Taking stock

The weather was so foul today that we abandoned plans to go out with a friend. Instead I used the time to do a bit more photo sorting, concentrating on birds. It's probably about 2 years since I started taking a real interest in birds, and only in 2011 have I been keeping a record of what I've seen. I've watched and photographed birds in my garden, gone out and about locally, visited bird reserves and sought out good birding sites when on holiday. I've never gone far out of my way to seek out particular birds, and I've no time for "bagging" or "ticking" which some seem to do almost as a competitive sport, but keeping a list and taking photographs has certainly helped me learn.
I think it's unlikely that I'll see any more new birds before the new year is upon us, and I'm glad to say, there is lots of scope for me to see and record new ones - even a few quite common ones in the coming year.
I've blipped 107 different birds, the first 50 being consecutive
I've photographed 140 different bird at least once and posted them on Flickr
I've seen 151 different birds in total in 2011. There will be lots of people out there who have seen more, but I'm happy to think I can ID this many birds - sometimes with a little help from my friends.
I didn't count Fiona the Flamingo in my total.