2021 Annual Summary

Another year of Covid played havoc with our birding routines and with the holidays that usually include a bit of birding. As a result, everything was topsy turvy with the beginning of the year seeing outright travel bans and the closure of bird hides, restaurants, cafes and all the things that make birding easy. Instead the year became a bit of a slog but we did our best anyway.

In addition to the problems deriving from the epidemic, I also had my leg injury back again and walking more than short distances was painful. January to March was strictly gerden birdwatching but this managed to have a nice surprise in the shape of a pair of Grey Wagtails that found the mealworms on the lawn in the garden. We also managed to get Blackcap and great view sof a Redpoll on our feeder.

We had been at home for six moths before we got our first birding day out to Burton Mere Wetlands and Neston Old Quay. At BMW all the hides were closed which made viewing the scrape difficult. It is crazy to think that most of the year ticks you would get in January took us until the third week in April.

Another trip up to the Wirral saw us at Hoylake, Leosowe and Parkgate on the 27th April.

In May we went to the Goyt Valley and got our usual – and desirable- Pied Flycatchers (8!) and Common Redstart and Tree Pipit (just the 1) Moving on to Danebower Quarry we failed to get Ring Ouzel and we only got a single Wheatear. We discovered a Sparrowhawk on the ground in our garden throttling a House Sparrow. Other garden oddities have been Pheasant, Fox and Hedgehogs. In fact, the hedgehogs were with us well into the Christmas period before the second on decided to hibernate.

BBy May we had both been double vaccinated so we felt more comfortable being out and about – but still cautious. We went to Burton Mere Wetlands on 27 May and failed to see a couple of birds we had hoped to but were consoled by the Bittern that flew in from behind us as we stood at the  Reedbed Screen and landed just in front of us before disappearing into the reedbed. A further trip to the got Valley on the 27^th May got us Blackcap, Goldcrest, Dipper and the Spotted Flycatchers we had missed out on our previous visit.

A further trip to Burton on the 3^rd June saw the opening of hides again but you had to be masked making it difficult for everyone. We got a pair of Curlew Sandpiper, though and up at the Point we got a male and a female Green Woodpecker which is a bird I particularly love seeing and which has been something of a bogey bird for me over the years. We also got a good range of those Warblers that are so key to the Spring and Summer experience.

A trip to Dovestones on 11^th June got us a couple of good sightings of a  Wood Warbler that was holding territory and singing a lot. We returned next day and got even better views plus a good range of birds.

We took an actual break in North Wales between 15^th – 17^th June where we took in Little Orme, RSPB Conwy, a completely fog-bound South Stack reserve (visibility a couple of feet), Cemlyn Bay, LLanferfechan, Bodnant Gardens and Gronant Dunes. We got Black Guillemots at both Cemplyn Bay and the Fish Dock at Holyhead, Guillemots, Razorbills and Fulmar at Little Orme, Red Kite, the usual Terns at Cemlyn Bay. Eider and Dipper at LLanferfechan, Pied Flycatcher at Bodnant Gardens. In all we got 58 species and 17 year ticks

On the 15^th July we went to RSPB Bempton Cliffs. We get our annual Gannet fix and the best views of Puffins at Bempton Cliffs we have ever had – hovering on the wind a few feet away from us. But, to top that, we also got the fantastic life tick Black-browed Albatross that eventually displayed for us for a very long time. In July we also got Spoonbill 14th July 2021 Fairburn Ings, Spotted Redshank and Ruddy Shelduck at Burton Mere Wetlands.

In August we went to Slimbridge where we got our yearly Common Cranes. We also went to Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath but in August they were a dead loss and the reeds were too high to see anything.

In September, the birding group came out of hibernation and we started our outings again. The first outing was to Burton Mere Wetlands where we got Cattle Egret and some nice Pintail. that was about it for October as we had been having work done on our house that pre-occupied us

November saw us at Sandbach Flashes, Wigan Flashes and RSPB Marshside. It ended for us with a birding group visit to Burton Mere Wetlands which was unexceptional but we went up to Denhall Quay afterwards and managed to get a couple od Short-eared Owls which was the first time in ages we have seen them.

Resurgence of Covid- this time the Omicron variant and the need for third vaccinations kept us at home for part of December. We had plenty of domestic work to do as well. The birding group reformed again and we went to Marbury Park on the 14^th where the highlight was a flock of Redwing. With Christmas approaching and the weather turning extremely wet, the year fizzled to a damp end. Be that as it may, there were some real highlights in the year and it is better to concentrate on the highs than the lows. Next year might be a lot better but may not feature the life tick of the year – Black Browed Albatross!

Bird Sightings in UK 2021