Bicycle Birding (1 Viewer)

markspirito · Nov 27, 2014

How many on this forum are into cycling and what birding goodies have you seen from the saddle ?, for myself I occassionally cycle to work often early mornings and late evenings and choose a quiet route where possible, I have seen lots of Barn owls , 1 Short - eared owl and numerous other birds with many close encounters with mammals in the past. One moment which stays in the mind was when I was cycling over Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire and a Wryneck landed on the road 10 metres in front of me ! and then narrowly avoided an on - coming car before quickly dissapearing into a grass field it would be intersting to hear any similar stories.

Farnboro John · Nov 27, 2014

markspirito said:
How many on this forum are into cycling and what birding goodies have you seen from the saddle ?, for myself I occassionally cycle to work often early mornings and late evenings and choose a quiet route where possible, I have seen lots of Barn owls , 1 Short - eared owl and numerous other birds with many close encounters with mammals in the past. One moment which stays in the mind was when I was cycling over Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire and a Wryneck landed on the road 10 metres in front of me ! and then narrowly avoided an on - coming car before quickly dissapearing into a grass field it would be intersting to hear any similar stories.

Fits right into the same bracket as "don't drink and drive - you'll spill it" as far as I'm concerned. When fellwalking my mother taught me that if you want to look at something, you stop (saves falling off cliffs) and while some stuff does whiz in front of you, I would really urge people to avoid multi-tasking. Personally I never look at or for birds while driving o

John

crazyfingers · Nov 27, 2014

Yes I bicycle and bird. My SX50 just hangs around my next as if I was hiking.

Mostyn · Nov 27, 2014

Love Cycling and swimming, Walking in the hills and wood lands, very often when cycling up the hills and trails of South wales (Beacons area) a Buzzard will swoop out of a tree and almost knock you off the bike, I've had some birds fly along side me as I'm cycling; and stay along side me for quite some time. one day a Goss-Hawk took a bird in flight, then came down on to grass verge with it's catch, just in front of me. Red kites will sometimes fly close in towards you as if their taking a look at you. Polecats and weasels, run across the trail occasionally. We get all sorts of wildlife here, foxes rabbits and squirrel can be a nuisance they can take you off the bike, had them run into me on more than one occasion. Birds of prey are numerous in this area Sparrow Hawk Peregrine Falcon, the occasional Osprey passing through, following the rivers and lake while heading north. Kestrels, are not so prolific as they were. Yes I know what you mean about the things you see while cycling; and the near miss situations experienced with animals and birds. Wonderful though isn't it?

markspirito · Nov 27, 2014

Yep , I also cycle in this area my mother lives near Brecon, ( Bronylls ), so any excuse to visit I am there , I have had some good birding in the area, and also seen otters on the river Wye, the cycling is a lot tougher than Northants however !

Mostyn said:
Love Cycling and swimming, Walking in the hills and wood lands, very often when cycling up the hills and trails of South wales (Beacons area) a Buzzard will swoop out of a tree and almost knock you off the bike, I've had some birds fly along side me as I'm cycling; and stay along side me for quite some time. one day a Goss-Hawk took a bird in flight, then came down on to grass verge with it's catch, just in front of me. Red kites will sometimes fly close in towards you as if their taking a look at you. Polecats and weasels, run across the trail occasionally. We get all sorts of wildlife here, foxes rabbits and squirrel can be a nuisance they can take you off the bike, had them run into me on more than one occasion. Birds of prey are numerous in this area Sparrow Hawk Peregrine Falcon, the occasional Osprey passing through, following the rivers and lake while heading north. Kestrels, are not so prolific as they were. Yes I know what you mean about the things you see while cycling; and the near miss situations experienced with animals and birds. Wonderful though isn't it?

markspirito · Nov 27, 2014

Quite right and well said John, but I did stop cycling to try and re - locate the Wryneck, and while driving I have seen the occasional Kestrel hovering on the roadside or Carrion Crow feeding on a dead Rabbit, some things you cannot miss, I would never raise my bins whilst driving on the A45 however ...honest.

Farnboro John said:
Fits right into the same bracket as "don't drink and drive - you'll spill it" as far as I'm concerned. When fellwalking my mother taught me that if you want to look at something, you stop (saves falling off cliffs) and while some stuff does whiz in front of you, I would really urge people to avoid multi-tasking. Personally I never look at or for birds while driving o

John

kitefarrago · Nov 28, 2014

A long time ago I did some cycle-touring in Scotland. Best sightings were white-tailed eagle on Mull (taking off from the beach as I cycled by) and otter on Skye. Cycling along the west coast of Ireland I've seen dolphins.

Andrea

Chris-Leeds · Nov 28, 2014

I cycle as well though can't remember coming across many special birds by accident although osprey would be the best. I have cycled with a specific target in mind i.e. whiskered and white winged tern, collared pratincole etc. I'll also sometimes wander about to see if I can find decent birds and have done a couple of longer trips out to reserves.

Kratter · Nov 28, 2014

There is a great blog of a birder (Dorian Anderson) doing a US Big Year all on bicycle (no driving or motorized transport at all). On Thursday (27 Nov) he broke 600 species for the year and was part of the group that documented a potential first US record of Red-legged Honeycreeper. His detailed blog entries make for interesting reading on birding, bicycle touring, and life on the road.
http://bikingforbirds.blogspot.com/

Andy

markspirito · Nov 28, 2014

Thanks for this Andy I will check it out, no Red - legged Honeycreeper for me this morning however all I seen / heard in the gloom was Robin Singing, Redwings passing overhead, Great tit singing under the light of a lampost, and a shrew ( Sp ) crossing the road at great speed !

Mark

Kratter said:
There is a great blog of a birder (Dorian Anderson) doing a US Big Year all on bicycle (no driving or motorized transport at all). On Thursday (27 Nov) he broke 600 species for the year and was part of the group that documented a potential first US record of Red-legged Honeycreeper. His detailed blog entries make for interesting reading on birding, bicycle touring, and life on the road.
http://bikingforbirds.blogspot.com/

Andy

Edward · Nov 28, 2014

Yes, I'm a very keen cyclist and cycle to work every day and other days for pleasure (weather permitting). I do keep a "birds seen by bike" list but I almost never have bins with me so that limits things a bit. Best bird this week I suppose is a flock of 9 Ptarmigan by one bike path in Reykjavík last Sunday. I 've also seen Gyr Falcon a few times in the last few weeks while cycling home and a Short-eared Owl flew in front of me in the dark a couple of weeks ago.

markspirito · Nov 28, 2014

The last time I seen Ptarmigan was over 10 years ago !, and I have yet to see Gyr Falcon, ..well done

Mark

Edward said:
Yes, I'm a very keen cyclist and cycle to work every day and other days for pleasure (weather permitting). I do keep a "birds seen by bike" list but I almost never have bins with me so that limits things a bit. Best bird this week I suppose is a flock of 9 Ptarmigan by one bike path in Reykjavík last Sunday. I 've also seen Gyr Falcon a few times in the last few weeks while cycling home and a Short-eared Owl flew in front of me in the dark a couple of weeks ago.

Nutcracker · Nov 28, 2014

Best bird I've had by bike - Eastern Crowned Warbler :t:

(Trow Quarry, South Shields, Durham Oct 2009)

crazyfingers · Nov 28, 2014

Most of the birding/biking I do are on the carriage roads and loop roads at Acadia National Park in Maine, USA. Schoodic is the most fun. But between the main section of the park and schoodic it's ocean and lakes so what I am usually on the lookout for are Eagles, Osprey, Cormorants, gulls and then the other ocean and large lake birds like Loon, Mergansers, Eiders, and the various other ocean-going ducks and duck-related critters divers.

Xenospiza · Nov 29, 2014

I prefer to cycle to work (my last few weeks have given fewer opportunities). Best bird found on this route is Thrush Nightingale, a local rarity.
I also like to do my "traditional cycling route" of about 1:45 h whenever I am back at my Dutch home village (best bird found on this route: Cattle Egret, best bird seen on this route: Black-winged Pratincole, best -and only notable- bird today: Little Owl).

Phil Andrews · Nov 29, 2014

Kratter said:
There is a great blog of a birder (Dorian Anderson) doing a US Big Year all on bicycle (no driving or motorized transport at all). On Thursday (27 Nov) he broke 600 species for the year and was part of the group that documented a potential first US record of Red-legged Honeycreeper. His detailed blog entries make for interesting reading on birding, bicycle touring, and life on the road.
http://bikingforbirds.blogspot.com/

Andy

In 2010 Gary Prescott, the Biking Birder http://bikingbirder2010.blogspot.co.uk/, broke the British non-motorised year list with 252 species whilst cycling around Britain visiting every single reserve of the RSPB and Wildfowl & Wetland Trust, delivering educational talks to schools and raising thousands of pounds for charity at the same time. Rumour is that he's repeating the feat again in 2015. Top bloke (despite being a Villa fan) :t::t:

ovenbird43 · Nov 29, 2014

For birding local sites I usually use my bike. One May when I lived in Arkansas I did an all-bike Big Day that totalled 104 species. Swainson's Warbler might be the best specialty I've found via bike in Arkansas, it's rather rare in the Ozarks, I heard one singing out by Lake Weddington in NW Arkansas during a long ride one spring. In Tucson, I stopped for what turned out to be a Prairie Falcon along the bike path last winter, and while watching Lawrence's Goldfinchs along the patch I found a Dickcissel, rare for the area. I find it to be an enjoyable way to explore large areas, much faster than walking but one is still able to hear the birds and thus find productive spots.

Edward · Dec 1, 2014

Nice addition to the birds seen by bike list on Saturday, a drake Hooded Merganser at the edge of Reykjavík (fortunately there was someone else there with binoculars). Best bird I've found while cycling and not out looking for birds specifically was in July at Mt Glorious in Queensland, when a male Paradise Riflebird flew across the path and started foraging on a tree right next to the path. I've spent many hours in these forests birding without seeing a Paradise Riflebird and it was the only one I saw on the trip and the first time I've seen a male.

markspirito · Dec 1, 2014

A guy I know told me he used to cycle from Dunstable in Bedfordshire to Cley in Norfolk in his youth, a distance of 120 miles !! all for a spot of quality birding, not sure if he stayed overnight or travelled back the same day, he must of had legs like tree trunks !
Another bird I had only two years ago which i travelled to by bike, was a Richards Pipit on a local hill close to home a good record for an inland UK site, although I was not sure what it was at the time, the bird was confirmed by its call, and by other local birders.

markspirito · Dec 5, 2014

Not much seen from my mid morning ride to work apart from a noticeable increase in fieldfares and Redwings, and a single Common Buzzard

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