @ RSPB Minsmere, UK 
European Serin @ Littlestone-on-Sea, UK 
Whooper Swan @ Welney WWT, UK 
Curlew Sandpiper @ Bough Beech Reservoir, UK 
Juvenile Yellow Wagtail @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Avocet @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Ruddy Turnstone @ Swale NNR, UK 
Sand Martin @ Minsmere RSPB, UK 
White Stork @ Knepp Wildland, UK 
Wheatear @ Swale NNR, UK 
Pied Flycatcher @ Knepp Wildland, UK 
Cirl Bunting @ Broadsands Beech, UK 
Snipe @ RSPB Dungeness, UK 
Red-Breasted Merganser @ Starcross, UK 
Redshank @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Yellowhammer @ Broadwater Warren, UK 
Whinchat @ RSPB Dungeness, UK 
Skylark @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Ringed Teal (probable escapee) @ Welney WWT, UK
A.C. Stark
12 replies on “2019 Birding Highlights”
Thank you for sharing! On my blog, kidsincovid we have also posted some beautiful pictures (if I do say so myself) and you should go check them out!
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Absolutely marvelous!! Stunning photographs!!… thanks for sharing!!
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Thanks for these beautiful pictures. Loved the yellowhammer and the ringed teal especially.
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Stunning photos! Great information. Happy New Year and may 2020 be as great for bird watching as 2019 was.
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Lovely photographs. Have a Merry Christmas.
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Enjoyed seeing your successes of 2019. Here’s to 2020.
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Thank you, Michael. Merry Christmas to you.
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Merry Christmas, A.C.. Wow, I brought up your page outside of the WordPress Reader and the photographs are like night and day. Very beautiful.
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An excellent set of photographs!
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What a wonderful collection. And let me get this straight: on your phone?!
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Yes, indeed. Although, I should confess, I did attach it to a telescope for many of them.
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Stunning photos. I love birdwatching. I miss getting out in nature. You’ve inspired me to work towards that next year.
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