Here, nevertheless, are my best bird sightings of the past twelve months (lifers in CAPS).
January - DUSKY THRUSH (Antwerp province); a beautiful, new species on only the fourth day of the year as I joined the crowds visiting the popular Dusky Thrush near Oud-Turnhout. I got a very brief glimpse as soon as I arrived but then had to wait another 40 minutes for it to appear again.
February - Red-necked Grebe (Berlin); 3 pairs in breeding plumage making a lot of noise as they displayed on a city lake, the first time I have heard this species calling since I usually only get to see wintering birds.
March - Swallow (Brussels); having been made temporarily unemployed and facing an indefinite period confined to my apartment and the surrounding area, my first Swallow of the year migrating past my balcony on 28th provided a much-needed glimmer of hope.
April - Garganey (Brussels); a pair unexpectedly discovered in a busy city park on my way home from a walk in the forest.
May - Marsh Warbler (Brussels, East Flanders, Luxembourg province); one discovered singing on my Brussels patch, where it is a scarce visitor, towards the end of the month, followed by lots more frantically singing in typical marshy habitat a few days later and another in completely different (much drier) habitat in Belgian Luxembourg.
June - Night Heron (Flemish Brabant); a nice surprise since this usually secretive species was sitting out in the open.
July - Black Stork (De Plateaux - NL); my first Black Stork in the Netherlands circling overhead during the 20 minutes or so I spent just over the border from the Hageven in Belgian Limburg.
August - Black-winged Kite (Hautes-Fagnes); what was almost certainly an immature pair mating, hunting and sitting on a nest on the last day of their weeklong stay.
September - Curlew Sandpiper (Uitkerkse Polder); my first in several years, I successfully twitched a juvenile at the end of two days spent at the coast.
October - OLIVE-BACKED PIPIT (De Fonteintjes); it took me two attempts but I eventually got good looks at my first, and well overdue, OBP.
November - DUSKY WARBLER (Bredene); hot on the heels of my first OBP, there would have been something wrong if I didn't connect with my first-ever Dusky Warbler this year considering the unprecedented amount of birds seen at the Belgian coast, and elsewhere, this autumn.
December - Long-tailed Duck (Ostend); Long-tailed Ducks are always nice to see, whatever their plumage, but even more so when they are accompanied by a female Scaup and a female/immature Common Scoter, all of which were new for the year!
No offence to the Olive-backed Pipit, but the dusky duo of thrush and warbler were in contention for my bird of the year, the Dusky Warbler winning the duel as a result of the incredible influx we witnessed this autumn which saw a record nine (at least) different individuals reported on 21 November. Getting anything more than a brief glimpse of this skulker is already a challenge so I didn't even try to take a picture but a handful of photographers did eventually succeed. I was just happy to see it so well the first time and then pay another visit to the same bird three weeks later. It is still there now and looks set to remain there for the rest of the winter so will no doubt be attracting plenty of year-listers, myself included, in a couple of days' time.
So, despite everything, I managed to see three new species this year, with Black-winged Kite and November's Crag Martin also being new additions to my Belgian list, which now stands at 318 species. The first period of confinement in early spring saw me going through some old trip notebooks and discovering five splits which had passed me by, although I lost two due to a lump and one more as the result of correcting a long-standing misidentification. The overall result for my lifelist was thus an increase of five species. During the year, I managed to see (or hear) a total of 214 bird species, 202 of which were in Belgium and 112 in Brussels. I didn't really get to travel much this year but the additional 12 species came from my short visits to The Netherlands, Berlin and Givet, in northern France. My apartment list increased by 6 species (Black Redstart, Marsh Harrier, Goldfinch, Merlin, Greylag Goose and White-fronted Goose) and my Brussels patch list by just one - House Sparrow!
Spending most of the spring migration confined to Brussels put paid to a big year for birds, but the travel restrictions within Belgium were lifted just as the butterflies were getting going so I made a serious effort to plug some of the gaps in my Belgian list, adding eleven species as a result, eight of which were lifers, with a record 69 species (67 in Belgium) for the year.
Large Skipper, Luxembourg province, May
With the butterflies keeping me so busy, I had little time for odonata this year although I did manage to identify three new species - Southern Emerald Damselfly, Golden-ringed Dragonfly and the lovely Green-eyed Hooktail, which I saw twice. Finally, I also saw one new species of orchid this year during a butterfly trip to the Fagnes.
Dactylorhiza sphagnicola, Fagne de Malchamps (Liège province), June
I would like to wish you all a nature-filled and healthy 2021!
