My First Skua! (1 Viewer)

Today I saw my first Skua, the Arctic Skua along with my first Great Blacked Gull, ok so the gull gives away my beginner status, but I was happy with the Skua as I primarily visited Whitburn Observatory just to see how it was, evidently (and all you seawatchers will know this) the wind direction was not favourable, but nevertheless a cheeky twosome added to the tally.

Anyone reading this outside the north of England, Whitburn Observatory is a purpose-built reinforced hide/shelter on the sea front nr Whitburn, which can best be described located between the city of Sunderland and the town of South Shields - and I'm assured given the correct conditions a prolific place to seawatch.

I have a few questions. is this normal behaviour, dashing out midweek? - will it subside? and also as a new birder, just about every trip brings a new life tick. When this doesn't happen what does it mean? - I'm getting better? - or more as likely, I'm not looking hard enough

Steve

Hi Steve,

Congrats!

Dashing out midweek . . . Will it subside? - NO.
When you don't get a new tick every trip - means you've seen everything there is to see!

Michael

Hi Steve,

I'm a bit sad and happy in a way because my list is now 85 and so soon i'm not going to be getting lifers as easily as all my birds are very local, at the moment anyway. I'm happy though because it means i'm gaining experience all the time. It will slow down soon but it's only because the birds you have seen are alot more common and have a bigger range than thos eyou havn't seen. Great Skua and Great Black backed gull would of been lifers for me also, Good luck in the future

Steven

Hi Stonechat,

Its great to read stuff by beginners. Last year I took up birding again. I had done it a bit as a kid. My life list was about 135 when I started up again in January 2003.
I was running at at least 7 or 8 new birds every month throughout the year, which was about a newbie every 2 trips out.
I can remember where I saw each new bird and what the weather conditions were like.

Although some were rare birds, the greatest excitement was seeing things I'd seen in books all those years ago but was now seeing in the flesh, so to speak (Freudians butt out here please):

Peregrine Falcon
Water Rail
Bittern
Jack Snipe
Hobby
Marsh Harrier
Smew
Redstart & Black Redstart
etc.

Its all ahead of you mate. Enjoy every minute. It gets better too.

Regards,

Padraig.

Padraig said:

the greatest excitement was seeing things I'd seen in books all those years ago but was now seeing in the flesh

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I totally agree with this. As a teenager I drooled over the plates in Kirkman and Jourdain and the revolutionary new Peterson, Mountfort and Hollom (1st edition; half the plates black and white). I never got around to seeing even a fraction of the birds in the books before other interests took over. Years later, it was recognising a Shoveler at Chew Valley Lake that set me birding seriously and 99% of the joy was in bringing those still images to life.

Well i have been birding since the eighties and this is the first year i haven't had a lifer yet, but i still have plenty of birds that can change that.

So dont get too despondent it wont dry up and seeing a bird is just the start there is much to learn from each species.

Brian.

Michael and Cuddy -If I may call you "old hands" (in the most respectful way of course - ahem)

I like the way you encourage us new guys. Sometimes I'm not sure if people want to hear of my new exploits. Of course other people will love to hear of them - I've read many different sections and threads on here - something for all indeed.

For years, as a person with a casual interest in birds, I (quite wrongly) assumed my geographic position here in the northeast was poor. I'm now discovering it's a great place, and I'm learning all of the spots from places like here, and birders in the field.

What I now find is as I see species, I read up on them, via my guides and CD rom etc - to get an understanding of what I've seen, how and in some cases why! - I intend in time to learn the voices/songs, butat present the pleasure of watching them means more than collecting them. I sit for hours watching them on the feeders etc.

My birding at present seems randon & haphazard. Is there a right/wrong way to do it? - I feel like I go from Ducks to Warblers to terns without any pattern or logic. Maybe it comes with experience, the old quantity over quality debate. Anyway I'm happy at present and if i can stay that way, surely that's part of the attraction?

One final thing Steven, is being so far from the sea a hindrance then, with you being in the West Mids? - i recall speaking to some locals outside Highfield Road (Coventry) and they mentioned Coventry was either the furthest point in the country from the coast or Coventry FC's ground was - I must admit it is something I used to take for granted until I heard about migration :eek!:

Hi Quacker,

Thanks! I guess there is some logic and quite a bit of experience goes into it, knowing what birds turn up when and where - an example is the Roseate Tern day I'm doing, as in mid to late August, a lot of Roseate Terns use the big post-breeding tern roost at St Mary's Island. This is the probably best place & time to see Roseate Terns, not just in Britain, but anywhere in the whole of Europe - and certainly by far the most accessible without a boat.

Other birds, experience tells you exactly what sort of habitat to look in, after a few years, you'll be able to predict very closely what birds will be expected at a site just by looking at the habitat, e.g. a wet field with long grass and a few bramble clumps and small hawthorns "this looks good for Grasshopper Warblers, come back here in late April when they arrive", and so on.

Stonechat2 said:

I'm a bit sad and happy in a way because my list is now 85 and so soon i'm not going to be getting lifers as easily as all my birds are very local, at the moment anyway. I'm happy though because it means i'm gaining experience all the time. It will slow down soon but it's only because the birds you have seen are alot more common and have a bigger range than thos eyou havn't seen. Great Skua and Great Black backed gull would of been lifers for me also, Good luck in the future

Steven

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Hi Steven,

Why not try to get up here for one of the Roseate Tern days I'm organising? - should be able to net you a goot lot of seabirds. More here:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=175375#post175375

Michael

Alright steven (Stonechat), im from near Stourbridge which isnt too far from you (im sure you know!), so if u ever want to meet up and have me take you to see a few species u need, just let me know!

Hi Steve, your list may be new and growing but it is better than mine, 117!

Hi Steve, you describe my early years to a tee, but i have found that the natural world has a cadence all of its own and gradually you will come to understand this and you will know when and where to see birds.

Of course the great thing about birds is always expect the unexpected, im no expert and will probably be learning something new for the rest of my days but this is what keeps me coming back for more.

I have been through various phases in birding and each has brought something to my understanding of not only birds but all aspects of wild life. i may not be able to id every bird i see or discuss plumage pattens i will leave that to Jane and Michael but i still understand what its like to feel the new guy on the block and its here i hope i can at least offer support and help to anyone i can.

Birdforum is a great place to be a great tribe of kindred spirits, there is something here for everyone, so get out and tell us your experiences.

Regards Cuddy. :clap: