In ornithological company, the concept of climate change is usually discussed in terms of measurable impacts on bird populations and habitats, rarely on the way that it may affect the practice of birdwatching itself. This is remarkable considering how carbon-intensive certain styles of birdwatching have become. The days when Horace Alexander, one of the pioneers of British ornithology, expanded his usual New Year’s Day birding walk around his home town with a train ride to Dungeness in 1910 or, after moving to the Midlands in 1918, a bus ride to the Lickey Hills, seem distant to generations of birdwatchers that have grown up taking the car and the aeroplane for granted. New Year’s Day 2019 will find many birdwatchers driving to favoured spots or enjoying colourful birds in a warmer climate, perhaps around the Mediterranean or even on a different continent altogether. It seems unlikely, however, that the coming decades will witness the continued growth of mobility that has characterised ornithology in recent decades. At least there are reasons to believe that it shouldn’t.