Yay!

Remember this? Probably one of those posts that people wanted to write something rude about but thankfully refrained, virtual lip biting. To save you the time of rereading it, last year I fell short of seeing 1000 species. Woe is me. Not really. It was sort of irritating to have come so close but only in a very minor way. Life went on. I travel quite a lot, and I felt that maybe it was a possibility this year instead. I'm not sure that I even tried to work it out, in fact I know I didn't. But the year started well with a trip to The Gambia and Senegal (the one I just wrote up), and so by the end of January I was over 300 when you included the usual start-of-year enthusiasm locally. A short trip to the USA at prime time saw me cross the 500 mark. Singapore in June added about 70, and Slovenia for a weekend 25, but it was a trip to the Panatal in July that really made the difference. I came back from that on over 900 by which time 1000 was almost a foregone conclusion. This was when I began to think about the numbers, but by then my travel was essentially finished. The summer was largely spent in the UK and it was very quiet. I made a few visits to Scotland where I didn't see much that was new, as well as a short trip to the Balkans which got perhaps 15. I could have chased a few rarities during the autumn but by then apathy was beginning to rear its ugly head, especially as I knew I was going to Mexico in mid October - another visit to the Yucatan Peninsula. I was mildly fretting about seeing the 50 new species needed but in the event I saw exactly 100 and so that was that.

As I mentioned before, how people manage to see 7000 birds in a year is completely mind-boggling, but seeing 1000 actually ended up being pretty straightforward. All you really need is a bit of geographic diversity and you'll sail into four figures. West Africa, North America, South-east Asia, and then South America. 

This leaves me wondering what will drive me next year. Broken record alert - I find numbers and lists highly motivating. Tragic, but I know I'm not alone. I also just like being outdoors and walking around, sitting around watching TV has never been my thing. But I do find that I need some kind of prod to get me out there. Lists are that prod. I've already got some ideas that are more about completeness rather than actual numbers. Apparently I've never been to Shropshire. And there are a few Scottish regions I've never been to either, including West and East Dumbartonshire, and South Ayrshire, so I'll be looking to rectify that next year. Similarly there are some US States left to pick off, so I have a short trip already booked to the East Coast where I intend to drive a loop through Delaware, Pennsylvaina, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. I also find it important to have things to look forward to, so getting things in the diary early is something I always like to do. Anyway, I'll stop there as this is beginning to sound like an end of year post and we are still some way away from that! And there are still birds to be seen in Wanstead, though not this morning...