Review of 2017

To be honest 2017 really does seem like a mediocre year, birding wise. Most of the best birding has come around just three months really, April, July and September, with the rest providing a bit part to the year. Also all the local patches have underperformed this year with little on offer, even at Trimley, which is usually reliable.
Over the course of the year I saw 185 species of bird, which sounds a lot and is better than some years I have had, but doesn't compare to the 350+ species seen in the UK every year. I had a birding holiday in Scotland, which added a lot of species to the year list, providing a lot of birds that are only found in Scotland, or hardly ever seen in Suffolk. Apart from a few brief sorties to Norfolk, most of the birding has been done in Suffolk, most of it really close to where I live.
January started the year off with the usual winter birds, with the exception of a flock of 15 BEAN GEESE, at Trimley, only my third record, involving 19 birds in all. February underperformed, as did March, and it took a trip to North Norfolk in early April to get things on track, with a trip to Minmsere later in that month also providing some good sightings.
In May I got a new camera, and although my photography got better, the birds dried up. It wasn't until I took a holiday to the highlands of Scotland that things went back on track. There I saw a wide vaierty of birds including three of my four lifers for this year WHITE TAILED EAGLE, PTARMIGAN and BLACK GROUSE.
August was rubbish and resulted in the lowest views I've had on this blog - 2 posts only had 1 view each!
September was better, visiting a good range of places and culminated in my fourth and final lifer of the year a RED THROATED PIPIT, attending a twitch, something I don't normally do.
October was alright, with two last date summer migrants, for HOUSE MARTIN and WHEATEAR both on the 22nd of the month, but providing nothing unusual.
November had some decent trips, but things kind of dissolved in December, where other commitments took control of my time.
Over 2017 I've spent a hell of a lot of time bird watching and writing about it, and sometimes it feels for no gain. I don't really know if anyone reads this blogs - and from the stats it can't be that many - so I wonder if its worth persevering with. As always I want to know what you think, so please leave a comment.