I was 70 when I bought my first smartphone, at 73 this is my first blog. Many out there will know us, Ann and I used to sell rarity photos back in the 1990s. We have a great lifestyle travelling the world to view and photograph birds and other wildlife, although unfortunately Ann now suffers from arthritic knees which has curtailed activities somewhat. I don't get out in the field so much now either, but have recently returned from Shetland. 

People were getting excited about a Veery and a White-crowned Sparrow, but I was over the moon to get my first photo of a White's Thrush. None of the birds were ticks, the ticks turned up just before (Blackburnian Warbler) and just after (Yellow Warbler) my trip. It didn't matter in the slightest, the main thing to me was the experience on Shetland. I obviously passed on my enthusiasm, Ann's coming next year. Apart from it being a mini-version of birding in the 1990's I have friends who live there, in a later blog I'll tell the story of how my car came to be left to overwinter on Unst.

Now the mothing season has finished (here anyway, I never get anything between November and March) I am revamping my website and starting this blog. I don't have aspirations to be an influencer and I'm not trying to make money, it seems that people may be interested, so I'm just putting stuff out there. It will also introduce my website which shows lots of photos from all over the world, plus the UK. 

My trip always makes me think how birds have changed over the years, and whilst "the scene" and technology have changed, it is what it is and no amount of discussion will change anything, so why waste time talking about it? A personal view, birds themselves are a different subject, and whilst we hear a lot about conservation and biodiversity these days it's not all gloom and doom, so my thoughts turn to that.


I started birding seriously in 1980, and decided to see all the regular British species before doing any twitching, mainly because I had no way of getting news. I managed it apart from Long-eared Owl and Lady Amherst's Pheasant, which never was a "regular" British species and now isn't on the list. Long-eared Owl is a different matter, I now see them annually and know of at least two roost sites locally. A bird I see almost daily, sometimes flying over my house, is Little Egret. I saw my first in 1985, and  twitched it in Devon, although I'd gone there for other things. In 1988 I didn't see one. Buzzards were rare in East Anglia, not just uncommon but rare, Red Kites meant a journey to Wales, Hobbies and Peregrines were also in very low numbers locally. People often say to me "there's nothing like the numbers of birds around that there used to be" We all know that to be true, it applies far more to insects and even more so to habitats, but there are pluses. This isn't necessarily a good thing for a species, but it keeps us going as birders. A good example is Pallid Harrier. When I started birding the last record had been in 1952, one turned up on Shetland (typical!) in 1993. After it was last seen Ron spent a week up there as he had been abroad, that's how desired it was on anyone's list. I saw my first ten records later, in Kent in 2002. Again now I see them annually, it seems that they are expanding their range westwards in response to habitat loss on the Russian Steppes. Sadly there probably isn't enough suitable habitat in western Europe, so numbers overall will fall. Some conservation measures are in place which is the best we can hope for, so let's enjoy them now.




Rare and scarce birds are changing because of climate change, but for differing reasons. American landbirds are now far more likely here because of more extreme weather events, but others, such as Boobies, are driven by rising sea temperatures, many Asian migrants are experiencing habitat loss and hunting pressures so whilst numbers are falling, birds such as Red-flanked Bluetail are  moving west. So birding will actually become more diverse and interesting as time goes on. Sadly, it all means you probably won't grip back Pallas' Sandgrouse and I won't grip back MacQueen's Bustard, but there may be a twitchable Tufted Puffin one day.


 


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