My Outback (2004 / 17)

[birdman]

Trying to make the best of an iffy and changing weather forecast, myself and partnyorsha took a chance and ventured out at 9.30, in spite of rain in the air. In fact, we got showered on a couple of times, but we made the right decision weather-wise, spending an enjoyable two and a quarter hours outback.

There was (and still is!) a bit of a strong breeze blowing, but fortunately from a milder direction than of late, so not cold at all.

I mentioned in report 16 that things seem to have settled down, and today seems to add strength to that opinion, as we added nothing new to the list. However, we had an excellent morning in terms of species ided, and although the water birds seem to be huddled up in the undergrowth around the island, the woods were extremely lively, and I am pretty sure I have understated the numbers of all the woodland birds.

As I am a bit pushed for time today, I’ll let the list speak for itself.

Plain text = Outback day tick
Bold text = Outback year tick
Bold italic text = Outback life tick

(Number in brackets is highest number of individuals identified at one time)

Starling : 2 (2)
Skylark : 17 (5)
Song Thrush : 1 (1)
Blue Tit : 19 (6)
Coot : 2 (1)
Mallard : 9 (5)
Woodpigeon : 228 (200)
Chaffinch : 9 (3)
Great Tit : 12 (5)
Moorhen : 2 (2)
Green Woodpecker : 1 (1)
Collared Dove : 1 (1)
Carrion Crow : 13 (12)
Fieldfare : 51 (50)
Kestrel : 4 (2)
Jay : 3 (2)
Red-legged Partridge : 2 (2)
Goldcrest : 7 (3)
Long-tailed Tit : 2 (2)
Magpie : 3 (1)
Bullfinch : 2 (2)
Jackdaw : 8 (8)
Feral Pigeon : 10 (10)
Black-headed Gull : 2 (2)
Linnet : 50 (50)
Nuthatch : 4 (1)
Treecreeper : 1 (1)
Yellowhammer : 5 (5)
Brambling : 1 (1)
Goldfinch : 3 (3)
Robin : 1 (1)
Meadow Pipit : 1 (1)

[Andrew]

Wish I could hear Skylarks then I would record them more often. Do you just hear them or see them often? I think I have yet to have kylark on my WeBS list. That is glaringly obvious as when I see Skylark it is usually when I am with others and I do the WeBS on my own (apart from two occasions).

Three Jays, I'd like that!

[birdman]

We're really blessed with Skylarks... it was one of the first things we noticed when checking out the area before buying a couple of years ago.

I don't know what the ratio of singing birds to total birds would be, and being fairly difficult birds to id by sight alone (for me at any rate) I'm lucky to be able to pick them up by song.

If I do see one in the sky (and with the low cloud, they're much easier to track down!) and follow it to ground, there are invariably other lark-like birds around.

At the minute, because of the length of day, if I don't hear any as I leave the house for work, then I won't hear them at all, but during the longer days, and at weekends... well it's just about every day!