Spring/Summer Target Bird

I forgot to publish this post before my incredible school Classics trip to Greece so before I get onto that here's this one.

I could argue that, despite seeing tons of new and great birds, this winter was unsuccessful as I didn't get to see the spectacle - I can't blame anyone else - of Hawfinches nor did I achieve my target bird the Yellow-browed Warbler. This was partly due to luck - one was found literally down the road from me when on the RSPB Conservation weekend - and the fact that very few compared to last year made it down into England and the South especially. So I did miss my 2017 Autumn target in that sense, though my other one was a Golden Plover, which I did see. 

Conclusion: a successful winter.

Now on to this spring - there a few birds, which aren't bogey birds, that I've been wanting to see for a long time as frankly I think they are amazing birds. My backup spring target is Short-eared Owl - though I'm not expecting to see one too close to Surrey as they are more winter birds in the South, I'd love to get a bird if I head up north this year as they truly stunning birds. However the bird that I've been wanting to see in years, and was disappointed to have missed last year, are Grasshopper Warblers. The sound of them reeling is quite spectacular, and I've been wanting to find one of them for years. This year I'm hoping is the year that I can finally get my Gropper.

Finally my British birding list currently stands at an ish 185 - since nearly 2/3 were seen in Surrey, it's not too bad. But I'm hoping to reach 200 by the end of the year. Hopefully...