Good luck to you both, the Yorkshire thread won't be the same. Still, there's the blog to keep an eye on.

Good luck fella, that sounds ace!

Good stuff.

Sorry for the paranoia, but be careful about reporting raptor records from the Peak District on open forums. I don't think merlins are too much of a problem outside breeding sites (and only a total idiot would believe them any threat to grouse/livestock anyway), but if you see goshawks, harriers etc then report them to the SBSG or DOS, and take their lead on whether or not they publish them on their websites. There's a lot of people with guns in that area who have no problems taking the law into their own hands, and it seems in some cases wintering birds are as much a target as breeding birds.

Of course you probably already know all that, but it's always worth saying anyway. :t:

That sounds fantastic :t: I'm very, very jealous!

Nice one mate, when i finally get round to buying that long lens i'll be sure to get in touch to get some tips. Maybe we could have a scottish out of county meet to check out your new habitat.

Mark.

Hi Marcus,

Best of luck with the new venture. Looking forward to keeping up to date with your Scottish results.

All the best,

Richard

reporting of raptors
 

Hi Pete,
Point taken will be more careful in the future over specific location greatrt bird though to say i live in Sheffield i dont get to venture out often enough into the Peak district

I'm exactly the same - I've spent quite a lot of time on the fringes around the NW Sheffield reservoirs, Broomhead etc in the last few months, but I don't drive so don't venture into the middle of the Peaks as often as I'd like (hence the fact I've only just picked up merlin, and that was at Spurn... :eek!:). New year resolution will be to get up on those moors a bit more!

problem for me Pete i am fom the Rother Valley area and the journey across town can be a nightmare took me 30 min last night to get from the university to west bar

A ringed 4CY GBBG was found by the warden at Tophill Low in a moribund state on the 9th and subsequently picked up dead. It originated from a colony in south Norway in 2006. Some more information on the ringing recovery is on the tophill ringing blog.

At least you get the wetlands to make up for it! Do you know if the scaups are still around at RVCP?

saw one of the Scaups Pete but noticed on the SBSG site three had been reportedbut myself and a colleague could only find the one but still they all count

Just catching up here,
Good on ya Marcus.:t:
Hope the business goes well and you are booked up with clients as much as you want to be.

Big Dave, Geoff Dobbs and Me (much to my distaste!!!) also presume Dave Britain must have seen it but not sure about that. Andy Gibson (now technically joint number 1 having bagged Baillon's and Fea's in a week!) missed it.

G

P.S. And Roy Lyon saw it previously

Make your birding count!
It seems most people have time to visit the 'honeypot' sites or chase the latest rarity, but we are now halfway through the BTO Atlas survey period and large area of Yorkshire have not yet received minimum coverage, so you could really make a difference by doing some survey work instead of (or as well as) the above. The cycle for year 3 begins in November, and requires 4 visits (in Nov/Dec, Jan/Feb, Apr/May and Jun/Jul) taking up to two hours to count what you can see and hear. It is likely that most of the 'best' sites have already been taken, but we need the 'poorer' sites covering as well to give a proper picture of the state of birds country-wide. I intend doing a few inner city squares in Leeds this time, which should be fun.
If you think you can help, visit the BTO website, register, select your square(s) and get out counting.
Volunteers are always needed for other surveys, such as the annual breeding bird survey (BBS) or monthly wildfowl counts (WeBS) so please give it some thought.
The last Yorkshire Turtle Dove I heard was whilst doing a BTO survey in an area I wouldn't otherwise have thought of visiting, and I found a Lesser Scaup during one of my WeBS counts, so you may be lucky and turn up something good as well as contributing to our greater knowledge.
Rant over!

Good luck indeed Marcus, this may come in useful. At least you know where to stop on the way up.

Sbsg
 

Hi Pete,
Just a quick question for Pete Mella, are you a member of the SBSG group and if so is it worth joining?

No idea what you are insuating. One of the workshop feedback forms claimed that the Bacon Butties were the best part of the day. Not the sort of feedback I anticipated.

If I remember rightly that 'binlid' belly buster cost less than £3. Get in. I didn't eat for nearly an hour afterwards.

May be some items of interest for Yorkshire birders for sale here

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread....84#post1617784

You still heading the wrong way tomorrow?

I'd say so, but I'm on the SBSG Committee so I'm a bit biased! When I've got more time over the weekend I'll send you full details, if I forget nudge me. :t:

Pete
 

Thanks ever so much Pete:t:

Good luck Marcus !

Had a covey of 15 Grey Partridge in field opposite house this morning.Max previous number is 2 birds! so hopefully have had decent breeding season.

1 Ring Ouzel and 3 Brambling flying west over our house this afternoon

Was on a fungus walk with uni at Ringinglow in Sheffield this morning, and had 500+ redwing, 200+ pinkfeet and a smattering of fieldfare over. I think autumn's definitely here at last!