Hear the story of a man who challenged himself to photograph 600 birds in one year. This episode is about adventuring around Australia, endemic and vagrant birds, and how to plan your own Big Year.

Charuka Abhayawickrama had a successful career in IT over 25 years. On his 45th birthday, he walked away from all his businesses and discovered a love of wildlife photography. When the pandemic hit, Charuka turned his attention to birds and in 2022 ended up doing an accidental Big Year. He ended up breaking the Australian record for number of birds photographed in one year. And he almost beat the Australian birdwatching Big Year record, seeing 773 bird species in total. Charuka is now a patron of many wildlife conservation projects that are close to his heart, both in Australia and Asia.

Links:

* Charuka on Facebook - @charuka.abhayawickrama

* Charuka on Instagram - @charuka.photography

* Charuka on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/charuka-abhayawickrama-3443611/

* Charuka's Big Year website - australianbigyear.com

* Charuka's photography website - charuka.com

* Australian Geographic interview with Charuka - www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2023/02/charukas-big-year/

* White-throated Grasswren recording by Joshua Bergmark (XC577277) - xeno-canto.org

Let's connect:

* Website - weekendbirder.com

* Instagram - @weekend.birder

* Facebook - @weekend.birder

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