[Larry Lade]

A couple of days to go before 2012 officially begins, but here is the spot to put you offerings of your Garden (Yard) list for the year 2012. May we all have success in seeing the birds in our gardens (yards) this year!

[Jos Stratford]

Might I request the regulars put a few snaps of their garden/feeding station/balcony as the case maybe, so we can all see the settings of the year's offerings...

I can confidently predict both my list will sit at zero for at least a week from the kick off

[halftwo]

Originally Posted by Jos Stratford

Might I request the regulars put a few snaps of their garden/feeding station/balcony as the case maybe, so we can all see the settings of the year's offerings...

I can confidently predict both my list will sit at zero for at least a week from the kick off

Good idea, Jos.

Where are you jaunting off to now?

[Cheshire Birder]

Hopefully will reach 60 species again this year.

Good luck to all and a Happy New Year.

CB

[chowchilla]

Seeing as I had to rush off to work this morning, I was too intent on getting there to even notice what birds were around as I headed off. As a result my current list stands at zero. (Got back long after dark)

I may live in the tropics but I think I will be lucky to reach 50 species for the year as I don't have a garden. Also I live in a city. Also I'm not by the coast.

I will however pull my finger out and try and see what flyovers I can get from the car park out front without getting arrested if I produce a pair of bins. Having said that, there's some great rainforest close by and if I lived a few hundred metres closer to Centenary Lakes I would comfortably get well over a hundred species. It will be interesting to see if I can strain my ears enough to hear some of the stuff down there.

[Jane Turner]

Originally Posted by Jos Stratford

Might I request the regulars put a few snaps of their garden/feeding station/balcony as the case maybe, so we can all see the settings of the year's offerings...

I can confidently predict both my list will sit at zero for at least a week from the kick off

Will take (wet) photos when my battery charges. A highly predictable 32 species so far, might have been 33 if I'd seen the Peregrine kill its Grey Plover rather than eat it!

Shelduck, Scoter, Red-throated Diver, Great Crested Grebe, Cormorant, Peregrine, Oystercatcher, Knot, Curlew, Redshank, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull Lesser Black-backed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Feral Pigeon, Collared Dove, Pied Wagtail, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch

[Jane Turner]

Here is my unfair advantage - two photos of the back garden (complete with pond, stream and feral Mallard) and the front garden scrub and mutflats/sea

[Cheshire Birder]

21 for me so far.

CB

[chowchilla]

Hot and windy today and the birds hunkered down. Bit better later on, so I sat out the front with my bins (getting some very dirty looks) and watched the trees and sky. This strategy paid off as I got a 'first' for the garden in the form of an Australian Hobby. So at the risk of getting arrested, I might do this regularly to boost my total.

The year list kicked off last night with a Scrub Fowl cackling from the forest and I added 22 other species out front this avo.

In the order they were heard/seen:

1) Orange-footed Scrub Fowl.
2) Laughing Kookaburra.
3) Helmeted Friarbird.
4) Fig Parrot
5) Yellow Oriole.
6) Rainbow Lorikeet.
7) Magpie Lark.
8) Common Mynah.
9) Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.
10) Brown Honeyeater.
11) Figbird.
12) Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.
13) Metallic Starling.
14) Yellow-bellied Sunbird.
15) Mistletoebird.
16) Spangled Drongo.
17) Pied Imperial Pigeon.
18) Australian Hobby.
19) Black Butcherbird.
20) White-rumped Swiftlet.
21) Yellow Honeyeater.
22) Spice Finch.
23) Peaceful Dove.

[chowchilla]

And here's the view from my balcony:

Couldn't upload a pic of out front. It kept saying 'upload failed'.

Apologies for the poor quality!

[halftwo]

Will try to upload some photos later today, but I just had to let you gardeners out there know that my first day back in mine started REALLY well - as a bird that I failed to get all 2011 made a fly-by early on - being the very first finch of the year:

Common Crossbill !!

Total still in the twenties - and it was zero centigrade this am.

[Bananafishbones]

A medium sized suburban garden for me here in East Cheshire

20 species for me on Jan 1st, but will be happy to reach 60 in 2012 (59 in 2011)

[Bananafishbones]

21. Siskin (male)

22. Common Gull

23. Redwing

[Jane Turner]

Kittiwake at sea (100+in a feeding flock) and Redwing,overhead calling last night added so far today.

34 from the house/garden
17 directly over or in the garden
13 actually in the garden

[KenM]

Am 30 something at present..apart from a RRParakeet perched up 8' from the bedroom window!...only the 2nd ''perched'' garden visit in 29 years!..nothing else exceptional except that Jan 1 will I suspect, provide most garden watchers with their biggest single day count for the year? From here on in....the listing will be on to a ''daily total'' diminishing return. Never having ''garden year'' listed before (nothing to compare against), I was surprised to have achieved a 60% return for the year..against the previous 28 years tenancy!

How did your year's stats. compare against your overall total garden list?

[halftwo]

I got 89 out of 120. But a mega amount of new species, including Marsh harrier, Red-throated diver, Great white egret and common tern.

[Jane Turner]

Mine was 75% of my all time total. White-rumped and Broad-billed Sandpiper, American Herring Gull (if accepted) were the only real surprises, and even the WRS was the 3rd for the house.

[halftwo]

Well, I tried to upload some photos but the uploads all failed!

You can see some of the views on other threads, I'll try a link later...

Currently on 33.

[Bananafishbones]

24. Goldfinch

25. Pied Wagtail

26. GBB Gull

(have currently got a grand count of 37 Lesser Redpoll fighting for the nyger feeders)

[Jane Turner]

34 (17/13) Red-breasted Merganser

[Larry Lade]

I was gone from home all day yesterday participating in a Christmas Bird Count over at Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge, so no 2012 birds from the yard. Only bird seen today as I compose is:

1. American Goldfinch (early morning)

* I did however get 45 species for 2012 by doing the CBC!

Added a few more "yard birds" for 2012:

2. Black-capped Chickadee
3. Downy Woodpecker
4. Northern Flicker
5. Red-bellied Woodpecker
6. Northern Cardinal
7. House Sparrow
8. White-breasted Nuthatch
* That's all for today, January 2nd

[KenM]

Originally Posted by halftwo

I got 89 out of 120. But a mega amount of new species, including Marsh harrier, Red-throated diver, Great white egret and common tern.

If I've done the maths correctly? you achieved a 75% return for the year(same as Jane) on your all time total of a 120 (same as mine!). With 2 new garden ticks for me against your 4?, I'm obviously slacking I can see the ''words'' of yester-year, which appeared on my school reports with unfailing regularity ''Could do better''.....lets see what the year brings and may the best ''guy'' win.

[halftwo]

Can't believe I'm level-pegging with Jane, now on 34 after the Linnet roost at dusk - seems they have taken up the bramble patch as a dormitory - never see them during the day.


Edit: Here's a link to a couple of photos taken in green.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread....ht=halftwo%27s

[KenM]

I've done the maths...am now on 33.....must do better!

[joannec]

Originally Posted by halftwo

............. my first day back in mine started REALLY well - as a bird that I failed to get all 2011 made a fly-by early on - being the very first finch of the year:

Common Crossbill !!

.

Excellent start!

What a great idea to upload photos of our gardens, I'll do it later. Santa brought me a new computer and I haven't yet figured out how to do it, it's a different method to the old one.

Last year my total was 87 out of my all time total of 107, which if I've done the maths correctly is 81%.

My list so far in order:

1)Rook
2)House Sparrow
3)Blue Tit
4)Great Tit
5)Magpie
6)Wood Pigeon
7)Chaffinch
8)Herring Gull
9)Redwing
10)Jackdaw
11)Buzzard
12)Cormorant
13)Pheasant
14)Fieldfare
15)Blackbird
16)Sparrowhawk
17)Jay
18)Robin
19)Starling
20)Dunnock
21)Green Woodpecker
22)Greenfinch
23)Goldfinch
24)Wren
25)Stock Dove
26)Tawny Owl
27)C Crow
28)Great Spotted Woodpecker
29)Coal Tit
30) BH Gull