Meopta and Forest Optic Best Find Shortlist

Here’s our shortlist for the Meopta and Forest Optic best find competition. Great birds one and all and congratulations to all of the finders – whether your find wins anything or not, your bird will probably go down as a defining patch birding memory for you. It’s the sort of stuff that patching is all about...

• ·         Gyr - South Uist
• ·         Feas petrel  x3 - Cork
• ·         Bridled Tern - Isle of May
• ·         Blyth's reed warbler, Cheshire
• ·         Western Bonelli’s Warbler – Orkney
• ·         Semipalmated Plover - Hampshire
• ·         Mourning Dove - Rhum
• ·         Red-flanked Bluetail - Norfolk
• ·         Pied wheatear  - Notts

Keep in mind that in drawing up the shortlist we’ve already considered birds like Siberian stonechat and citrine wagtail. Our selections are largely based on rarity, but in the case of the Gyr for example, the glamour aspect has influenced us too. It is, after all, the ‘best’ find and not necessarily the rarest.

To vote for your winner of the Meopta and Forest Optic best find, please see the poll on the right hand side of the blog. Good luck if one of your finds has made it into our shortlist! If it hasn't, then we wish you the very best of luck in finding something that makes it onto the shortlist for 2014!

Happy voting folks - the deadline for voting is the 8th January!