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World Year Listing Review of 2005 contd...
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2005 ABA Area Year List Title
 No. 3 Chris Charlesworth (Total 524) - Canada
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January 1st found myself and friend Ryan Tomlinson staring at Harris's Sparrows, Gyrfalcon, Bohemian Waxwings and Common Redpolls in a light snowstorm in my home territory, the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia.
From then on the year just got better and better! January 21st was memorable for 3 Long-eared Owls found roosting in a willow tree not far from my house. Another exciting owl moment came on January 31 with the sighting of a hunting Northern Hawk-Owl. A nice tick on the list was an adult Iceland Gull found by Mike Force in Westbank in early February. A late February trip to Vancouver produced some nice coastal birds like Snow Geese, scoters, Pelagic Cormorants, Black Oystercatchers and even a Snowy Owl. While conducting an owl survey in early March I found a Boreal Owl. My list would never have been allowed to grow so large if I had not led a number of tours to a few far flung places in North America. The first was in late March to Florida. A number of lifers there for me like Red-whiskered Bulbul, Spot-breasted Oriole, Limpkin, Gray Kingbird, White-winged Parakeet, Florida Scrub-Jay etc. Then it was off to Texas where I spent nearly a month, racking up 315 species including Gray, Black-capped and Yellow-green vireos, Swainson's Warbler, Brown Jay, Elf Owl, and many more. The next tour was to Oregon where I racked up a host of West Coast birds like Wrentit, Hutton's Vireo, Tufted Puffin, Black-throated Gray-Warbler etc. The tour also included a visit to Malheur NWR where Sage Thrashers, Sage Sparrows, Burrowing Owls, Ferruginous Hawks and even my lifer Green-tailed Towhee were found. In late June a tour to Northern Alberta and BC was fantastic for warblers, Sprague's Pipit, Gray Partridge, Upland Sandpipers, and much more. July was spent mostly at home, but a visit to Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island added Pomarine Jaeger, Pink-footed Shearwater and Northern Fulmar to the year list. Mid-August found me on a pelagic out of Westport, WA looking at Black-footed Albatross, Buller's Shearwater (number 500 for the year), South Polar Skua and Arctic Terns amongst many more. I spent from mid-August to early October in Quebec where I had Little Gull, Common Eider, Black Guillemot and a few warblers missed elsewhere. A trip to Cape May, NJ in September added Great Cormorant and Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow to the list. October, November and December were spent birding mostly at home where Christmas Bird Counts gave me the opportunity to see a few straggler birds like Yellow-billed Loon. On the evening of December 31st, a Barn Owl...somehow missing from my list made a special appearance and was the final tick on the list for the year!
Chris runs Avocet Tours |
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No. 5 Steve Gross (Total 517) - USA
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It's always nice to reach a goal one has set for himself. I wanted to see 500 species in the ABA area in a year, which I didn't see as a massive undertaking. I'd seen 470 ABA species in 2003, so one trip additional trip to an area with yet-unseen birds in 2005 might just do it.
I'd seen 400 or more species in Texas each of the last three years, so I knew that my regular wanderings through my state would get me most of the way to my goal. In 2005, however, I made a point to get to Big Bend during spring migration, something I'd never done. That helped me get west Texas species rather early, thus avoiding the late-year scrambles 700+ miles to get a handful of birds. On my way to Colima Warbler land, I did meet a real-live ABA Big Year participant: Dan Sanders of Ohio. I wonder how he did. He was a great guy, and I hope he crushed the record.
There was a cost associated with my west Texas trip, however, in that I missed several regularly-occuring Upper Texas Coast migrants, including Worm-eating and Cerulean Warblers. You can't be in two places at one time.
The invasion of Mexican species into the Rio Grande Valley in January really helped get the year list off to a good start. In two days, I got lifers and/or state birds in Elegant Trogon, Social Flycatcher, White-throated Robin, and Blue Mockingbird. Brown Booby was a species I got by driving from Houston to Port Aransas on a Monday evening after work (a three-hour drive each way). It was sitting on a breakwater, plain as day, and I was back home in time to get some sleep before work the next day. The Streak-backed Oriole that made big news among ABA birders was seen only an hour from my house.
A trip to South Florida was a gift from my family (I turned 40 in 2005), and there were lifers in the offing, including the Miami-Dade exotics, and the real crippler: Western Spindalis in Key West. Spectacular.
For the last two years, I've been on a team that has sought the Idaho Big Day record. Our second attempt at that mark resulted in a tie with the previous record-holders at 176 species. Lots of year birds came my way on that trip to a state I know very well.
Arizona offered up most of its gifts during a late July-early August trip. Black-capped Gnatcatcher and Flame-colored Tanager continue to elude me, however. Buff-collared Nightjar and Five-striped Sparrow were ticked in a memorable trip to California Gulch (it was worth the $60 just to avoid taking my own car in there!). I did change three tires on my Jeep in three days while in the Chiricahuas, though, and my budget took a hit when I bought two new ones in Benson on our way to meet up for the trip to California Gulch. Nothing worth having is easy, they say.
Late October brought a chance for a long weekend trip to San Francisco, a city I'd never visited. Though not a birding trip per se, nine lifers and 20 year birds were the result. I saw my 500th bird of the year while our whale-watching boat passed under the Golden Gate Bridge: White-winged Scoter in with a flock of Surfs.
The remaining birds came in the Rio Grande Valley over Thanksgiving weekend and on several of the Houston-area Christmas Bird Counts. I got my last bird of the year, Rusty Blackbird, on New Year's Eve.
517 species. Not too bad, if I do say so myself. I don't think I'll ever do a serious Big Year, but as I said above, it's always nice to reach a goal. It was a very satisfying year, indeed.
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See the complete list of 2005 ABA Year Listers
2005 Europe Year List Title
No. 2 Dominic Le Croissette (Total 361) - UK
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In terms of numbers of species, 2005 was my best ever years birding in Europe. I was in the UK for most of the year, with the exception of a short non-birding trip to the French Alps in Spring which added a few high-altitude goodies like Nutcracker and Alpine Accentor, and a four-day trip to Northern Spain and the Pyrenees in May, during which I saw 175 species.
Among the highlights of the latter trip were three lifers - Dupont's Lark, Citril Finch and Black-bellied Sandgrouse - plus a superb range of Mediterranean and mountain birds including Wallcreeper, Eagle Owl, Lammergeier, Black Woodpecker and Audouin's and Slender-billed Gulls. However, a search for Lesser Crested Tern in the Ebro Delta drew a blank, an experience that was to be repeated when I dipped the one in Norfolk in July.
Missing rare terns was something of a theme for me during the year, most notably the long-staying Sooty Tern on Anglesey which, due to work commitments at the time, I was unable to try for.
I enjoyed my usual late May Bank Holiday weekend break in Scotland - as usual it rained most of the time and I missed Capercaillie and Golden Eagle, but was compensated by the Barrow's Goldeneye at Loch of Strathbeg, and superb views of Corncrakes on Iona.
The time I had available for birding dramatically increased when I quit my full-time job in the autumn, allowing me to spend over three weeks on the Isles of Scilly in October and November. The many highlights included the late Chimney Swift and self-found Greenish Warbler and Serin.
With fairly intensive birding in the UK for the rest of the year, which happily coincided with a superb run of Nearctic rarities such as Green Heron, Grey-cheeked Thrush and Upland Sandpiper, I was able to achieve over 300 species in the UK in 2005 for the first time ever. However it was not all plain sailing, things taking a turn for the worse during December, when long trips to both the Buff-bellied Pipit in Lincs, and the Black-throated Thrush in Somerset resulted in failure.
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See the complete list of 2005 Europe Year Listers
2005 British Year List Title
No. 2 Paul Brewster (Total 354) - UK
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In the final months of 2004 my good friend, Malc Curtin, decided that as a birding challenge in 2005 he would like to see at least 300 species in the year. More fool him, I thought! In our chats down the pub I asked questions like "what's the point?" and "won't that rule your life?", and told him he was daft and you'd never catch me indulging in such a pointless exercise. For my part, 2005 was going to be a normal birding year, hopefully I'd join in with several twitches, pick up a few lifers and see in excess of 250 species as usual, or so I thought! What followed was an extraordinary year in my birding life, full of ups and downs, long distance twitches, adventures with many friends, especially Malc, Pod and Phil, along the way and most of all an incredible journey to the highest number of bird species I have ever seen in Britain in a single calendar year.
The year started as usual with local birding on my Cheshire Patch with my wife, Carys. A 6.30am start was accompanied by the mandatory pain-killers after several celebratory glasses of red wine on New Years Eve! Soon the pain was melting away and I was feeling half-human again and watching for the first species of the year through the kitchen window. So it was that yearlist 2005 started..... Jackdaw..... Blackbird.... Carrion Crow.... Starling..... and so on, as common species after common species was added to the list. The day ended with a very average count of 62 species. The first 'good' bird of the year was seen on Jan 3rd, a Great Grey Shrike at Bowmere Heath near Shrewsbury. On 9th January 5 Tundra Bean Geese in Manchester were cracking local birds. On 16th January my first lifer of the year was ticked in the shape of a very elusive Pine Bunting in Worcestershire. The same day a Cattle Egret was twitched in Somerset and about now it started to dawn on me that a good yearlist could be on the cards. 102 species were under my belt, including some decent birds, still it's always easier at the start of the year, isn't it? It'd be a bit daft to commit myself to going for the 300, wouldn't it? On Jan 30th my first trip of the year to Norfolk allowed me to connect with an Arctic Redpoll with 2 Mealy Redpolls, 'Sammy' the Black-winged Stilt and a long-staying Lesser Yellowlegs.
February started in fine fashion when a Pallas's Warbler was found in Cheshire which, although elusive, was connected with on its first day. Late Feb saw a trip with mates to Ruddon's Point, Fife to see the drake Surf Scoter with rafts of Velvet Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks as supporting cast. A return to the bunting capital of England, Worcestershire saw Little Bunting ticked on 27th Feb and 171 species seen in two months. The realisation dawned that not only could I be on target to break my yearlist record, but I could also achieve the landmark of 300 species in one year. It was around this time that I finally decided that I would now pull out all the stops and really go for it.
On 6th March the lure of a female Lesser Scaup in Warwickshire proved too much and we headed down to see this increasingly common North American duck. Then the first of many journeys down the A14 to connect with a wintering Dusky Warbler in Kessingland, Suffolk on 13th March. A day in the SE on 20th March saw us jam in on a stunning male White-spotted Bluethroat at Landguard NR. The run of good birds continued on 26th March with a Hoopoe in S.Wales whilst on a visit to my in-laws! March ended with the arrival of the Swallows and Sand Martins which brought up my 200 for the year, 201 in fact, achieved far earlier than I'd ever expected.
On April Fool's Day, the most unlikely birdnews broke, of a Belted Kingfisher at Tixall in Staffs and alarm bells started to ring. I mean, a giant American Kingfisher in landlocked Staffordshire, at a place called Tixall ('ticks all' get it?), on April 1st, who would believe it? Well a few phonecalls later I was confident of the report and set off immediately. After being missing for a couple of hours the Belted Kingfisher gave superb views in Shugborough CP to the assembled crowd. The air was punched and grown men hugged each other in celebration and relief, this was going to be very hard to beat as bird of the year. It was, in every sense of the word, a real Belter! Once again Essex was our destination on 10th April, a trip culminating in the appearance of Short-toed Treecreeper on my year and lifelists. The 15th of April saw us find our own Rough-legged Buzzard, in Staffs again. On 16th we twitched a Kentish Plover in Devon and on 17th watched a Blue-winged Teal in the rain on Anglesey - things were still going well. April 22nd was a challenging day - the challenge being to see all the Highland specialities in one day. Driving through the night Malc and I saw Capercaillie at Loch Garten at dawn and then clocked up Scottish Crossbill, Slav Grebe, Crested Tit, Black-throated Diver and Ptarmigan during the rest of the day. Challenge completed! April ended with a long weekend on Mull with the magic isle coming up trumps with fantastic views of White-tailed and Golden Eagles, as well as Corncrakes 'crekk'-ing away on Iona.
The first half of May was uneventful birding-wise so when news of a Barrow's Goldeneye broke it was a relief, the only problem being that it was several hundred miles away in Aberdeenshire. Little problems like that were brushed aside and the bird was on the list by 18th. It was then that May burst into life. On 19th an unprecedented four Whiskered Terns were found on my local patch by Fred Fearn and I was 3rd person there after his franctic phonecalls to the patch-watchers. Then on 20th I was called out to help ID a kite species, and sure enough it was a Black Kite, again locally at Moore NR, followed by a Golden Oriole at the same site a few days later - a real purple patch for Cheshire. On May 21st another lifer for me broke, a Trumpeter Finch at Landguard NR, Suffolk, so a long journey down the A14 was again needed and after a short, anxious wait the bird showed well before dusk. A return to the same site the next day with Malc saw me re-tick the finch and then add Woodchat Shrike and Great Reed Warbler to my yearlist. Another stupendous day to complete the run of five days in which I had ticked Barrow's Goldeneye, four Whiskered Terns, Black Kite, Trumpeter Finch, Woodchat Shrike and Great Reed Warbler, if only it went as smoothly as this all the time! A few days later, on 26th May, another long-haul twitch produced Terek Sandpiper in Kent followed by Norfolk for Stone Curlew, Honey Buzzard, Montague's Harrier, Quail and Purple Heron - what a day! May ended with two yankee waders in the last two days, a Spotted Sandpiper in Staffs followed by a Pectoral Sandpiper in Cheshire.
June saw us zig-zagging the country with Collared Pratincole and Short-toed Lark in Norfolk on 2nd, White-rumped Sandpiper in Devon on 5th, Red-footed Falcon in Norfolk on 12th and a Marsh Sandpiper in Devon on 29th. Half the year had now passed by and I had 287 species safely under my belt, 300 now looked a strong possibility, but it would still require some hard work and good luck.
The first July twitch was up to Cumbria for Pacific Golden Plover on 2nd, a smart near-summer plumaged bird, which due to its far-flung location attracted only a few twitchers. A Sabine's Gull twitch in Leeds on July 7th turned into a hectic day of arranging boats and assembling a twitching crew when news broke of a Sooty Tern on an island off Anglesey. A comedy of errors started on July 8th with a trip out on a boat which was recalled by the coastguard as not licensed to carry passengers, then a white-knuckle car ride along the north Anglesey coast to connect with another boat which took us out to The Skerries. On arrival, nothing, but within a few minutes we had it in flight, a superb Sooty Tern, a real mega and another lifer. July's tern-fest continued with a Caspian Tern in Lancashire on 16th and a Lesser-crested Tern in Norfolk on 17th, a superb hat trick of rare sea-swallows. In the interests of yearlisting some things have just got to be done, and a trip to Scilly to try for some specialist seabirds is just one of those things. With this in mind plans were made for a smash and grab raid onto Scilly to try to see what used to be a mythical seabird in British waters, Wilson's Petrel. The passage from Penzance to St Marys' produced Cory's Shearwater and Storm Petrel and later a pelagic trip off St Mary's came up with the goods in the shape of a single Wilson's Petrel. The return Scillonian sailing produced another Cory's Shearwater, over 30 Manx Shearwaters, over 50 Storm Petrels, and best of all a single Balearic Shearwater. No rest for the wicked though and so the day after our return we headed down to Herefordshire to see the Bee-eaters which had settled down to breed there. My list was now on 299 and my target was 300 before August. The offer of a trip to Orkney was eagerly accepted and Arctic Skuas in the harbour at Gill's Bay brought up the magic 300. A superb couple of days on Orkney saw us tick Laughing Gull and best of all a White-billed Diver, another yeartick that was also a lifer for me, a 1200 mile twitch had done it, now to set my sights even higher.
August opened with a White-winged Black Tern in Staffs on 1st but then things quietened down - well they had to at sometime! On 20th August my only holiday of 2005 started, and day one produceed the goods in the shape of a Wilson's Phalarope and Black-headed Wagtail, both in Devon. The rest of the holiday, in Cornwall and Scilly, remained tick-less until my return to my in-laws in Glamorgan, where a Grey Phalarope provided my second phalarope tick in a week.
September started with a rush to Spurn to catch up with a one day Lesser Grey Shrike on 2nd followed by a trip up to Cleveland for a Baird's Sandpiper on 3rd. The East Coast theme continued with Barred and Greenish Warblers at Spurn in the first half of the month. The month ended with my first visit to a WWT reserve this year, Slimbridge, to catch up with a Little Crake which had just arrived, followed by a day twitch to Scilly for a second rare member of the rail family, a Sora.
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October 4th saw us heading back down to the SW and heading over to Scilly for the day again. A Blackpoll Warbler was our first success followed by a Common Rosefinch and my second Spotted Sandpiper of the year. Returning to Cornwall a flyover Upland Sandpiper made it onto the yearlist as did a Squacco Heron in Devon on a small pond in a local park where it fed on the goldfish and ornamental carp, oblivious of all the attention it was receiving from the twitching fraternity. A Radde's Warbler at Spurn on October 9th was followed by a Red-breasted Flycatcher at Flamborough later the same day. An Arctic Warbler in Dorset was the next target and was duly ticked on October 11th along with my second Pallas's Warbler of the year. The rare warbler theme continued on October 14th when Malc and I twitched a Paddyfield Warbler in Lothian, another lifetick for me, and another step towards the seemingly mythical 350 species in a year. A Rustic Bunting at Spurn on 16th was a welcome, if not unexpected, species added to my list. This was followed by a cracking day in Scotland on 27th when, with Phil Woollen and Andy Stockhausen, three quality ticks were added in the shape of Sardinian Warbler, Isabelline Shrike and Hume's Yellow-browed Warbler. A Glossy Ibis in Gwynedd the next day was a welcome addition since we'd missed one earlier in the year and it brought up 340 for the year with two months left, things were looking good.
November started well with a Desert Wheatear on Holy Island, Northumberland which after being elusive at first eventually showed well. Whilst watching this rarity a Pallid Swift truned up down the coast at South Gare. A swift (!) drive down saw us connect with this difficult species, another lifer for me. The next bird wasn't a lifer but a goody nonetheless, a Green Heron on Anglesey, twitched within hours of the news being released - that's the way to do it! The 12th November saw a twitching crew heading into Cornwall where a Franklin's Gull gave excellent views followed by superb views of our second Upland Sandpiper of the year, in Somerset. The next day we were in Norfolk pre-dawn where a Little Swift left its roost and showed for a couple of minutes before disappearing forever. Later that day news of a Grey-cheeked Thrush had us rushing to Hertfordshire, where we duly added it to the yearlist.
December saw the final push starting with my longest twitch, a gutwrenching ferry trip over to Shetland for the day where Brunnich's Guillemot became a worthy 350th species for the year, what a mammoth effort it had been. This was followed a couple of days later by another quality lifer, Sociable Plover at Rainham Marshes RSPB, our first December visit to this reserve with a return on 21st to tick Penduline Tit. A downer in December was dipping Buff-bellied Pipit in Lincs, but hey, we'd had so few dips you've got to take the rough with the smooth. The final twitch of the year came on 27th with a trip down to Somerset where a Black-throated Thrush gave excellent views and became my 354th species in 2005, to say that I had exeeded all my expectations would be an understatement, to use that well worn phrase - I was completely gobsmacked. But a final note - NEVER AGAIN!!! See Paul's 2005 Yearlist
Paul runs Focalpoint and Birdcall |
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Click Here to see what UK Surfbirds readers voted as the best bird of 2005
See the complete list of 2005 British Year Listers
2005 French Year List Title
No. 1 Jean-Philippe Siblet (Total 355) - France
Jean-Philippe Siblet was also No. 1 in the European Year Listing Category with a total of 382 and No.3 in West Palearctic Category with 382
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| My main goal for this year was to be the first birdwatcher to reach the mythical milestone of 450 species for France (French avifauna commitee rules). With 447 at the beginning of the year, this objective seems rather easy to obtain. The following proves that, in fact, it was not.
The year began quietly but in last january some good birds not far from my home gives good opportunities to improve my year list like Glaucous and Pontic Gulls, or Ferruginous and Ring-necked Ducks. But the most enjoyable birds was a flock of Waxwings in one of my local patches, staying here more than one month.
Last week of February in south France produce many good birds and some highlights like Richard’s Pipits, Eagle Owl, Purple Gallinule, Wallcreper, American Wigeon and a flock of more than 500 Waxwings in Maclas (Pilat mountain).
Nothing really special in March but the return of sping migrators improve the list reaching 216 at that time. April began in style with a superb drake of Green-Winged Teal in my local patch of La Bassée.
First week of May put me back to southern France and produces more than 200 species, 48 of them new for my year list. Highlights of this trip was : Glossy Ibis, Audouin’s Gull, Little Crake, Collared Pratincole, Lammergeier, Pin tailed Sandgrouse, White-winged Black Tern, Caspian Tern…Once again, my local patch of La Bassée prove to be very productive with an adult female Red-footed Falcon staying here during more than 3 weeks.
From 24 May to 6 June, a trip in Norway and Finland gives me numerous opportunities to get in touch with birds that I have never seen since my first trip here in….1980 ! And what birds : White-billed Diver, Steller’s and King Eiders together in nuptial plumage, Brunnich’s guillemots, Ptarmigan, Artic Redpoll, Parrot Crossbill, Siberian Jay. Varanger Fjord, as at my first visit, prove to be one of the most enjoyable place for birdwatching in Europe with flocks of 12 White-tailed Eagle together, hundreds of Knot in full nuptial plumage, Lesser White-fronted Geese, flocks of Goosanders, together with Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks… a real dream ! Birds was not the only animals of interest in this area and vision of a Brown Bear along the road in Northern Finland and a familial pod of Orcas in front of the famous Nesseby’s Church are simply incredible !
But one of my goal to see the Hawk Owl seems, after 11 days searching night and day (in fact day and day because there is no night a this time of the year) impossible to reach without local assistance. Last day before taking the return flight from Alta, we search, exhausted by 20 hours of non-stop birdwatching, a trail along the road to park the car and have a little rest. My friend shout : What’s that bird in the tree in front of us.. I thinck it’s a Hawk Owl ! And it was : a superb Hawk Owl, perched on a tree just 20 meters from us ! What an absolutely fabulous lifer for me !
Less than ten days later, I get in touch with an adult Elegant Tern in Vendée, copulating with a Crested Tern during a trip that I guided for a local naturalist club at Grand Lieu lake. Informed that this bird was present, I organise a bus twitch to the spot…
First week of July a trip take place to Jura and Alps which proved to be very productive.In Jura, I saw an adult Lesser-spotted Eagle, one of the pair who breed here since 2 years. I get in touch with Tengmalm’s and Pygmy Owl in Risoux forest with no great difficulties. 6 of July was a bad day for for France with Olympics Game attributed to London, but it was a fine day for my list, with a pair of Black-winged Kite breeding for the first time near Lyon. Three days in the Vanoise National Park in the Alps contributed to improve the list with Nutcracker, Rock Partridge or Snow Finch.
Last week of August, I made a trip to northern France and Britanny. Cap Gris-Nez seawatch hotspot produce some good birds like Long-tailed Skua or Sooty Shearwater. In Britanny, Audierne Bay produce Aquatic Warbler, Roseate Tern, Dotterel and a gorgeous Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
September gives no new species and I reach the beginning of October with no new species for my french life list! The news of the find of a Semipalmated Sandpiper in Ushant Island convinces me to make the twitch…. which was successful! Bonus species were Yellow-browed Warbler, Red-breasted Flycatcher and Great Shearwater. Two marks ahead for 450.
A week-end in northern France began with very good news. A friend of mine, a member of the French avifauna comitee tells me that the Fisher’s Lovebirds (a feral population breeding in Nice area since more than ten years) is now fully accepted in category "C" on French list. As I saw these birds last years, it was an unexpected "armchair" tick. Only one for 450.
The two weeks before my holidays in Ushant was incredibly long with news of Black-browed Albatross, Wilson Snipe and the presence of a Sora for the past 10 days. Fortunately, the Sora waits for me and I manage to see this wonderful bird the second morning from my arrival on the Island. 450th species for France… well done! New step to reach… 500. Why not ?
The ten days in Ushant are very productive : my second Upland Sandpiper, fourth Dusky Warbler, second Red-flanked Bluetail, Siberian Stonechat, a very late Red-footed Falcon…. News of flocks of Chimney Swifts from the Azores gives hopes to have one here. The prophecy was good but the Chimney Swift arrives in Sein Island just a few kilometers south of Ushant…. bad luck !
November was rather quiet because of a busy period at work. However, I managed to go to northern France and put on my list Short-eared Owl and Slovanian Grebe… a bogey year list bird !
I decide to end the year in style with a week in Britanny between Christmas and the new year day. This trip produce good birds like a Franklin’s Gull, a Ring-billed Gull and Great northern Diver.. another 2005 bogey bird .
With 355 species, 2005 was my third best year for France thince 1991 after 2001 with 414 and 1999 with 378.
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See 2004 Review to see Jean-Philippe's total and highlights last year |
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See the complete list of 2005 French Year Listers
2005 Ireland Year List Title
No. 3 Owen Foley (Total 230)
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It was a huge year for me, and having such a high year list, (although unofficially I was probably no where near 3rd highest for Ireland), came about solely through twitching of new birds for Ireland rather than actively pursuing a year list.
The year 2005 included several milestones for me personally, biggest of which was buying a car and learning to drive! This meant I had amobility i had never come close to before. Also I moved from Dublin to Cork...one of the best counties for birding in Ireland, which meant I was finding more birds as well as seeing them.
By far the best period of the year for me was the seawatching season, which provided me with new birds like Wilson's Petrel and Little Shearwater....as well as 3 Year tick Fea's Petrels!
Being in Cork for the autumn migration was a new experience also, and it paid huge dividends with new birds like, Radde's Warbler, Icterine Warbler, Red breasted Flycatcher, Chimney swift, Grey cheeked Thrush, and Ireland's first Green Heron.
Of course the new found ability to drive meant I naturally abused my poor car. Its much easier to twitch up the country when your own car is just sitting outside the house, and this meant that mad cap twitches up to Dublin and Belfast were being considered (and often done) on an almost weekly basis! Most memorably for birds such as Sooty Tern and White Billed Diver (This bird was found by my brother...so i HAD to go)!
The influx of Laughing Gulls was also a great event and in total, since I ticked the species in June 2005, I have seen 8 individuals (finding 2 of these).
All in all i got 22 ticks in 2005, which puts me in spitting distance of my 300th Irish tick. Any bets on what that will be?
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See the complete list of 2005 Ireland Year Listers
2005 Wales Year List Title
No. 1 Chris Jones (Total 206)
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It was a memorable first full year for me in North Wales. The main highlight was meeting the great local birders and many thanks go to all who found rare birds for the rest of us to enjoy! Also, well done to everyone out there who achieved higher 2005 Wales year lists than me but didn’t post their totals.
The highlights of my year began with Richard’s Pipit and three Iceland Gulls as well as the drake Black Scoter. A Blue-winged Teal and Temminck’s Stint were very welcome and an after-work dash for a summer-plumaged Dotterel was successful. Rarer highlights included Short-toed Lark and a very confiding American Golden Plover.
My unforgettable year continued with a Great Reed Warbler at Conwy RSPB Reserve followed by a superb Terek Sandpiper, after the now familiar after-work dash up to Cemlyn Bay. Amazingly even better was to come in the shape of a Sooty Tern; I had excellent views and was lucky to have it fly over my head whilst calling.
Autumn highlights included a Glossy Ibis, which was an excellent find by a Welsh birder on holiday at Porth Neigwl, while a Buff-breasted Sandpiper took three attempts to connect with but was well worth the effort in the end. I also enjoyed several Leach’s Petrels passing close inshore, and was very satisfied to find a Richard’s Pipit on the Great Orme after many visits to this great site.
Further surprises were to come, such as the Green Heron at Red Wharf Bay; on hearing the news a half-day off work was hastily arranged and great views were enjoyed in the good company of many other North Wales birders. The Laughing Gull at Porthmadog was another unexpected surprise.
The low points were easily outnumbered by the highs but they included missing out on a Melodious Warbler due to other commitments and dipping a very brief Kentish Plover that was flushed by the rising tide at Conwy RSPB reserve before I could get there. Here’s to another great Welsh year in 2006 and happy birding to all!
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| Dotterel, Conwy, 2005 © Marc Hughes from the Surfbirds Galleries |
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See the complete list of 2005 Wales Year Listers
2005 North American County Year List Title
No. 5 Richard Hall (Total 240) - Yolo County, California
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| 2005 was my second (and last) year of birding in Yolo County in the Central Valley of California. As a land-locked county it cannot compete with the coastal counties in terms of number of species seen; however, the diversity of habitats yield a wide range of regular species (plus a few surprises) each year. Winter's highlights included great views of Hairy Woodpeckers and Bald Eagles in the Coast Range, Mountain Plovers and stunning Mountain Bluebirds in the lowlands, while the wetlands produced some interesting gulls (including Glaucous and Thayer's) and the first county Red-necked Grebe since the 80's.
March provided a couple of colourful county ticks (Steller's Jay and Lewis' Woodpeckers), but my personal highlight was watching two Anna's Hummingbirds fledge the nest in a Davis backyard. April's stars were a sequence of tricky 'little grey jobs' (Plumbeous Vireo, Gray, Dusky and Hammond's Flycatchers), easily outdazzled by breeding-plumaged Pacific Golden-Plovers and Lawrence's Goldfinches. By May I was only missing two of the regular spring migrants (Western Wood-Pewee and Olive-sided Flycatcher), so it was gratifying to find both perched in the same tree on my return from Australia!
The hot summer months were typically quiet, save for the second county record of Least Tern, and a splash of the exotic provided by an escaped White-crested Laughing-Thrush. By August, shorebird migration was in full swing; self-found Semipalmated Sandpiper and Ruddy Turnstone were both satisfying county ticks. In September, I spent many hours enjoying a 'birdbath' along Putah Creek - 9 species of warbler came in to drink during the month, the best of which was a Yellow-breasted Chat. I was also in luck with two colourful rarities - a Green-tailed Towhee and a blink-and-you-miss-it male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
October was quiet, save for the unusual early arrival of some scarce winterers (Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Winter Wren). I had a Hallowe'en nightmare while away in Florida, missing two Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (the first in the county in a decade) at the Yolo Wildlife Area. A nice consolation prize was the outstanding views of Soras, Virginia Rails and American Bitterns at this site in November. An (eventually) obliging Mountain Chickadee was a Thanksgiving treat. In December, 27 birding friends from across the state joined me for a farewell birding trip, and were able to share the moment an Eastern Phoebe flew across the county line to become my 250th county bird (an elusive Swamp Sparrow became no. 251 the same day). My time in California ended in equally spectacular fashion when the county's second Ovenbird waddled past me at point blank range, my 240th and final Yolo year bird. Thanks to all the birders that made my time in California so fantastic!
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| Ovenbird, Yolo County © Richard Hall |
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See the complete list of 2005 N. American County Year Listers
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