Pedro´s Big New Year

[pedro maia]

Once again I don´t feel like counting all the species, there are too many that are a bit boring, like sparrow, larks, etc, so for this year I will only conunt species that are new for me here in Portugal, so far I have 266 in the continent and 5 from the Azores, my goal is to get 50 new species in the continent, it´s doable but it will depend on my dedication, I wll need to go to rarities but there are also a few common species that I miss, a few I saw them already but weren´t able to photograph, so let´s see how it goes.

 

If I make a trip abroad I will also make a separate count for that.

[pedro maia]

My first new species for this BY was seen this morning, it´s an excoctic species I tried to see a couple of times but it was only today that I saw it, I had two goals for this morning so it was a 50% success rate, not bad, I think this year I´ll have quite a few blank outings .

 

#1 (267), 2/1, Red avadavat  (Amandava amandava) Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

Not an easy species, today I saw a group of 6 but it wasn´t easy to photograph them, this was my best effort.

Edited January 9, 2022 by pedro maia

[Kitsafari]

a still commendable effort in getting clear shots of an exotic species - and 2 birds in 1 photo too.

[shazdwn]

Day 3 and already a new species, I'd call that a good start

[pedro maia]

Today at lunch time I went to Lisboa to try and find a rare species that has been reported for a couple of months in a specific place, a species that breeds in Madeira and Canary islands.

 

#2 (268), 3/1, Plain swift (Apus unicolor) Estádio Universitário de Lisboa

 

 

 

 

They are very difficult to photograph, their flight is more "nervous" than the other swift species. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by pedro maia

[michael-ibk]

An ambitious goal Pedro, good luck with finding 50 new ones. Won't be easy but I believe in you! 

 

And you can always sneak in some birds just accidentally posing for you!

 

Well done with the Avadavat and the Swift - I see your pain in trying to get photos even resulted in you renaming it. 

[pedro maia]

3 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

An ambitious goal Pedro, good luck with finding 50 new ones. Won't be easy but I believe in you! 

 

And you can always sneak in some birds just accidentally posing for you!

 

Well done with the Avadavat and the Swift - I see your pain in trying to get photos even resulted in you renaming it. 

It was my subconscious .

[Dave Williams]

An interesting approach Pedro and one I considered too. I agree that snapping for the sake of snapping can be a bit tedious but at least it gives me something to do!

I'd never even heard of an Avadavat...you have revealed so much about the opportunities for Portuguese birding in your threads I am definitely thinking of making a visit there!

[pedro maia]

6 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

An interesting approach Pedro and one I considered too. I agree that snapping for the sake of snapping can be a bit tedious but at least it gives me something to do!

I'd never even heard of an Avadavat...you have revealed so much about the opportunities for Portuguese birding in your threads I am definitely thinking of making a visit there!

 

The only problem with this approach is it can be sometimes a bit frustrating, yesterday it was but today I saved the day in the final moments.

 

Maybe you know the avadavat as Red munia?

[Dave Williams]

Never heard of a Red Munia but I have seen one or two other Munias in India or Sri Lanka.

 

[pedro maia]

Yesterday I missed all my targets and today was going the same way, at the end I was able to get a new addition, one I had seen in the Azores but goes directly to the continent count (which I have to correct with one species)

 

Picture with the 400mm zoom, my bird is there, you can take my word for that:

 

 

I wouldn´t have got this one without the help of another birder who was in the spot with a scope.

 

Crops are needed here:

 

#3 (270), 9/1, American wigeon (Mareca americana), Ribeira das Enguias

 

A bit closer with the P900 (and a heavy crop as well):

 

 

[Dave Williams]

That's a smart bird!

[PeterHG]

The P900 did a good job on this rarity!

[Galana]

A good find.. I have yet to see one outside of private collections.

[elefromoz]

Sounds like a good plan Pedro, interesting to see if it's more relaxing or even more challenging than previous years.

[pedro maia]

A new species for me that won´t count for my BY, this weekend in Lech am Arlberg (mobile phone pictures, birding wasn´t in the programm):

 

Yellow-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax graculus)

 

 

[pedro maia]

Today I had a really cool sighting of one of the toughest species that occur here, I have been looking for it for quite a while but it´s really difficult to spot, one individual was spotted in the Lexíria 2 weeks ago but I didn´t find it, this afternoon I went there, couldn´t find it in the spot where it was seen, drove around looking at the rice fields and finally when I was checking another bird it just popped up in my binoculars, I was really happy because I was alone and had plenty of time to see it well, as well as possible, of course.

 

A true master of disguise:

 

 

 

The P900 was needed here.

 

#4 (271), 21/1, Great bittern (Botaurus stellaris), Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

 

[Galana]

Epic. I would love a sighting like that.

[Kitsafari]

excellent shots of the bittern! 

[michael-ibk]

Great Bittern - awesome! How you can you visit Austria without dropping by though? Next time you´ll be banned from the country for doing that.

[pedro maia]

22 minutes ago, michael-ibk said:

Great Bittern - awesome! How you can you visit Austria without dropping by though? Next time you´ll be banned from the country for doing that.

I know, on my defense I will say that it was a last minute decision for only a weekend and we flew to Zurich, I wasn’t that close to your grounds .

[michael-ibk]

Next time Stubai Valley 🙂

[pedro maia]

Yesterday I went to the Aveiro area to look for 3 species, I haven´t been there birding because it´s quite far, I thought my wife might want to join me, she´s not really interested in birds so I had to bribe her .

 

 

 

 

I can´t count the Northern lapwing on this year´s BY but  I can surely drink it...

 

[pedro maia]

It was a glorious sunny winter day and I got 2 of the 3 species I was looking for.

 

#5 (272), 22/1, Pink-footed goose (Anser Brachyrhynchus), Ria de Aveiro

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by pedro maia

[pedro maia]

#6 (273), 22/1, Brent goose (Branta bernicla), Ria de Aveiro

 

 

Edited January 30, 2022 by pedro maia