Green Listing 2024 - Joint Thread (2 Viewers)

[Swindon Addick]

Went to see the local Cat E Black Swan at the weekend. Only added common species to my list, except for encountering my first Ring-necked Parakeets within the boundaries of Swindon. That was unexpected.

 

[Torchepot]

A flock of crossbill over the garden this morning and again this afternoon further down the valley.

 

[Xenospiza]

A Tawny Owl was calling when I cycled home from work. A colleague had noticed a new bike in the stands and came to inquire if it was mine, haha!

 

[Xenospiza]

A nice day with ten year ticks, mostly in the municipality where I live. It helped that this was the first time I spent a bit more time in or near forest.
So I finally got my woodpecker list in order (with (displaying) Lesser Spotted, Black and Middle Spotted), saw the first Red Kite of the year and managed two Eurasian Treecreepers.

 

[Paul Chapman]

After a break in Cape Verde, I have been out walking locally again from home in the last few days and picked up two additions to move me to 76 on foot this year from home (of 93 on my patch).

75​	Coot	12-Feb-24​
76​	Mediterranean Gull	14-Feb-24​

Both already on the UK List.

Coot is a rare bird for us in Clevedon.

All the best

Paul

 

[Xenospiza]

I reached 100 today, with (at least) two Curlews over my local patch the best of the bunch. They had been showing up at the usual locations nearby during the week, so I had arrived with good hopes.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Another addition today that is already on the UK List:-

77​

Siskin

17-Feb-24​

(Now three Med Gulls in a week for me - two different adults & a second winter.)

All the best

Paul

 

[Xenospiza]

I finally added Willow Tit (which always requires a bit of searching) and Grey Wagtail (which is conspicuously absent from its local haunts).

 

[l_raty]

Spent an extended weekend in the High Fens, with a couple of species more typical of E Belgium -- including Black Grouse, Crane, Great Grey Shrike, Eurasian Treecreeper, etc.

I finally added Willow Tit (which always requires a bit of searching) and Grey Wagtail (which is conspicuously absent from its local haunts).

You had actually seen Grey Wagtail on 1 Jan, though, Jan Hein.
(White Wagtail is also twice in your list, as well as Velvet Scoter. The latter being recorded in red on 1 Jan, in addition to the genuine thing on 7 Jan -- the red one seems to have accidentally replaced Egyptian Goose...?)

Willow Tit is, sadly, a thing of the past in the area where I live. (The last one I saw less than an hour of cycling from home was 8 years ago.) I didn't run into one elsewhere this year yet, either.

 

[Xenospiza]

You had actually seen Grey Wagtail on 1 Jan, though, Jan Hein.
(White Wagtail is also twice in your list, as well as Velvet Scoter. The latter being recorded in red on 1 Jan, in addition to the genuine thing on 7 Jan -- the red one seems to have accidentally replaced Egyptian Goose...?)

Not paying attention to my own list that well then... I'll have a look!

 

[Xenospiza]

Spent an extended weekend in the High Fens, with a couple of species more typical of E Belgium -- including Black Grouse, Crane, Great Grey Shrike, Eurasian Treecreeper, etc.

Willow Tit is, sadly, a thing of the past in the area where I live. (The last one I saw less than an hour of cycling from home was 8 years ago.) I didn't run into one elsewhere this year yet, either.

Black Grouse would have been easily possible from my place of birth by bike 35 years ago. There is a "Birkhahnweg" north from where I live now, but I assume that dates back to the 1950s...
No Great Grey Shrike anywhere close this year... maybe in autumn again.

I don't really understand what makes Willow Tit so sensitive. In the UK it is almost completely gone now. A friend of mine thinks it's the isolation of all the forest patches they live in.

 

[Xenospiza]

The highlight at the office today (when I arrived this morning) was a singing Black Redstart. There are usually three or four in the small industrial estate.

 

[TheBlackGrouse]

This is fun! It's what I'm doing (most of) my whole life. The first decades not on purpose, I simply liked cycling and took my binos with me. And I did a lot of car trips with friends to observation posts and hides but it didn't feel like 'nature' to me. Slowly, over the years, this feeling got the upper hand, it is hard to describe. For the last 15 years all my birding trips are green: no airplane, no car, public transport is allowed but only in my own country to get to my birding holiday location, it's all about cycling and hiking. Admittedly, this is a small country, totally flat, built for cyclists with separate roads for them everywhere. Nature reserves are within cycling distances for day trips. In my case 125 km back and forth with 8 birding hours is no problem. A day like that feels like 'nature' to me.

 

[Xenospiza]

Common Chiffchaff (gone after singing once), Lesser Black-backed Gull and Little Ringed Plover were new for the list today.

 

[Xenospiza]

This is fun! It's what I'm doing (most of) my whole life. The first decades not on purpose, I simply liked cycling and took my binos with me. And I did a lot of car trips with friends to observation posts and hides but it didn't feel like 'nature' to me. Slowly, over the years, this feeling got the upper hand, it is hard to describe. For the last 15 years all my birding trips are green: no airplane, no car, public transport is allowed but only in my own country to get to my birding holiday location, it's all about cycling and hiking. Admittedly, this is a small country, totally flat, built for cyclists with separate roads for them everywhere. Nature reserves are within cycling distances for day trips. In my case 125 km back and forth with 8 birding hours is no problem. A day like that feels like 'nature' to me.

So just add your list to the excel sheet (in post 1) and list along! It's not a race: that has been won by Laurent already.

 

[l_raty]

So just add your list to the excel sheet (in post 1) and list along! It's not a race: that has been won by Laurent already.

I'm not that high at all, actually.
(Haven't really been trying, either. I'll be in S France half of May and most of June, anyway, so would not be very likely to break any record this year.)

For a real high score (not a BirdForum member), see this : March 2nd: And I finally arrive in Empordà

 

[Xenospiza]

Oystercatcher heard during a walk this evening. Quite rare where I live --- I also wonder if the nearest regular location will be suitable this year after major works in the river bed.

 

[Xenospiza]

Garganey new for the year-list this morning.

 

[Xenospiza]

A trip to the Rhine yielded a few expected additions (e.g. White-tailed Eagle on the nest; luckily the male flew in and started calling to make the experience a bit more exciting). It was a rather quiet day though with no real surprises (I missed Golden Plover by minutes), but finding Yellow Star-of-Bethlehem (which I knew should be "somewhere") made it a worthwhile trip.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Two days on foot from home after a successful trip to Thailand for three weeks...

78 - Linnet - 18th March 2024

All the best

Paul