2026 Yearlist

  Week One Not the most productive week but saw some lovely species and did the first proper bugging of the year in the form of a couple hours of graveyard-scanning. Gravestones can often provide overwintering shelter for invertebrates - particularly ladybirds, and I think 4 ladybirds of 3 species isn’t too bad Orange Ladybird ( Halyzia sedemcimguttata ) Unfortunately I dipped on yellow-legged gull at dawlish warren, but that hardly seems surprising considering my history of looking for gulls there! On the positive note we had a nice trip to otter estuary and a very productive trip to decoy country park, newton abbot. Treecreepers at Decoy Country Park, Feb 1st Grey Wagtail at Decoy Country Park, Feb 1st Birding highlights of the week - spoonbill, little gull, whimbrel, cattle egret, marsh tit, treecreeper, great northern diver, firecrest, siskin, & kingfisher Other wildlife highlights - orange ladybird, two-spot ladybird, little tree worm ( s mammalis ), gorse weevil, hawthorn...

Week 4 A slightly extended week - stretching from the 22nd - 31st January. Little Gulls from Teignmouth, Jan 23rd A good start with 4 little gulls showing fantastically at teignmouth, if a little difficult to photograph. Could’ve gone out more throughout the week, but a few more quality trips and additions made for a decent finish off to January. The Duckpond, Exmouth, Jan 26th I achieved my first lifer of the year, my nemesis bird the caspian gull! Spotted on a pontoon in Brixham harbour by Kiera after an awful journey to get there - After countless dips on the species I wasn’t really expecting to see it. Caspian Gull at Brixham Harbour, Jan 27th UK bird #243 for myself.  Kiera and I also found our own little gulls off sprey point from the train and saw some parrots (hard to do in these parts). Ring-necked Parakeets near Exmouth, Jan 26th The week was nicely finished off with my best views of black-throated diver, and even got a photo! Black-throated Diver in Brixham, Jan 30th Cas...

  January Week 3 Week 3 was a mixed bag, some failures to go out, and less pretty weather than the first two weeks, plus a bit of a dip at broadsands means I only managed 6 year ticks this week.  Black Redstart at Roundham Gardens, Jan 15th Luckily at least some of the additions were relatively quality with black redstart, black-necked grebe, & razorbill. Black-necked Grebe on the Mill Pool, Jan 16th View of the Dart, from Stoke Gabriel On January 21st we visited Brixham harbour in some unfriendly weather, there were alot of fish in the harbour and even more birds! Maybe the rough weather brought the fish in? Gannets, shags, cormorants, kittiwakes, guillemots, divers, gulls, and seals, all chaotically feeding. Plus personal record counts of 90+ gannet, 90+ shag, and 30+ great northern divers, all in the harbour. Great Northern Diver taken by Kiera, Jan 19th Shag taken by Kiera, Jan 19th Highlights of the week - black redstart, black-necked grebe, purple sandpiper, razorbil...