Top of the Flops 2024

Here then is my traditional year end review of my birding year.

The year of 2024 was definitely a case of “what a difference a year makes!” It certainly brought us all back down to earth after a truly stellar 2023. In the autumn of 2023 Lee, a truly monstrous storm sprawling across some 15,000 square miles of the Atlantic with winds up to 165mph, coincided with the mass migration of passerines along the west coast of north America. This almost unprecedented series of events delivered a large number of mega rare and UK first American passerines, mainly to the UK west coast, such that I managed to add a rather staggering 27 new birds to my UK life list. In contrast 2024 was notable for the almost total absence of American vagrants with the exception of a small number of birds early in the year, presumably leftover and undiscovered from the previous autumn. I managed just 13 new UK list additions in 2024 with the year largely saved by five new eastern Warblers. My annual autumn trip to Shetland delivering four of these.

Here are the thirteen 2024 additions to my UK list. If you click on the individual record it should take you to a blog article on that addition with more photos and background information.

· Northern Waterthrush, Essex, 4^th January

· Sociable Lapwing, Cornwall 7^th February

· Collared Flycatcher, Yorkshire, 4^th May

· Indigo Bunting, Durham, 19^th May

· Bridled Tern, Northumberland, 8^th June

· Black-winged Pratincole, Yorkshire, 5^th July

· Hudsonian Godwit, Cheshire, 13^th August

· Pale Legged Warbler, Yorkshire, 1^st October

· Eastern Crowned Warbler, Shetland, 3^rd October

· Paddyfield Warbler, Shetland, 5^th October

· Pallas’ Grasshopper Warbler, Shetland, 7^th October

· Arctic Warbler, Shetland, 7^th October

· Red-eyed Vireo, Dorset, 27th October

The year was also notable for a wonderful spring holiday with Carolyn in Tuscany. Waking up to the sound of Hoopoes calling in your garden is something you are unlikely to experience in the UK!

Italian Hoopoe

Bird of the year

Pale-legged warbler curtsy of Nick Truby

This is always a really tough one but a combination of very difficult personal circumstances and shear rarity value gives this award to the Pale-legged Warbler (which spent a week or so at RSPB Bempton in Yorkshire in the autumn. In terms of rarity value, as the first UK live record, it could hardly be any rarer. Originally misidentified as a scarce in its own right Arctic Warbler, a sound recording subsequently identified it unambiguously as a mega rare Pale-leafed Warbler. When it was finally identified I was laid up with the aftereffects of my first bout of Covid and had reconciled myself to not seeing it. This was shortly before my October trip to Shetland which was also in some considerable doubt until the very last moment. In the end, by spreading the journey to Aberdeen over two days I was just recovered enough and testing Covid negative to go. My itinerary limited me to a couple of late afternoon hours on a gloomy October day at Bempton. After 90 minutes or so it was not looking good. I was feeling increasingly rough and thinking I would rather be in bed when it dropped down in front of me. It was too gloomy and brief for any chance of photographs so I’m deeply indebted to my (link) birding mate Nick for the use of his photos.

Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler

In terms of one of my most wanted birds, the normally secretive and reclusive Pallas’ Grasshopper warbler , which spent a short time in Shetland in October, rates as a close runner up. This bird really is a Shetland speciality with precious few twitchable records on the UK mainland. Its habit of sulking in dense marshy terrain usually means that, if you are lucky, you may get the odd glimpse but on this occasion it showed quite well, all be it very briefly.

Photo of the year

Short-eared Owl

I was initially going to go for my pic of the Shetland Artic Warbler in taken October but a late in the year visit to see some Short-eared Owls delivered this atmospheric head on shot which I was very pleased with. Personally, I feel that the gloomy and somewhat doom ridded late afternoon winter sky and its oncoming piercing orange eyes, gives this photograph a really eerily and moody feel. Catching it head on and in focus in such poor light is testament to the amazing high ISO speed and eye tracking auto focus capability of my Cannon R5.

Arctic Warbler

As noted above, a close second was this pic of the autumn Arctic Warbler in Shetland. This it was a bird that I had previous history with having dipped twice before at Spurn in Yorkshire and on a previous trip to Shetland. I was actually twitching the Pallas’ Grasshopper Warbler (link)when news came in of this bird at a location previously unknown to me. It turned out to be a very short distance away from where I was staying in Scalloway. It was quite late in the afternoon when I arrived but it showed quite well in a small valley just off of the main road. I went back the next day and managed to get some much better pictures in better light as per the above shot.

Pallas' Leaf Warbler

Also in the runners up I would include this picture of a Pallas’ Leaf Warbler again taken in October in Shetland. A beautifully tiny rare asian gem taken in perfect light!

Here is a small selection of other favourites from 2024.