Final Score 176

Well the year is now up and my challenge is complete. I managed a couple of trips out in the last few days and managed to add a few birds - including a water rail that I had been trying to photograph for about 13 months!
A trip to Eastbourne harbour gave good views of Red Breasted Mergansers and Guillemots but the new species I managed there was a rather confiding Razorbill. Also managed a knot in the harbour mouth which again was a new species.
Guillemot:

Red Breasted Merganser

173: Razorbill

174: Knot

Spent the 30th of Jan out looking for owls with my wife - sadly we nly managed 1 distan Barn owl and the SEO didn't show at all. I did however manage 2 new species - the final ones for 2014.

175: Fieldfare

176: Water Rail

Well, that's it for the challenge. 176 isn't a bad total considering I had only seem 167 birds in total prior to this year. There were also a few birds I saw but failed to get photos of (the most annoying being House Martin and Mistle Thrush!).

I will continue to post on here but will be going for quality rather than numbers this year. I think my pics have improved (which was what the challenge was all about). Thanks for Reading. Happy NewYear :)

Nearly at the end

Pretty much at the end of my challenge now. Christmas will mainly be family time and although I will try and get out a couple of times I'm not sure I will be able to get many (if any) new species so this may be it. Managed a few new ones at the start of December however including at least 2 birds I had never seen before. Started with a common bird I nearly missed out on though:
167: Song Thrush

Went out photographing Short Eared Owls at the start of December but on the way there saw some (rather distant) Grey Partridges.

168: Grey Partridge

One of the shots I managed whilst looking for SEO was this one of a Short Eared Owl attacking a Red Kite - not new species for this challange but a shot I liked.

Next Species I managed to shot was this Tundra Bean Goose near Shoreham - again another new one for me :)

169: Tundra Bean Goose

Last winter I tried unsuccessfully for Hawfinches on a number of occasions. Tried for the first time this winter last week and (although distant) managed to see a group of 4. Managed an ok shot although will try and get a better one another time.

170. Hawfinch

Finally I went to Dungeness with my youngest a couple of days ago. Was fairly quiet and the Smew that had been reported all seemed to be hiding but managed a (distant) Ruddy Duck

171. Ruddy Duck

Rather closer were a pair of very confiding Cattle Egrets - managed to see these earlier in the year but they were too distant to shoot. This time they were nice and close.

172; Cattle Egret

Happy Christmas :)

A few from Kent and Sussex

A couple of weeks ago my son asked if we could go to the Isle of Sheppey to do some birdwatching. We had hoped for bearded tits at Capel fleet but sadly none were present. We got news of a couple of rare birds at Reculver nearby so headed there but on the way from Capel fleet saw a very obliging Barn owl in a tree near the road.

Not a new species for my challenge but nice to see and certainly a better photo than my first attempt.

At Reculver the desert wheatear that had been reported was still there and was showing stupidly well!

163. Desert Wheatear

A Shore Lark at the same location was another bird I had never seen before:

164: Shore Lark

We then returned to Capel Fleet and waited in the hope of Short Eared Owls. We were rewarded just as the sun was about to go down. Again not a new bird for this year but very nice to see.

We had planned to go back to the Isle of Sheppey again this weekend but a poor weather forecast meant we gave it a miss. I did however take the opportunity of popping along to see the Rough Legged Buzzard in Jevington, Sussex. Before it showed I managed a shot of a Corn Bunting:

165: Corn Bunting

The light was terrible but I did manage a shot or 2 of the Rough Legged Buzzard when it hunted across the field in front of us.

166. Rough Legged Buzzard

A few days in East Anglia

New job has meant that I haven't been out as much as I would have liked recently. Over half term however we had a short family holiday to East Anglia. Had a lovely time and it was very relaxing. I managed to get three new birds including two lifetime firsts for me. Definitely some locations I will be visiting again sometime.
First new bird was a rather distant snipe:
160: Snipe

On the second day we found out about a rather showy Red-Backed Shrike that had been seen near where we were staying so we headed off and I managed a few shots.

161. Red Backed Shrike

I would have liked to have stayed and got some more shots of the shrike but while we were there we were told that a Hoopoe had been seen 5 miles down the road. We shot off and when we arrived were told it had flown off 5 minutes ago! We hunted for 30 mins but no sign so we decided to head back to the car. Part way back it flew across in front of us and then conveniently landed nearby enabling us to get some shots :)

162: Hoopoe

Saw loads of other birds including a lovely kingfisher but sadly no other new birds. Before this year I had only seen 174 birds in total so am now aiming for that by the end of the year,

A combination of other commitments and a new job have meant that I haven't got out as much as I would have liked recently. When I have got out I either have managed only distant record shots (Cattle Egret, Little Stint and Black Necked Grebe) or shots of birds I have already captured. I have managed a couple of new species recently (Pintail and Red Crested Pochard - below), I have also included a couple of other photos I have taken recently including my first ever Sussex Ring Ouzel.

158. Pintail

159. Red Crested Pochard

Little Owl

Ring Ouzel

Done it!!

I have now completed my Challenge of 150 birds photographed in a year :)
I do however want to see how many I can get to by the end of the year. I've started a new job so have less free time but hopefully I can add a few in the next 3 1/2 months. Would be nice if I could make 175!!
The following photos were taken at various locations over the last couple of weeks.
150: Wryneck (Shooter's Bottom)

151. Sparrowhawk (Bough Beech)

152. Greenshank (Dungeness)

153. Ruff (Dungeness)

154. Sand Martin (Dungeness)

155. Curlew Sandpiper (Pagham)

156. Spotted Redshank

157. Peregrine Falcon

Iceland Birds

One of the reasons I wanted to do this challenge was to prepare and get as much practice as possible photographing birds for my holiday to Iceland. At first I had planned to aim for 100-120 birds but thought I would set the challenge at 150 because I knew I would get a few in Iceland. What I was nit prepared for was a) how many birds I would see and b) just how close I would be able to get to so many different birds. I saw so many birds I have never seen before and was fortunate enough to be able to photograph all of them. (some better than others!). If anyone wants a great place to go on holiday with wonderful scenery and superb wildlife I could not recomend Iceland highly enough. The photos below are a selection of the hundreds I took. I am still going through the photos so will post more, with more detail about the country, later but for now these are the birds I managed to see and photograph:
123. Arctic Skua

124. Arctic Tern

Barnacle Geese

125. Barrow's Goldeneye

126. Black Guillemot

Black Tailed Godwit

Dunlin

127. Eider

128. Fulmar

129. Gannet

130. Glaucous Gull

131. Golden Plover

132. Great Northern Diver

133. Great Skua

134. Guillemots

135. Gyr Falcon

136. Harlequin Duck

137. Kittiwake

138. Manx Shearwater

139. Merlin

140. Pink Footed Geese

141. Ptarmigan

142. Puffin

143. Red Necked Phalarope

144. Red Throated Diver

Redwing

Slavonian Grebe

145. Snow Bunting

146. Whimbrel

147. White Tailed Sea Eagle

148. White Wagtail

149. Whooper Swan