A quick run-through of my birding year:
I did a fair bit of traveling in 2012 which allowed me to see and photograph many species of birds.
For the first 4 months I was living in Singapore, where a family of Straw-headed Bulbuls (a globally threatened species) were living just outside my bedroom window:
I was also lucky to have this Buffy Fish-Owl hanging out nearby my residence:
I did a fair bit of birding in the city state, and managed to see 181 species of birds - many thanks to the very generous birders living there.
One of the easier species to digiscope, a Yellow Bittern:
Collared Kingfishers are very common - but also very beautiful. This shot of the bird sitting in the daily downpour really captured the trip for me:
Pittas are high on many birders "want" list. However, I wasn't much impressed by them despite their intricate plumage. Hooded Pitta:
Shorebirds was what I was interested in. Pacific Golden Plovers were very common in Singapore:
A week long trip to Thailand with Mira, was one of the best birding trips I've ever been on. Highlighted by 4 individual Spoon-billed Sandpipers. It doesn't get much better than that!
The insects were phenomenal in South East Asia. I didn't appreciate them enough, but the common Blue Pansy was my favourite:
On my first day back in Canada I was lucky to find a Golden-winged Warbler just down the street from where I was living in Waterloo:
I also found a Mourning Warbler on breeding territory allowing me to get some decent shots of this species:
I was also happy to see many Grasshopper Sparrows in the region:
The two highlights from the first half of the year are easy to pick:
1: An unexpected encounter with the very rare Rail Babbler.
2: Spoon-billed Sandpipers
Part II to come soon...
