In 2025 (birding-wise), I logged over a hundred species on my travels, which took me to Canada and Spain as well as various places around Britain (southern England, mostly). East Finchley and beyond, indeed.
But for me, 2025 was quite the year for much, much more than that.
In early October, Allison and I welcomed our son Jack into the world. He was born by surrogate in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While we were in Halifax I went for a walk around the Public Gardens (they weren’t far from the hospital). Best sighting was a Blue Jay.
For the first two weeks of Jack’s life, home for us was a lovely rental in Ketch Harbour, overlooking the bay. We had previously stated there in June when we went out to visit our lovely surrogate and her wonderful family, who we now regard as family!
I swam out to that little jetty most mornings; for much of the rest of the day, it was inhabited by Double-crested Cormorants. Sightings in the garden alone included Blue Jays, American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals, a Cedar Waxwing (slightly different than the Waxwings we occasionally get in London) and — definitely a first for me — an Eastern Kingbird. Slightly further afield I notched up a Raven and a Bald Eagle at Sandy Cove.
Since we got back to London, I have been taking Jack for walks around our neighbourhood and while doing so I like to tell him of the birds we’re seeing. Pigeons, crows, parakeets — I’ll point them all out. The highlight was without doubt a Sparrowhawk a couple of blocks from home which flew into a bush just as we were walking past, in unsuccessful pursuit of what was probably a Starling. Straight in, some rustling about and then straight out and away. Definitely one where we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time; this is only the third time in my life that I’ve seen that happen.
OK, so he won’t remember that, but I will — and I can tell him about it in years to come. He’s at the start of the great adventure that is life, after all.
In England, birding highlights have included a Barn Owl (ghostly white, seen flying through the trees while I was sitting around the camp fire at Gilwell Park), a good visit to Minsmere in July, a lovely early-morning walk on my only overnight visit to Bath and a similar early-morning walk at Newhaven in Edinburgh.
A good year, and I begin 2026 in a spirit of happiness and optimism, and not just because of the birds.
