For me, going out and exploring is absolutely essential. Getting lost provides me with an escapism incomparable to anything else. It enables me to pause, mull and re-calibrate, helps me to reflect and re-connect with myself and permits me occasionally to witness the natural world as independent of humanity. When I get lost enough, sometimes I forget about the Anthropocene. I am able to stand in awe, to ramble, revel and enjoy the natural world on its own terms. In a nutshell, that is the joy of birding. Like most things worthwhile, it is the journey that matters rather than the destination.
This year that journey took me to Norfolk, Cornwall, Somerset, Kent, Essex, Gloucestershire, Surrey and Sussex. All in all I recorded 178 species, not including the famous ringed teal of Welney WWT (a suspected escapee) and one or two muscovy ducks. Here are just a few snapshots from the year, taken on my phone through the lens of my spotting scope.
Kestrel @ RSPB Pulborough Brooks, UK 
Kestrel @ RSPB Pulborough Brooks, UK 
Lapwing @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Whooper Swan @ Westhay Moor NNR, UK 
Sedge Warbler @ RSPB Dungeness, UK 
Snipe @ RSPB Pulborough Brooks, UK 
Little Ringed Plover @ RSPB Titchwell Marshes, UK 
Grey Plover @ RSPB Minsmere, UK 
European Serin @ Littlestone-on-Sea, UK 
Whooper Swan @ Welney WWT, UK 
Curlew Sandpiper @ Bough Beech Reservoir, UK 
Juvenile Yellow Wagtail @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Avocet @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Ruddy Turnstone @ Swale NNR, UK 
Sand Martin @ Minsmere RSPB, UK 
White Stork @ Knepp Wildland, UK 
Wheatear @ Swale NNR, UK 
Pied Flycatcher @ Knepp Wildland, UK 
Cirl Bunting @ Broadsands Beech, UK 
Snipe @ RSPB Dungeness, UK 
Red-Breasted Merganser @ Starcross, UK 
Redshank @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Yellowhammer @ Broadwater Warren, UK 
Whinchat @ RSPB Dungeness, UK 
Skylark @ Elmley NNR, UK 
Ringed Teal (probable escapee) @ Welney WWT, UK
A.C. Stark
A.C. Stark 
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