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Yorkshire Birding (15 Viewers)

Super. I didn't hear about it.

There were 17 reports of it on Birdguides between 15th and 18th July 2007. Hardly surpression, is it? ;)

If you didn't follow the news services back then there's really no shame in that at all. There's no need to pretend you've been glued to the pagers for the last five years waiting for your "dream birds" to turn up.
 
There were 17 reports of it on Birdguides between 15th and 18th July 2007. Hardly surpression, is it? ;)

If you didn't follow the news services back then there's really no shame in that at all. There's no need to pretend you've been glued to the pagers for the last five years waiting for your "dream birds" to turn up.

Some of you lot crack me up. Just because all this means so much to you lot in terms of who has the biggest list don't assume that it means anything to me. I have always been into wildlife, and birding added a new and exciting angle to that. The list of birds I have seen is simply for my own record so I know what I have encountered. I also keep a diary which has common birds I see in it and when. I am doing it purely for the love of the outdoors and the love of nature. Keeping a list to try and brag to someone is and never will be one of my aspirations but it seems like that's all it means to some people. In my view that makes them pretty shallow.
I didn't even know there was a news service back then. Where you get the impression I am "pretending" anything is beyond me.
This all may be a really serious game to some of you but is and will always be about the love of nature and the outdoors for me. That's why when I know a bird is around I wait for it to appear. Unlike some "proper birders" I have witnessed who kick seven bells out of bushes to flush a bird which is in need of some rest and get their "tick". This is nothing to do with nature and nothing I want to be a part of. This does not include flushing for the purposes of ringing as this is beneficial to the birds.
 
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Live with it, I'm afraid. As Jim says if you're that desperate they're ten a penny in Spain.[/QUOTE]




I don't think they are particularly common in Spain, Eastern Europe has the biggest remaining populations
 
Seeing a bird like this in it's country of origin would mean nothing more than having an nice encounter with a common bird. Seeing one in the UK is rare and special. It's not just the bird, it's the story behind how it ended up on our shores.
 
I was at Bempton Cliffs a week last Monday just to see the place not realising there was a twitch going on. There were plenty of people who had travelled a long way judging by some of the accents I heard and they all left disappointed as the brown fly wasn't showing. There's no guarantee you're going to see the bird you are chasing anyway.
I saw a couple of birds I couldn't identify due to the light and position of the birds and may have seen the reported red breasted fly. A little disappointed but hey that's the luck of the draw.
I've had other similar experiences and my view on it is maybe one day I'll get a better look at these unusual birds. I'd certainly not get upset about it, there are many birds that aren't on my list and a lot of those are considered quite common. My list is for me and my records on Birdtrack and Atlas and I prefer to find birds rather than chase a report unless it's within cycling distance from home and I have the energy.
I missed a cattle egret through food poisoning but that's life.
 
Seeing a bird like this in it's country of origin would mean nothing more than having an nice encounter with a common bird. Seeing one in the UK is rare and special. It's not just the bird, it's the story behind how it ended up on our shores.



My last post was only to point out that the Roller is not common in Spain as a previous post implied. The first line is the quote I was referring to but for some reason doesn't have the quote box round it.

I wasn't having a go! and agree with your quote here.
 
My last post was only to point out that the Roller is not common in Spain as a previous post implied. The first line is the quote I was referring to but for some reason doesn't have the quote box round it.

I wasn't having a go! and agree with your quote here.

It's ok mate I saw the quote marks, I know you weren't having a go. The reply was to those who think I am desperate enough to go abroad to see this bird.
 
Squacco showing well on top ot the hedge off Beacon Lane Kilnsea this afternoon
SquaccoHeron010.jpg
 
no probs, it was sat on top of the hedge when i got there and seemed quite settled , snapping at the occasional insect, it did disappear for a time down the other side of the hedge, but reappeared after about 10 mins or so and settled down again,
 
Squacco showing well on top ot the hedge off Beacon Lane Kilnsea this afternoon
SquaccoHeron010.jpg

Great picture, Andy. I was restricted to the behind-the-patio table-and-chair-legs view when I was there, so it's good to see the thing in its full glory. Thanks too to the resident Spurners for their help and general friendliness. Now, if you could just turn that wind through 180 degrees, lads 'n' lasses...
 
We had a trip up the road from home this afternoon to Nosterfield,no Rollers or Squacco Herons but we had a pleasant afternoon watching the waders drop in before the rain front and had nice close up views of a Little Stint among the Curlew Sandpipers,Dunlin,Ruff,Greenshank and Ringed Plovers.A pair of Peregrine were around keeping the smaller birds on the move and one spent a long time laid on the grass looking skywards and we wondered if it was a young bird looking for one of the parent birds.
 
At the start of the new year, in part due to the costs of fuel, I started to watch "my local patch" (Cottingham) closley. I set myself an area of 1 square mile from my home, ie walking distance, and today recorded my 50th species, a pair of tree creepers. Not a massive list by any means but is becoming a little addictive

Regards
Dave
 
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At the start of the new year, in part due to the costs of fuel, I started to watch "my local patch" (Cottingham) closley. I set myself an area of 1 square mile from my home, ie walking distance, and today recorded my 50th species, a pair of tree creepers. Not a massive list by any means but is becoming a little addictive

Regards
Dave

Great Dave. We once watched a single lane with a quarry along it and got more species than we ever thought. I will try to tot them up and get back to you.
 
Great Dave. We once watched a single lane with a quarry along it and got more species than we ever thought. I will try to tot them up and get back to you.

Hi Mannix, I would be very interested in seeing the local counts from other areas, I have now "hit" 51 as I had 9 Mistle Thrushs' today|:D|

Dave
 
Spring & autumn migrations will continue to throw up more missed birds on a monthly, weekly, even daily basis. John

Couldn't agree more. Hugely frustrating being sat at work whilst the scarce and rares and even the commoner migrants and returning winter birds are popping up on news services. To me though, thats what makes birding all the more rewarding as when you are able to get out in the field and connect with a goodie it's bloody brilliant.

Let's just hope this Squacco stays 'till the October half term!

Just read the posts from the last couple of days. Made for brilliant reading!
 

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