A new list to keep!

Like most birders I keep a few lists: a year list, a Yare Valley list, a world list and a UK life list. I tend to focus on the first two these days, since I have neither the inclination nor the finances to go rushing off after new birds now I'm semi-retired: if something interesting turns up while I'm in a far-flung part of the UK on business, I do make the effort to try and see it (Ross' Gull in Devon a couple of years ago, for example!)

I was bringing my current year list up to date (201 species so far) when it occurred to me to wonder how many birds I'd photographed or videoed over the years. To my amazement (and I'm sure I've missed a few from the list) the current total is 332! This includes quite a few from the days when Linda and I made rare bird videos, including lots of pelagic species such as Wilson's Petrel, Cory's, Sabs etc etc.

This has, of course, given me the impulse to fill the gaps in this new list: White-tailed and Golden Eagles are obvious lacunae: I've seen plenty of both, but never photographed either.