Aberdeenshire has got to be right up there. Stretching from the mountains to the coast with superb range of breeding species as well as a great range of rares... last five years white winged scoter (or whatever that Blackdog thing was called) Black Scoter, Greater and lesserlegs; Sandhill Crane; Semi P, Broad-billed, Upland and Stilt Sandpipers; Steppe Grey and Lesser Grey Shrikes. I could go on but you get the drift...
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The best County for birding? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Adam W
- Start date
rosbifs
PutAin STOP
so live in a county that is close enough to the best. two of your places are in Yorks!!!:-O:-O:-O nuff said.
PrinPrince
Well-known member
I got an example, a small city like Pakchong in Korat, Thailand. It's quiet city for bird but since our colleague moved in, he turns the small city into exciting small city for birding now. So, go out around our place and discover those birds.
Adam , you will not be comming to Norfolk at perhaps the best time of year to see a wide variety of birds , but there should be a pretty good spread of breeding species.
What makes Norfolk so good ?
First , position. It sticks out into the North Sea and is the first land fall for many Northern European and Asian migrants.
Coast . It has a very long coastline well protected with reserves for birds to make their first land fall. The coast with its huge areas of saltmarsh and mudflats attracts huge numbers of wintering wildfowl and a good variety of raptors.
The Broads. One of the largest wetlands in the country and home to many less common marshland species , both breeding and wintering species.
The Brecks. One of the largest areas of heathland \ woodland complex in the England attractive to a host of less common species such as hawfinch and stone curlew.
It does lack some speclised upland species and the sea watching though good at times in not in the class of some western coasts.
What makes Norfolk so good ?
First , position. It sticks out into the North Sea and is the first land fall for many Northern European and Asian migrants.
Coast . It has a very long coastline well protected with reserves for birds to make their first land fall. The coast with its huge areas of saltmarsh and mudflats attracts huge numbers of wintering wildfowl and a good variety of raptors.
The Broads. One of the largest wetlands in the country and home to many less common marshland species , both breeding and wintering species.
The Brecks. One of the largest areas of heathland \ woodland complex in the England attractive to a host of less common species such as hawfinch and stone curlew.
It does lack some speclised upland species and the sea watching though good at times in not in the class of some western coasts.
Last edited:
Mark Newsome
Born to seawatch...
Petrol to race across the country after the latest rarity - £1.40 per litre.
Speeding fine after you do 95mph in a 40 trying to get there before dusk - £50
Entrance fee to reserves because you're not a member - £4
Stress with battling through gaggles of visiting dudes and/or twitchers - lots.
Money needed for new optics because some careless twitcher has fallen off the local ruins when straining to see the a*se end of a rare crake and knocked your tripod over - £1500.
Finding your own good birds in your own county through enjoyable local birding - priceless.
Doesn't matter where your home county is - it can be more satisfying than birding anywhere else when you turn up your own good birds (local scarcities right up to major national rarities). Nice to have the odd trip away for a change of scenery, but local patching always wins for me.
Mark
Speeding fine after you do 95mph in a 40 trying to get there before dusk - £50
Entrance fee to reserves because you're not a member - £4
Stress with battling through gaggles of visiting dudes and/or twitchers - lots.
Money needed for new optics because some careless twitcher has fallen off the local ruins when straining to see the a*se end of a rare crake and knocked your tripod over - £1500.
Finding your own good birds in your own county through enjoyable local birding - priceless.
Doesn't matter where your home county is - it can be more satisfying than birding anywhere else when you turn up your own good birds (local scarcities right up to major national rarities). Nice to have the odd trip away for a change of scenery, but local patching always wins for me.
Mark
Adam W
Well-known member
Well just back from Norfolk and I had a great time, Bearded Tit,Woodlark and Glossy Ibis all firsts for me a total of 22 Marsh Harriers and 6 Hobbies were seen.
Other highlights included 2 Spoonbills,24 Little Gulls,4 Spotted Redshanks,3 Barn Owls,2 Little Owls.
The other wildlife was great too,highlights including my first Swallowtails, Norfolk Hawker and Muntjac.
But back to my original question well I guess purely in terms of birding(or even wildlife in general) then yes i suppose i can see why Norfolk is considered the best and if your planning a birding trip then it probably is the place to go.
That said for me it didnt quite live up to expectation, as an alround experience ,the scenery,the feeling of getting away from it all etc then for me it wasnt in the same league as my holidays to Scotland or I suspect even north east England if I didnt live there.
So in conclusion I think for me if you're looking for a birding destination then go to Norfolk but if you're looking for a holiday destination for the allround experience then look further north.
Other highlights included 2 Spoonbills,24 Little Gulls,4 Spotted Redshanks,3 Barn Owls,2 Little Owls.
The other wildlife was great too,highlights including my first Swallowtails, Norfolk Hawker and Muntjac.
But back to my original question well I guess purely in terms of birding(or even wildlife in general) then yes i suppose i can see why Norfolk is considered the best and if your planning a birding trip then it probably is the place to go.
That said for me it didnt quite live up to expectation, as an alround experience ,the scenery,the feeling of getting away from it all etc then for me it wasnt in the same league as my holidays to Scotland or I suspect even north east England if I didnt live there.
So in conclusion I think for me if you're looking for a birding destination then go to Norfolk but if you're looking for a holiday destination for the allround experience then look further north.
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