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Norfolk birding (14 Viewers)

Listing

Dave Norgate - nice to hear from you
Tried to get tree sparrow for the first time today at a site you and Ian B. told me about. No luck, too windy I reckon. Thanks for the info anyway.

Penny Clarke - I have read your recent posts with interest.
1) You mention a former employer of yours in an earlier reply.
A redundancy many years ago now plus more recent work related ups and downs encourage me to go birding and keep lists.
2) You hope to get 260 this year.
To my mind 260 is a good target and it is hard to get past it. Those who get to 270 or more have done extremely well.

Have just received my 2008 Norfolk Bird Report in the post.
I had 258 Norfolk and Suffolk ticks in 2008. I missed very little but could have had 260...
 
Thanks Stu and Paul, it is good to be back!
Now, as Dave said to me elsewhere, I need to get back in the field!!!

Enjoying these post about Listing and will probably add my thoughts at a later time!
For now Stu, no! I think I plateaued around 250, but I can't see the record as being on this year (maybe Robin might think differently!)

Having reached 278 on two separate occasions I know the frustration of the record eludes me, but then again I don't get the flack about whether people believe me or not!!!!!
My Norfolk life list is probably the most important to me, but again I am behind the likes of Paul and Dave having moved here in '96 (oh, if I'd been here a few years before!)

No Norfolk ticks this year, with the only instances nearing them having been most controversial occasions!!!

Take care, and somebody find me a Norfolk tick please (I won't be finding it at the moment!!!!)
 
Anyone update me please on a garbled message on my now dead pager about a poss. desert wheatear at West Runton - ( before I dropped it at work ). Thank you
 
I certainly won't be listing next year, its been expensive more than anything else - most certainly fun and great bumping into other birders you know along the way. Brilliant fun though, especially when I struck lucky getting off the bus to be amongst the first few to see the Barred Warbler at West Runton (remember Dave?;)) But not see lucky with a Pec Sand at Cley, dipping by literally seconds!

(STILL have not got my hyundai back - approx 2 weeks I should have it:t:;))

Mind you with my Norfolk list on 258 I will still be trying hard until the 31st!!! In fact I have just booked off the 31st for birding (not for partying!!!!!) I might just have to pop (ha ha) to Wroxham on Saturday!!!!! And then there's Tundra Bean Goose to tick at Buckingham or Cantley or somewhere = 260 at least - hopefully!!!!;)

Next year I will just simply be enjoying birding wherever the fancy takes me - I am going back to Fair Isle this spring (hopefully, can't actually book yet) - I last went in 2006 and its been much too long since I went - I absolutely adore the place, the journey up there, everything - I go the most interesting/cheapest route;) train to Aberdeen, overnight ferry to Lerwick, bus to Grutness Pier, Good Shepherd to Fair Isle - takes me from early morning on a Friday, arriving mid pm on the Saturday!!! See my Fair Isle thread: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=151784

Best Wishes Penny:girl:

P.S. Nice to see you back on BF David:t:
 
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Penny Clarke - I have read your recent posts with interest.
1) You mention a former employer of yours in an earlier reply.
A redundancy many years ago now plus more recent work related ups and downs encourage me to go birding and keep lists.
2) You hope to get 260 this year.
To my mind 260 is a good target and it is hard to get past it. Those who get to 270 or more have done extremely well.
...

Thank you Paul - not too bad considering I work 6 days a week (mostly;)).
 
Did you get to 280 Mr. Norgate ?

I think the trouble with yearlisting is, its addictive. Once you start you just can't stop yourself making more and more daft decisions.

QUOTE]

and was there that time you got up at the crack of dawn, were going to twitch something, then thought of going to Sheringham then didn't then went round the block a few times and ended up going back to bed hoho,

In regard to Irene comment about seeing special birds each year, i feel that there are some birds that are so special you don't want to see them every year and finding them is the key, for instance really glad didn't twitch that BN Grebe earlier in the year and nice bit of symmetry that had one near end of year. Also when I see a Red Kite i'm still really stoked, but you hear all these visiting birders saying ''yeah there everywhere where we come from'', i actually don't want them to become too common in Norfolk as you start taking a real special bird for granted - and thats for me the main reasonm i don't list - confining something to just a stat or a number reduces its magic.

on a seperate note can anyone explain the logic of removing Stormy from a description species in the recent bird report, still seems rare in this county and difficult to ID. Also looks like they did a bit of a U turn on Willow Tit - even ones reported in the Broads

great to see you back Dave :t:
 
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IF I lived near the coast / some other excellent patch, IF I didn't have a very demanding / tiring job (....), IF I didn't have a 5 / 6 year old daughter, IF I didn't want to support my partner in her work, IF I could actually explain why a certain bird is the species it is (!!!), IF I was the patient type, IF...IF...IF... then I might be a 'better' patch watcher. IF I didn't collect stamps (oh, I don't!) IF the world was a perfect sphere (no, I don't know why I wrote that either) then I probably wouldn't be a lister!!! But, but, but...I am!!!

Always remember asking Josh how I could change my 'username' from Ruralchill, he replied that I shouldn't because he liked the irony!!!

It goes back to the adage of 'each to their own'! Let's all live in Peace and Harmony and help each other out as much as we can, either by sharing or just leaving Josh alone at 'his' sites!!!

But whatever you do, don't let me get involved in suppression again, or tell me about any suppression that is going on (or at least until it is ancient history!! - actually you know that is not true!! Tell me, tell me)

Thanks to those I haven't thanked yet for the welcome back! I hope you don't end up regretting it!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!
 
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sea birds

same day[/U].

Possible second stormy over twenty years ago at Cley Coastguards.
Was one of a few braving the elements on the exposed shingle bank. Someone shouted petrel. I picked it up. They said it might be a storm petrel afterwards. I don't count it.

I have calculated my Cley Square list to be 249. Leach's petrel seen at Cley 15 September 2004 (in NBR 2004!) no countable stormy.
 
IF I lived near the coast / some other excellent patch, IF I didn't have a very demanding / tiring job (....), IF I didn't have a 5 / 6 year old daughter, IF I didn't want to support my partner in her work, IF I could actually explain why a certain bird is the species it is (!!!), IF I was the patient type, IF...IF...IF... then I might be a 'better' patch watcher. IF I didn't collect stamps (oh, I don't!) IF the world was a perfect sphere (no, I don't know why I wrote that either) then I probably wouldn't be a lister!!! But, but, but...I am!!!

Always remember asking Josh how I could change my 'username' from Ruralchill, he replied that I shouldn't because he liked the irony!!!

It goes back to the adage of 'each to their own'! Let's all live in Peace and Harmony and help each other out as much as we can, either by sharing or just leaving Josh alone at 'his' sites!!!

But whatever you do, don't let me get involved in suppression again, or tell me about any suppression that is going on (or at least until it is ancient history!! - actually you know that is not true!! Tell me, tell me)

Thanks to those I haven't thanked yet for the welcome back! I hope you don't end up regretting it!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!

remember though that those who are living on the coast and have their 'own' patch have made a distinct life choice - quite often involving pay cuts and in my case having to stand up to some right plonkers (anyone who works for NWT knows who i mean) and now my job although i love it chopping up various bits of vege probably int everyones cup of tea.
In regard to having my 'own' sites when the conquistadors tried to buy land off the native Americans, the Americans thought it was some obscene joke - they couldn't believe that land could be valued. i firmed believe the patch owns me and everyones welcome - i'm still not saying the best spot for Bluetails though ;)

|BTW my British list is 300 and something ... i think

apologies for easily my most pretentious post of the year o:D
 
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To echo the sentiment, it's nice to see you back David...

There's a field of winter barley not too far from me, in Lessingham, that a flock of Pink-feet are having a ball on at the moment; I think the farmer must've gone away on holiday for they are really decimating his crop! They've been there each morning this week, more today than previous with c.2,500 present. A lone Barnacle was in their midst too...

James
 
No Norfolk ticks this year, with the only instances nearing them having been most controversial occasions!!!

Take care, and somebody find me a Norfolk tick please (I won't be finding it at the moment!!!!)

Welcome back to the Norfolk thread! What would you say is the most likely Norfolk bird you need that you could get in December?

on a seperate note can anyone explain the logic of removing Stormy from a description species in the recent bird report, still seems rare in this county and difficult to ID. Also looks like they did a bit of a U turn on Willow Tit - even ones reported in the Broads

I agree that removing Storm Petrel from written descirptions is probably the wrong thing to do. With Willow Tit, the plea for written descriptions and care over the ID only came in the 2007 report, so most records for 2008 were already in. They could have not included any sites in the report, but that would have been two years in a row. I've never seen Willow Tit in the broads personally, but I've heard of them at Strumpshaw and Surlingham Church Marsh in the past.

Regards,

James
 

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