Regular followers will know, and even a brief visitor will soon pick it up, I like photographing the birdlife we see on our walks and we will return to the same place again and again simply to observe the birds. We find it a fascinating hobby, as no day is ever the same and we’re always learning or seeing something new. Best of all it is proven to be good for your mental health. Whether you watch for 10 minutes from a window, go out for a day’s bird watching trip or sit and wait for those great shots.
Occasionally we spot a ring on the birds which, with the help of the European Colour-Ring Birding website, enables me to report it to the scientists who are monitoring and researching that species. Well it does if I can read the code on the ring! Not always possible as you may recall from my post about Caspian Terns at the end of last year. Well the good news is that it looks like the same Swedish tern is back as at the weekend we spotted one with similar ring arrangement and the even better news is I can read the ring this time. I have submitted my recording with these photographs to the team at the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm.
And that’s not the only reporting I have been doing this weekend. The British Nature Guide for the past couple of years have been running a fun Twitter challenge where you simply report with photograph birds seen using the hashtag #BirdsSeenIn2022. It isn’t a scientific study but there’s a sense of accomplishment when you review the weekly charts and seen the country you’ve been reporting birds in gradually move up the list. As of this weekend 36 different species have been reported for Portugal, the vast majority of which are birds I have reported. Here are just a few of the ones I have recently reported.
You check the Portuguese list here, and the rest of the world here. In 2021 more than 4,900 species were recorded in the challenge, which is around half of the total number of species in the world. Can we do better in 2022? If you see a bird and are on twitter do share, and if you are not on twitter but see a bird in Portugal send me a photo and I am happy to report your sighting with full credit for you.
If you are interested in more scientific reporting sites then check out E-birds which was launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society and is suitable for reporting your sightings worldwide including Portugal. If in the UK then there is also BirdTrack which is a joint partnership between the BTO, the RSPB, Birdwatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club and the Welsh Ornithological Society.