AA Birdpix, Birds, Travel and More

Best Year Ever ? As  I'm compiling photos of Category A birds I'm obviously going over old records and photographs, and have begun to wonder "what was the best year ever for twitching in the UK?" Obviously not this year, but it's very much in the eye of the beholder. I would contend that the best year was one in the best era for twitching which was undoubtedely the last two decades of the 20th century. There were far fewer birders then and most twitchers knew each other, but there were birds that haven't occured again, and it was a lot more fun. Obviously a personal opinion, but I think anyone who was birding then would agree. To an extent, the best year will always be the one when you saw the best birds, but hardcore twitchers in those days tended to see everything unless there was a good reason (such as hospitalisation, or possibly your wedding day, although that is open to debate). Work commitments didn't count, as most twitchers were in a position to p...

  Warblers-Marmite birds? I am always working on my website, my current project is to illustrate every bird on Category A of the British List. I am quite a long way in, and have come to "old world" warblers.  Like gulls, warblers, particularly  Phyllosopus, seem to either provide great interest and a challenge, or are something to be ticked and then forgotten. I used to be somewhat in the latter group, but researching for my website has thrown up many interesting facts about vagrants to Britain.  Many firsts for Britain in the 21st century have been warblers, including Eastern Crowned,  Pale Legged Leaf and Olive-tree. Several have been as a result of splits, and older records were rarely assigned to the relevant subspecies. This is rarely important since few records exist, and they can be re-examined, however in the case of Subalpine Warblers it really isn't possible. Adult male birds aren't too bad, but females and immatures can be impossible to assign to one...