Garden/Yard List 2020 (2 Viewers)

Totally out of the “grey and drizzle!”...certainly not expected, found myself no more than 3’ away looking down on a small brown passerine with wing bars that I couldn’t compute, whizzing up to the small maple trunk that supports one of my feeders, then just before landing the penny dropped! Tree Creeper no.81 :eek!:

birdmeister said:

Hopefully I'll get to posting some photos soon. If people are interested, I can send a summary of my non-raptor migrants too. I've already listed species in earlier posts but often didn't get into numbers details. It was a fascinating experience, though!

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That would be great BM, envy your 16 Ospreys over in one day:eek!:

OK, here's my spring migration list.

Although the numbers aren't completely matching up with my spreadsheet (off by 50 birds or so), here are close numbers for monthly migrant totals.

January - ~1,200
February - 530
March - 7,342
April - 1,961
May - 2,103
June - 4,281

Total - 17,366

Species totals are below, with species in all capitals if they are rare/unexpected/very high numbers.

Snow Goose - 613 (late adult on 4/28)
Canada Goose - 4,623 (2,730 on 3/9)
Wood Duck - 4
Mallard - 5
Common Merganser - 14
COMMON NIGHTHAWK - 168 (61 on 5/25)
Chimney Swift - 70
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 5
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER - 35 (all on 5/27, rare migrant)
Killdeer - 1
WILSON'S SNIPE - 2 (both on 3/9)
Solitary Sandpiper - 14 (6 on 5/3)
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 (5/3)
SHOREBIRD SP. - ~4,250 (4,200+ on 6/4 alone!)
Ring-billed Gull - 549
Herring Gull - 67 (late immature on 5/5)
Lesser Black-backed Gull - 1
gull sp. - 131
COMMON LOON - 191 (86 on 4/21!)
loon sp. - 13
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT - 588 (159 on 4/21)
AMERICAN BITTERN - 1 on 4/28 (uncommon migrant)
Great Blue Heron - 24
Great Egret - 2
Green Heron - 2
HERON SP. - 11 (includes several high birds that were definitely different)
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Northern Flicker - 38 (17 on 4/6)
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1
EASTERN KINGBIRD - 49 (16 on 5/15)
Willow/Alder Flycatcher - 1
flycatcher sp. - 5
BLUE JAY - 147 (54 on 5/15)
Horned Lark - 2+ (constantly confused by a possible breeder!)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
Purple Martin - 19
Tree Swallow - 80
Bank Swallow - 14
Barn Swallow - 145
CLIFF SWALLOW - 6 (uncommon migrant, 4 on 5/5)
swallow sp. - 212
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 14 (4 high afternoon migrants on 4/25)
European Starling - 9
NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD - 1 (active migrant on 4/7!)
Eastern Bluebird - 4
American Robin - ~550
thrush sp. - 1
CEDAR WAXWING - 512 (146 on 5/15)
American Pipit - 7 (6 on 4/28 and 1 on 4/29, seems late)
American Goldfinch - 22
sparrow sp. - 7
Bobolink - 10
Orchard Oriole - 6 (4 on 5/3)
Baltimore Oriole - 24 (10 on 5/3)
Red-winged Blackbird - 2,276 (~1,200 on 1/29)
Brown-headed Cowbird - 56
RUSTY BLACKBIRD - 18 (+2 non-migrants - high of 5 on 4/5)
Common Grackle - 730 (299 on 3/10)
blackbird sp. - 192
Northern Waterthrush - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 1
Cape May Warbler - 1
Yellow Warbler - 3
Blackpoll Warbler - 3 (late male on 6/2)
Palm Warbler - 2
YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER - 226 (81 on 4/29)
WARBLER SP. - 281 (70 on 5/16)
Scarlet Tanager - 12
INDIGO BUNTING - 47 (16 on 5/15, new county high count)
passerine sp. - 253
bird sp. - 38


Migrants that filtered through the neighborhood or stayed for longer included Eastern Phoebe (4), Great Crested Flycatcher (1), Yellow-throated (1), Blue-headed (1), and Red-eyed (1) Vireos, Horned Lark (1-3 chasing, 1 singing into May!), Golden-crowned (1) and Ruby-crowned (5) Kinglets, White-crowned Sparrow (1), Savannah Sparrow (2), Eastern Towhee (1), Nashville Warbler (2), Common Yellowthroat (2), American Redstart (1), Northern Parula (1), Cape May Warbler (3), Bay-breasted Warbler (1), Pine Warbler (1), and Prairie Warbler (1).

My Great Spotted Woodpecker's young jouvinelle chick has become a regular coming to the feeder by itself without coming with its Mum.

Return passage is underway, nos.82 and 83 twelve minutes apart respectively...just as the sun made an extremely brief appearance.

Quality over quantity:

76: WHIMBREL

One just went past as I was in the front - calling all the way - otherwise would have missed it!

halftwo said:

Quality over quantity:

76: WHIMBREL

One just went past as I was in the front - calling all the way - otherwise would have missed it!

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Surely H, the quantitive weight of Whimbrel by far exceeds my two waifs.

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Whilst having a BBQ yesterday afternoon I noticed not one but two Stock Doves wondering about at the bottom of the garden.

Euan Buchan said:

Whilst having a BBQ yesterday afternoon I noticed not one but two Stock Doves wondering about at the bottom of the garden.

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Having lived at my present abode for 37 years, with up to 3 pairs of Stock Doves present opposite outback. See them most days particularly during Spring and Summer, where their display flights are not uncommon...and yet I’ve only had a single occurrence in the garden in all that time Euan!

Cheers

To be honest, considering that I live within 600 metres of the Bristol channel, my garden list is shocking. I used to have the excuse that I never spent any time at home but I am now into my fifth month of working from home & today at lunchtime, an Oystercatcher finally flew over calling to become 66 on my garden year list.

All the best

Wasn't expecting any year ticks on the last day of July however, my heart skipped a beat!....when whilst watering the front door flower pots (with camera around neck), a small bird suddenly popped up on my neighbour's fence (first image) upon realisation I resumed duties and went upstairs into the ''Crows Nest'' and found myself looking at an odd looking juv.Goldfinch on the feeder. When realising that it's yellow edged tail wasn't quite right, the penny dropped! This constituted my first Greenfinch on the feeders, for easily 20+years....the Great Bird Gods in the sky move in strange and mysterious ways.

After a long gap, I've just realised the Willow Warbler singing at the end of July was a garden year tick. Return passage I imagine.

64 Willow Warbler 1 male singing

John

July was a surprisingly productive time in east Norfolk, there didn't seem to be the 'lull' this year with many waders passing throughout, a build up of terns offshore and the odd shearwater and skua to add to the mix. A group of 5 cranes passing the house was only my second record from the house despite living close to Hickling. A Balearic shearwater was next as it lingered off my house for a couple days. The first week of July ended with my second garden coal tit. Highlight/scare of the week was perhaps the cockatiel I picked up way out to sea, slowly hawking over the sea in an erratic fashion causing me to panic until the ID was finally resolved!

No new birds for the year for the next three weeks until a golden plover flew south on the 28th and finally the star of the month on the 29th, a great shearwater flew north early morning later tracked off Sea Palling, Cley (probably) and Flamborough. House tick #212

155 Common Crane
156 Balearic Shearwater
157 Coal Tit
158 European Golden-Plover
159 Great Shearwater

Wow, any shearwater species would be ‘great’ for the rest of us Ryan, good stuff.
Just wondered, does your attention ever wander to actual gardening?

Richard Prior said:

Wow, any shearwater species would be ‘great’ for the rest of us Ryan, good stuff.
Just wondered, does your attention ever wander to actual gardening?

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Apart from trimming the hedge (can’t have it blocking my seawatching!) and grass not really no, I use the sandy soil as an excuse for my inability in the gardening front ;-)

Certainly one I was hoping for Reed Warbler, on a very grey and drizzly morning no.84.

PS Interestingly this immature bird hung around for an hour plus (feeding in the Sallow) enabling me to get some images (I've lightened them as it was so grey and dismal this am), I probably average about one every two years, but they are generally gone within moments.

Nice.
I was happy enough with 3 Willow Warblers this am.

This year was the first in our four years here that I failed to see/hear this species which nevertheless bred successfully between us and the village. Thankfully it's commoner in autumn with dates in previous years of 4,8 and 14 August, so a nice adult male this evening was welcome but not unexpected!

82 Common Redstart

Hopefully the other glaring miss so far - Tree Pipit, that also breeds within 1km, won't be long in appearing:t:

Had The Stock Dove back in the garden today and at the feeders there were lots of Blue, Great & Coal Tits a few Starlings, Jackdaws & Magpie.