Watch the birdy

“The bird who learns to fall is the bird who learns to fly…”

Recently my wife was delighted to encounter a flock of these tiny birds on Aldinga Beach. They were lifer birds for her. Red Necked Stints. Seeing a new species is always exciting, so how many species can you hope to see? Worldwide there are around 10,000 species, nobody has come close to seeing them all. North America has a total about 900, just over 740 have been seen by an individual birder in a calendar year. Australia is listed as 830 species, which surprisingly is more than Europe with 530. Specifically in South Australia my wife has access to 477 different birds. A big year is when a birder tries to see, photograph or hear as many different birds as they can in a calendar year. Local state records are somewhat secret, but probably sit at over 350.. I suspect that in these pandemic times, the necessity for local travel in South Australia will mean the number of birds seen in a single year will increase pretty quickly. #penpaintscalpelandbird #letsmakelemonade