Big Year 2026: July Update

This month has been yet another busy month! In between working, refereeing and sheltering from the blistering heat over this month visits has been low!

New Places Visited

At the start of this month brother and I had a crack of dawn start and a three hour drive ahead of us as we had booked a hide for a bird which always captivates us!

Whilst this trip had a couple of stops in one day everything was done with purpose.

This first stop was at Llyn Brenig, North Wales. This is a reservoir own by Welsh Water. After a great breakfast we then made our way to our hide which we had booked for two hours. The bird we were hoping to see was Ospreys.

Ospreys were extinct as a breeding species within the UK in 1916 however, they established themselves in Scotland in 1954. Previously we had made the journey to Rutland Water, whilst this was about the same distance from where we are in Gloucestershire we had other places to visit through out the day!

To say that we was not disappointed is an understatement! We had a great time, we had to very knowledgeable people who volunteer with the North Wales Wildlife Trust. With a great view of the nest, good access to additional gear if we wanted it and one of best views of an Osprey we have had for a while!

If you want to see the dad feeding one of the chicks which was a rare thing, according to the staff, click here.

Here are some photos from the visit to Llyn Brenig!

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Well after that great time at Llyn Brenig, we set of for another one drive to the next location(s). As we drove through the Welsh mountains I was gob smacked about how beautiful it was! The views were fantastic. Here are some photos!

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When we arrived at Anglesey, our first stop was South Stack, this would be my first on Anglesey and my first view of sea birds.

I was overwhelmed we the amount of birds crammed into one place, birds were literally everywhere!

While the sun was out, the wind was crazy, it was gusting us all over the place let alone the birds! After a couple of hours, we then moved onto a beach where my brother had heard of birds he wanted to see. Once we had finished there, we then made the four hour drive home, after some well earnt fish and chips! Yummy!

Here are some photos from Anglesey.

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The rest of the month, I have visited a few local nature reserves to have a look around and see what was about, here are some photos which I have taken over the last month without the Llyn Brenig and Anglesey.

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Big Year Progress

Some of the new species added to the list are:

• Osprey

• Kittiwake

• Great Black Headed Gull

• Lesser Black Backed Gull

• Sandwhich Tern

• Common Tern

• Artic Tern

• Common Guillemont

• Razorbill

• Black Guillemont

• Fulmar

• Shag

• Chough

• Raven

• Rock Pipit

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As I said before, my goal for this big year is simple: record every new species I spot. If you’d like me to include monthly stats or breakdowns, let me know in the comments and I’ll start adding them.

I’m thrilled to say that for July, I recorded 15 new bird species! This brings my total number of different species to 129!

If you’re following along with your own list, how many did you spot this month?