Every year I like to keep a record of the number of bird species I see; I don’t go chasing birds for my year list but it is interesting to record what I see from year to year and provides me with a way to keep enjoying seeing birds that I have seen many times before.  In 2012 I ended up with a total of 743 species having spent 3.5 months in UK and the rest of the time in Thailand. 

I managed to get a few new species in 2012 which included Mew Gull, Northern Boobook, White-browed Fantail, Red-crowned Barbet, Balaeric Shearwater, Great Grey Shrike, Shorelark, Little Auk, Red-breasted Goose, Spot-breasted Laughingthrush and Slaty-legged Crake.

For my Thai list I also added Mandarin Duck, House Crow, Red-crested Pochard, Black-legged Kittiwake and Copper-throated Sunbird.

Currently, my 2013 year list stands at one species – this Peaceful Dove on the street in Bangkok as I went for lunch this afternoon!

Over the next twelve months I look forward to seeing a large number of species in both Thailand and UK again; hopefully there will be at least a few new ones.