Monday 15 December 2014

Looking back on 2014

2014 is fast coming to an end. It's been a bit of a roller coaster and started in Zimbabwe with news of my grandmother who passed away. Throughout the year we also said goodbye to my grandfather, two hiking friends and one of Nicola's cats so we've had plenty to feel sad about. But we live in the here and now and it's important to move on from such events, so here are the top ten highlights from this year, in no particular order:

  1. With the help of Niall Perrins, setting a new personal record of 153 birds seen in a day, while birding in the Punda Maria/Pafuri area in February during an extreme birding weekend arranged by the Honorary Rangers at Kruger National Park.
  2. Learning about warblers from expert Ettienne Marais and seeing the Kgomo-Kgomo floodplain covered to it's highest level in ten years.
  3. Having two successful twitches (Lesser black-backed gull in June and Pacific golden plover in November).
  4. Having one of the best day's in Mkuze Game Reserve's fig forest we've ever had
  5. Birding in Manu National Park, the reserve with the highest number of species recorded in the world (1003 and counting).
  6. Birding the cloud forest in Aguas Calientes and seeing Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and the Nazca lines.
  7. Paying an ad hoc visit to an unprotected pre-Incan burial ground south of Nazca where 1500 year-old skeletons and skulls lay exposed in the Atacama desert.
  8. Stepping off the plane in the Galapagos islands and seeing one of Darwin's famous finches for the first time.
  9. Snorkeling with marine iguanas and seals in the Galapagos.
  10. Visiting the Tankwa Karoo for the first time and sharing this starkly beautiful place with my parents.

Birding-wise, we've done really well this year. Around February or March I got the idea that it might be possible to identify 1000 world birds in 2014 and as of right now, I'm on 995 and Nicola on 925. This aim was a personal one and I worked hard at it, squeezing in several one hour early morning sessions during business trips to Cape Town and Durban. I will leave for West Africa in less than a week where it should be easy to pick up the remaining five. But this trip to Benin, Togo and Ghana is actually more to do with my aim for 2015 - to identify 1000 African birds. This is considerably more daunting than a thousand world birds so I've got some ambitious plans in mind for 2015. For now though, it's the dual-purpose West Africa trip that's ahead - finishing 2014 and starting 2015 on a bang. To all friends and family, may you have a wonderful and peaceful holiday and a great 2015! Here are some of our pictures that captured our highlights in 2014: