2011

It's been a funny year, I think; I say 'I think' because I can't actually remember most of it.  Being in the office, birding abroad, and seeing nothing at Barnes are recurring themes.  I worked out that this year I've spent over 30 hours sitting on a plane and over 48 hours sitting in airports waiting to sit on said planes. The upside, though: I've had the chance to go to some great places and meet some fantastic people.

It started in March with a trip to Eilat. I was like a kid in a candy shop, ticking off practically every species whose distribution is limited to longitudes east of Lowestoft. My adventures at the Eilat Bird Migration Festival, in the form of a video diary, are only here.

In September I headed east again, this time to Georgia. My Georgia 2011 trip report is, er, in prep.—I'll write it up one day, I promise!

Then I was off again, this time to Portugal to spend a fantastic week birding the south of the country with João Jara. There's a write-up of my week online here.

I finished the year back in Israel, this time in the north of the country. Fewer ticks this time round but still the same top class quality birding. An overview of my week at the Hula Valley Bird Festival is online here.

And at various points in between times:

I visited the top of Tower 42, London;

took Sir David Attenborough's nose off with a clapper board;

saw some dragonflies;

(yes, I know that one's technically a damselfly)

and some butterflies;

got anal over Woodpigeon moult;

and ate sushi.

That is all. Vive la 2012.