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Lazza's 2017 lists (1 Viewer)

A decent weekend weatherwise got me out on my bike, with a trip up the coast on Saturday and a haul up into the hills on Sunday!

A decent return of new species for the list, but not quite as good as hoped. Nevertheless, the addition at Harwood forest was my first of this species in 3 or 4 years, so very welcome :)

Firstly, the trip to the coast, I picked up a couple of species on the way, firstly at Shadfen fields:
92. Yellowhammer

And then, flying over as I cycled through Guidepost, a flock of twenty-six:
93. Whooper Swan (I was to see more than fifty through the day)

Once I reached the coast, at Lynemouth:
94. Stonechat

And finally, at Cresswell Pond:
95. Tree sparrow
96. Avocet - 3 new arrivals, strangely juxtapositioned with 3 whoopers
97. Meadow Pipit

Then, on the Sunday, I headed up to Harwood Forest, via several woodlands, hoping for a chiffchaff or two, but no luck. But then one of my optimistic targets turned up rather nicely as I headed up the hill towards Winter's Gibbet:
98. Crossbill
- a delightfully bright yellow-green female preening atop a tree next to the road :)
 
100-up for the UK over the weekend.

A short cycle around Morpeth on Saturday added:

99. Goosander - on the river in the town centre

and

100. Chiffchaff - calling from woodland near Hebron
 
A couple of rides out the last weekend of March, adding some very nice species:

Firstly, an early ride out to Newbiggin on the Saturday added:

101. Mediterranean gull

And on the way back, at Bothal Pond:

102. Great-creasted grebe

Then, on the Sunday, I rode back from a family trip to the beach at Cresswell, adding a couple of crackers at Druridge Pools:

103. Great white egret
104. Pintail
105. Water pipit (3 of them!) - new for my UK list :)

And a quick stop at East Chevington was long enough to spot a couple of smart-looking:

106. Scaup
 
Away with work in Switzerland again last week, travelling by train so not much chance to find any good birding spots. Nevertheless, the list ticked on, including a new species for Switzerland!

In Zofingen, Aargau canton:
21. Short-toed treecreeper*
22. White wagtail
23. Mistle thrush - new for Switzerland, somehow
24. Common swift
25. Alpine swift* - a couple of dozen cackling over the factory!
26. Goldcrest
27. Chiffchaff
28. Magpie

Travelling back to the airport on the train, I had to change at Olten, adding:

29. Mallard

Then changing again, and stopping for a beer in a riverside bar, I also added:

30. Moorhen
31. Coot
32. Goosander

* 2 species not on a previous/earlier list
 
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Two weeks in Spain, partly on holiday with the family. We usually visit Spain twice each year, at Easter and in the summer, but we have other plans for the summer, so this will be my only visit to Spain in 2017, I think....so some serious effort needed to get anywhere near last year's Spain list!

Day 1, we arrived quite late in the afternoon, so I only had time to spot a few species on the drive from Alicante airport to the in-laws' house in La Marina (just south of Santa Pola) plus a short cycle ride around the Urbanizacion and surrounding farmland.

El Altet:
1. Hoopoe* - a nice first species, as one flew across the highway as we exited the airport!

Gran Alacant:
2. Spotless starling*
3. Woodpigeon

Santa Pola:
4. Yellow-legged gull*
5. Pochard - quite a large group in a pool right by the N332
6. Black-winged stilt*

...then heading south through the Sta Pola Salinas:
7. Avocet
8. Barn swallow
9. Black-headed gull
10. Greater flamingo*

Heading past La Marina town:
11. Magpie

...and into Urb La Marina:
12. Crested lark*
13. House sparrow
14. Sardinian warbler*
15. Serin*

On a late afternoon cycle, I added a few more species. At Urb Oasis:
16. Zitting cisticola*

Then, at the monastery ruins north west of the Urb:
17. Southern grey shrike*
18. Common swift

And along the tracks nearby (heading to the two reservoirs):
19. Little egret
20. Goldfinch
21. Blackbird
22. Feral pigeon

At the reservoirs:
23. Grey heron

And at the bottom end of the Palm Farm track:
24. Bee-eater*
25. Glossy ibis*
26. Lapwing - quite a surprise to hear lapwing calling in a couple of places

(* 12 species not on a previous list)
 
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Due to work and family commitments, I had very little time to get out birding yesterday, but I managed 20 minutes at El Pinet in the late afternoon, although a very loud family in the hide prevented anything too interesting coming close. Nevertheless, I managed to add:

La Marina village
27. House martin

El Pinet Salinas:
28. Slender-billed gull*
29. Kentish plover*
30. Collared pratincole* - quite a few on the distant islands
31. Shelduck
32. Yellow wagtail*

Then, on the way back as I cycled up the stony tracks through the scrubland around Urb La Marina, it was nice to see the return of my:

33. Little Owl*

I've seen Little Owls along this track more than anywhere else, but have not managed to find one for the last two years (not that they weren't there, of course!)

(* 5 species not on a previous list)
 
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Oh my goodness! I've rather let the BF list lapse the last few weeks... more than 40 new species to add, so here goes!

Back to Spain....

A short hop to Alicante airport to drop off the in-laws (whose house we stay at), allowed a short stop at the tower on the N332 through Santa Pola Salinas. Very quiet, except for:

34. Mallard
35. Turnstone

Then, had a quite fantastic evening cycle along the canals that lead from the Urbanizacion to the mouth of the Segura River.

Along the canals:
36. Red-rumped swallow*
37. Cuckoo
38. White wagtail
39. Green sandpiper
40. Quail!* Heard peep-pi-peeping from the farmland
41. Greenfinch
42. Iberian green woodpecker*
43. Red-legged partridge*
44. Cattle Egret*
45. Moorhen

At the Rio Segura:
46. Woodchat shrike* - possibly my best views ever, with a pair swooping from tree-to-tree and onto nearby fenceposts catching insects.
47. Audouin's gull*
48. Great tit
 
Still in Spain...

A trip to the beach with the family over Easter weekend added:

49. Sandwich tern*
50. Mediterranean gull

And another evening ride out to Vistabella road, along the canal tracks:

51. Reed warbler*
52. Kestrel
53. Marsh harrier*
54. Chiffchaff
55. Corn bunting*
56. Western Orphean Warbler* - very surprised to find a pair feeding in bushes close to large trees at the end of the "sandpiper alley"

And from the El Hondo hides along VB road:
57. Great reed warbler*
58. Red-crested pochard
59. Coot
60. Black-necked grebe*
61. White-headed duck* (species 150 for 2017)
62. Great-crested grebe
63. Whiskered tern*
64. Little grebe

*9 species not on a previous list
 
And more from Spain...!

My first "day off" - no work, and family with other plans... So I had a cycle down to Torrevieja and La Mata.

Along the Rio Segura heading into Guardamar:
65. Cormorant
66. Nightingale*

At Laguna La Mata reserve (which was remarkably green with lush undergrowth and great expanses of wildflowers):
67. Grey plover - new for my Spain list
68. Common tern*

Then at Los Balcones, south of Laguna Torrevieja:
69. Turtle dove*
70. Long-tailed tit
71. Linnet
72. Azure-winged magpie* (bingo!)

IN the late afternoon, I had a trip out to El Hondo with my two girls, who tolerate their Dad's birding on holiday, but like the boardwalks out to the hides at El Hondo!

73. Purple swamphen*

We also called in at the San Felipe visitor centre, adding:
74. Marbled duck*
75. Little stint*
76. Common sandpiper
77. Squacco heron*

* 8 species not on a previous list
 
Managed a couple of rides before we left for home.

The first to the VB road hides:
78. Purple heron*
79. Jackdaw
80. Moustached warbler*
81. Cetti's warbler*

And much to my surprise, as I headed back through Urb Oasis:
82. Wren

We also had a day-trip to Cartagena on a bus tour, which was a great day out, and I surreptitiously added:
83. Pallid swift*
84. Monk parakeet*

And the final bike ride looked like it was going to be fruitless (yet another dip on the GS cuckoos!), but a short detour down a previously unexplored track (leading from Urb Oasis to the Palm-Farm track) added:
85. Stone curlew* :)
86. Crag martin*

Before I headed back to Urb La Marina, finally catching up with the small flock of
87. Tree sparrow

* 6 species not on a previous list
 
Back home to the UK after the Easter break in Spain, and a few summer arrivals spotted:

107. Barn swallow - at Prestwick Carr

108. House martin - flyover, at Stobhill Morpeth
 
Had a long, bank-holiday weekend trip to a bunkhouse near Barnard Castle in County Durham, which was a pleasant, relaxing break, but also very productive for new species for the year-list!

From the bunkhouse, there was a lovely walk into Barnard Castle through Deepdale woods, which were thriving with wildlife. The first walk revealed:

109. Willow warbler
110. Blackcap
111. Marsh tit

While in Barnard Castle itself, on the Tees, there was a pair of:
112. Dipper

On the Sunday, we had a walk along the Upper Tees from Low Force to High Force, adding:
113. Common sandpiper - at Low Force
114. Common redstart - downstream from High Force

And on the b/h Monday, we walked the woods into Barnard Castle again, and I was delighted to add:
115. Pied flycatcher (my first ever singing male!)
116. Garden warbler
 
One from the garden from last week:

117. Common whitethroat

Then, over the weekend, I had a chance to get out on my bike to Castle Island:
118. Common swift
119. Sand martin

Before having a trip into Upper Coquetdale with my girls on Sunday:
120. Northern wheatear
121. Whinchat
122. Cuckoo!! My first calling cuckoo in Northumberland for quite some time!
 
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A short trip to London for work mid-week, and had an evening stroll around Regent's Park. It never ceases to amaze me how much wildlife can exist in the centre of London! It's also hard in some cases to determine which of the species are ornamental and which are part of feral, wild populations (OK, for sure, the smew and eider are ornamental!). So I go by the policy of free-flying means wild/feral. And based on this, I added:

123. Egyptian goose
124. Red-crested pochard

Also:

125. Ring-necked parakeet
126. Stock dove
127. Reed warbler (at least two males singing from reeds around one of the "duck islands")

At least four fox [7] also seen.
 
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Had a quick dash into Morpeth yesterday on my bike, and by the blue footbridge east of the town centre, there was a singing:

128. Sedge warbler

Not only singing but doing excellent impressions of blackbird and dunnock, with a bit of lapwing thrown in every now and then!
 
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Forgot to add the new sightings from a short ride up to Druridge Bay the weekend before last. Was trying for the Citrine Wagtail at Lynemouth to start with, but not there, so headed further north. Slightly disappointing (mostly because my binoculars fell apart, so I couldn't get good views of anything!!), but did manage to add:

129. Sandwich tern
130. Common tern

Both fishing off the beach near the burn leading out from Druridge Pools. There was an "interesting" wader with a couple of redshank on the budge field too, which I guess could have been the reported Wood Sandpiper, but I couldn't be sure.

Then on the way back home, as I passed into Earsdon from Chevington Moor:

131. Red-legged partridge

Also worth noting that I added hedgehog [8] to my mammal list on Saturday night!
 
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Away last week with work, taking a customer to see our factories near Lyon in France, and Geneva in Switzerland. As I was with clients most of the time, I didn't really make much of an effort to go birding, but I still added a few species to each country's year list, and some more species to the overall year total.

In France:

44. Black kite - from the motorway near Lyon airport

An hour at "Le Grand Large" near Meyzieu (while I waited for my customer to arrive) added:

45. Collared dove
46. Serin
47. Willow warbler
48. Barn swallow

(and a whole host of interesting damselflies!)

And in the ancient citadel-city of Perouges (where we stayed for the night):

49. Great spotted woodpecker
50. Black redstart*
51. Eurasian treecreeper*

Finally, as I left our factory on the Industrial park near Saint Vulbas, I was surprised to see a couple of Wall Lizard basking on the path, and was then amazed to hear the lovely loud song of a:

52. Nightingale

* two species not on a previous list
 
The Swiss list also moved on slightly:

From the motorway at Plan-les-Ouates:
33. Jay

From the motorway at Nyon(!):
34. Black kite*

In a short stroll along the waterfront in Montreux:
35. Mute swan
36. Yellow-legged gull
37. Red-crested pochard
38. Blackcap
39. Common tern
40. Cormorant

And nearby, in Villeneuve:
41. House martin

* 1 species not on a higher list
 
A couple of family trips out over last weekend were rather favourable for me!

First, my favourite local experience: a trip out on the boat to the Farne Islands. Despite a very foggy start, this bumped the list along nicely, with:
132. Puffin
133. Fulmar
134. Razorbill
135. Arctic tern

Also, mammal number [9], Grey Seal.

Then, on Sunday, we had a day out at Washington WWT. Didn't get much of a chance to see the wild birds, but had an hour at the end at the hides. In addition to an impressive number of avocets (12+, including at least two recent fledgelings), I added:

136. Little ringed plover

And mammal number [10], Brown Rat.
 
Not had a chance to update my list for a few weeks, so here are the additions from the last couple of months...!!

UK in June:

137. Ruddy duck - at Bothal Pond (my first in the UK for maybe 20 years!)

138. Red Kite - over the A1 near Wetherby

139. Willow tit - at Benridge Moor north of Morpeth (while looking for redsart!)

And an addition to the mammal list: Field Vole [11]
 
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