Of course all my highlights were in Greater Manchester (apart from a busmans holiday to Coto Donana in Spain)

Discovering more about the beautiful nature sites of Salford was the main highlight

Birds of the year include self-found Yellow-legged Gull by Irwell Valley Way, Mediterranean Gull on the Manchester Ship Canal & Waxwing flock near Broadway

Greater Manchester: Shopping at Sainsbury's Altrincham and picking up a trolleyload of Waxwings.

UK: Nightjars on Westleton Heath (the highlight most years actually).

Europe : Finding breeding Hoopoe and Bee-eater together in the same field in Southern Germany.

World: Holiday to Kenya. Had decided that Carmine Bee-eater would be my target bird for the trip, but found several flying round Mombasa Airport half an hour after landing.

Some experiences of a newbie watcher - at my stage of the game, EVERYTHING is a highlight!! The 7 (2011) stages of a new birder....

7. Scargill House retreat centre in Wharfedale - great feeding station brimming with Siskins

6. Snow Buntings on Winter Hill!

5. Martin Mere in January - believe me, I had NEVER seen a Whooper Swan. I have seen one or two now!! Also Brambling (another first) at the feeding station. Beautiful.

4. Finding out that Pennington Flash (home patch!) is a top place in the NW - spotting the kingfishers, and several "firsts" for me - Teal, Goosander, Goldeneye, Snipe, Goldcrests, Redwings, Willow and Sedge Warblers, Blackcaps..... top place!

3. Marshside reserve - what a place! Avocets and chicks (sadly fast-food for Black-Headed Gulls!) in the spring, and later in the year, my first sight of a Hobby on the far side of the reserve - spectacular!

2. Wildlife guided day out on Mull in a monsoon, and the rest of the week too: dreadful weather but some memorable sights - but included White Tailed Eagle, Short-Eared Owl and a Black Throated Diver on the guided trip, and on our OWN - another White Tailed and two Golden Eagle, plenty of Red-Breasted Merganser, and some bottle-nosed dolphin.

1. Puffins and Arctic Tern on Inner Farne, Northumberland - what a magical day.

In the absence of any foreign trips or major twitches my highlights of 2011 were:

Ring-Necked Duck at Pennington Flash. A simultaneous lifer and county tick!

Bonaparte's Gull, Porthmadog 26 May Brightening up a miserable day on a short hop from the annual August holiday camp on the Llyn. A lifer

7 Short-Eared Owls putting on the best show ever Frodsham Marsh 6 Oct and finally adding SE Owl to my county list 17 Dec

There were other lifers - Lesser Scaup and Western Bonelli's but these were both a bit anticlimactic really and the latter was only seen briefly.

Bring on Finland June this year. Can't wait!

-- Edited by Tim Wilcox on Sunday 15th of January 2012 06:21:13 PM

Some great birds last year, Crested Tit and Ptarmigan in the Scottish Highlands, Least Sandpiper at Old Moor, Sharp tailed Sandpiper at Chew Valley and the Oriental Turtle Dove at Oxfordshire all spring to mind amongst many others.

2011 was a memorable year but the highlight for me personally though has to be the Collared Pratincole at Immingham, Lincs.



-- Edited by Phil Owen on Friday 13th of January 2012 11:03:47 PM

Ekkkk! How could I have forgotten to include the Waxwing invasion of Warrington last year!

Quite right Joe. I'd forgotten about that one.

The Bramhall Wood Warbler surely deserve a mention, what a cracker!

In Greater M/c it was the breeding avocets at Rumworth. I can honestly say that nothing else in the county rated as a highlight last year.

In Britain it was watching the cranes flight into the RSPB reserve at West Sedgemoor at dusk, whilst a quail called a few feet in front of me (and my 'digs' were just a few meters behind me so I could quickly withdraw from that chilly May evening in Somerset).

In the world, possibly the world's best birdfeeders at the Los Tucanos Lodge in SE Brazil. Blond-crested woodpecker is a bird worth travelling afar for.

My own highlight for 2011 came alongside the Bridgewater canal in Boothstown on 26th May watching a pair of adult Chiffchaffs feeding 5 young, that were out of the nest but probably not able to fly yet, as they perched huddled closely together as groups of 3 and 2 on low down horizontal branches in a bramble thicket. Whilst watching these for a good while, an added bonus was to able to also watch and enjoy adult Willow Tits feeding 3 fledged young in the same area. This all took place whilst I was slowly getting wet through from the pouring rain but it was well worth this minor inconvenience and was definitely the best 30 minutes or so of my year and left some memories that will never be forgotten.

Other personal highlights included having good views of adult Goldcrests with their recently fledged and noisily begging young at Harwood on 28th June and also at Tyldesley on 3rd July.

A final highlight included coming out from an early morning shop in Asda in Chadderton to find over 100 Waxwings around a single Cotoneaster tree at the side of the car park on 7th February. Quite thrilling, as well as unexpected.

Cheers,


Bill.

Highlights:
It was a good year personally for me in that I added quite a few Uk lifers, but given that at the start of the year my Uk lifelist was just over 150, that wasn't too difficult. Some I put of lot of effort into trying to see and others were pure flukes with me turning up at the right place at the right time. 

- Marsh Harrier @ Vange Marsh (Essex)
- Red backed Shrike @ Vange Marsh
- Bearded Tit @ Vange Marsh
- Marsh Tit in Dorset and Le Foret De St Germain (Paris)
- Crossbill @ Boy's Grave, Forest of Dean
- Chough @ South Stacks

just as enjoyable were
- Kingfishers @ RSPB Rye Marsh
- Sandwich Terns nesting on Bardsley Island, Dorset
- some long staying Winchats and the numerous Wheatears passing through my local patch in NW London
- Watching Hunting Little Owls in Regents Park, early one morning
- Watching a grounded Tawny Owlet In Hyde Park
- seeing Nuthatch, Goldcrest and Peregrine in my local cemetery one October morning.
- seeing Bullfinch, Treecreeper and Kingfisher in Alkrington Woods / Rhodes Lodges 

I can't talk about highlights without also mentioning a few lowlights
- the year-long futile search for a Dipper
- a fairly frustrating couple of visits to the Forest of Dean to find a Goshawk. When I did finally sees one,  literally 10 mins before I was about to get back in the car to travel home, it seemed like a bit of a letdown.
- Missing out on a Pied Flycatcher at RSPB Nagshead by about 30 mins
- Visiting Rspb Conwy and missing the Buff breasted Sandpiper
- missing out on the Wryneck at Alexandra Palace

Barnacle Goose, Caerlaverock
Merlin, Isle of May
Dotterel, Gt. Orme
Knot, Leasowe Lighthouse
Red Flanked Bluetail, Hilbre Island

Made up what was a brilliant year for me!

Wryneck At St Gowans and Goshawk at Conwy (both self found)
Close up view (20m) of Short Earred Owl hunting at Hesketh Bank in bright sunlight
Long weekend trip to Hartlepool with North Cheshire RSPB group during October,
Farne Island trip in June, absolutely stunning
Roosting Nightjar on Aylesbeare Heath
Following the nesting Peregrines in Manchester city centre and the Dyfi Ospreys
Walks to Hilbre Islands, never fails to disappoint
Black Grouse at Worlds End
Synchronised flying displays by Choughs and Ravens (luck to witness this several times during the year)
Woodpecker hatrick (Warrington 12.03.11)
The Little Tern colony and a dozen Dolphins close in at Gronant
The grey seals at Donna Nook (early December)
Year list finishing on 211
And everytime I saw, Oystercatchers, Gannets, Artic Terns and Eiders!

Locallly i really enjoyed the summer plumage Black tern at Elton in may,

But by far my highlights for 2011 were from my first trip to Africa and seeing beautiful birds with exotic and fantastic names that just remembering the names gives me a smile, Dark Chanting Goshawk, Yellow Crowned Gonolek,
Red Cheeked Cordon Bleu, White Crested Helmet Shrike, to name just a few, but the craziest bird i saw was in fight called a Exclamatory Paradise Whydah, this bird is only Sparrow sized but its tail streams so long behind it just looks sureal, Superb

2011 could have been called "my year of the Sandpiper" having seen 6 new species in my list of 28 first timers for the12 months. Many of these lifetime firsts I have shared with others, all of whom I thank for their friendship and expert driving when required : - the Oriental Turtle Dove, Spotted Crake in Warwick, White Throated Robin, Wykeham Forest Turtle Doves and the Greater Yellowlegs at Hauxley, Yellow-browed Warbler at Spurn and some when I travelled alone like the Anglesey Rosefinch and the Chat Moss Quail - all candidates for my bird of the year but without a doubt that prize goes to the Nightingales at Whisby - one of the best birding experiences I have ever had on a wonderful day in great company.

The highlight of 2011 for me was without doubt the pair Avocets raising 3 young at Rumworth.
We were able to spend many hours observing them from mating, laying and incubating for 3 weeks plus, then growing from tiny chicks to fledging when almost the size of the adults.
There were many ups and downs during this time with the male missing for days and all the well documented disturbance.
All ended well, fingers crossed for 2012.

Snow Bunting At The Point Of Ayre
Pied Flycatcher and Melodius Warbler In One Pool!!!!!
Thousands of Barnacle Geese Flying Over My Head
9 Lifers

Just a few:

Singing Corn Bunting - Highfield Moss
Singing Quails - Astley Moss
3 Hobbies hunting at the same time - Astley Moss
Watching Skuas from Point Lynas, Anglesey
A Long Eared Owl with three chicks from an undisclosed site.
Watching Marsh Harriers at Frodsham, Astley Moss and Leighton Moss.
White tailed Eagles and Hen Harriers - Isle of Mull
Richards Pipit - Leasowe
Ring Ouzels on Horwich Moors.

Lets hope 2012 throws up more goodies like this.

Little Egret in Plymouth, Avocets at Marshside, Golden Oriole near Vransko Lake Croatia, Arctic Tern and Spotted Redshank at Pennington :)

Arnfield Reservoir - Western Bonelli's Warbler.

That's it really, in the UK. However, trips to Hungary, and then Hungary and Romania made it a great birding year!

Mine were-
In GM- Finding a successful pair of Long-eared Owls.
Outside GM- Slatey-backed Gull and Oriental Turtle Dove on the same day.
I think hearing a rare bird singing makes the experience so much better, so the Western Bonelli's Warbler at Arnfield Res deserves a mention, as does the stunning Rosefinch in Cornwall that was my best self-find