HE2's 2007 Year List (1 Viewer)

01.01.07 Beautiful sunny day in North Norfolk. High winds. 8 Degrees C
With Lizzie and Euan

SNETTISHAM
1. Robin
2. Wren
3. Blackbird
4. Mallard
5. Pink-footed Goose
6. Shelduck
7. Moorhen
8. Coot
9. Redshank
10. Curlew
11. Dunnock
12. Lapwing
13. Carrion Crow
14. Greylag Goose
15. Stock Dove
16. Song Thrush
17. Great Black-backed Gull
18. Cormorant
19. Black-Headed Gull
20. Canada Goose
21. Starling
22. Fieldfare
23. Goldfinch
24. Wood Pigeon
25. Red-legged Partridge
26. Sparrow

HUNSTANTON
27. Fulmar
28. Oystercatcher

ROADSIDE
29. Pheasant
30. Chaffinch
31. Brent Goose

HOLME
32. Magpie
33. Little Egret
34. Meadow Pipit

TITCHWELL
35. Firecrest (lifer)
36. Wigeon
37. Gadwall
38. Shoveller
39. Snipe
40. Golden Plover
41. Teal
42. Tufted Duck
43. Pintail
44. Avocet
45. Chiffchaff
46. Great Tit
47. Blue Tit
48. Herring Gull
49. Black-tailed Godwit
50. Bar-tailed Godwit
51. Guillemot
52. Razorbill
53. Eider
54. Goldeneye
55. Common Scoter
56. Great Crested Grebe
57. Dunlin
58. Grey Plover
59. Mute Swan
60. Long-tailed Tit
61. Ringed Plover

HOLKHAM HALL
62. Coal Tit
63. Marsh Tit
64. Goldcrest
65. Jay

EN ROUTE
66. Rook
67. Jackdaw
68. Collared Dove

CLEY
69. Marsh Harrier

EN ROUTE
70. Grey Heron

03.01.07 Grey drizzly day in N Norfolk. 12 degrees C.
With Will Bowell

A47
71. Kestrel

THORNHAM
72. Twite

TITCHWELL
73. Lesser Black-Backed Gull
74. Pochard
75. Linnet
76. Sanderling
77. Ruff
78. Turnstone
79. Greenfinch

WELLS
80. Little Grebe
81. Feral Pigeon

HOLKHAM
(Black Brant) (Lifer)
82. Snow Goose (Lifer)

83. Sparrowhawk. On way home yesterday.

84. White-Fronted Goose
Forgot to write this down from Holkham.

85. Pied Wagtail
Forgot this one from Cley

I reckon there's one more - my mental tally of my list at the end of the day was 86 but there weren't that many in my book. Anyone else spot anything I couldn't have missed and therefore must have forgotten about?

Can't see House Sparrow on your list, so maybe...

edit - 26 - Sparrow - so casual!

MSA said:

Can't see House Sparrow on your list, so maybe...

edit - 26 - Sparrow - so casual!

Click to expand...

Well, that is rich coming from the man who uses Ortolan (oh, that rhymed!)

86. Redwing at last. On a field opposite Tallington Lakes on a cold and dankly grey morning this am (what we would call 'driech' in the old country - how I miss that word). Got Fieldfares in abundance and a beautifully showy Song Thrush feasting on berries at the side of the road but still no Mistle Thrush. And no Goosander or Smew which were the object of my 2 hour trawl of the A15 gravel pits. :-C

Norfolk again tomorrow. Black-Eared Kite maybe? Please cross your fingers for me.

Well, if anyone crossed your fingers thanks very much. Nice view of Black-Eared Kite being mobbed by 2 crows and a pair of Kestrels over the woods behind Snettisham. Hooray.

Great day out. A bit blowy but nothing like as bad as New Year's Day and a balmy 12 degrees C. With a select handful from the Peterborough Bird Club (and a new Bird Forum tick). And my first spot of celebrity birder, Lee Evans! And another 10 year ticks. What more could a girl want? (Well, enough year ticks to take me to 100 would've been nice - where are those blasted Mistle Thrushs? and Wot no Stonechat (again)? And damn me if I didn't forget to get Lee's autograph )

87. Black-throated Diver
88. Grey Partridge
89. Black-Eared Kite (lifer)
90. Shore Lark
91. Snow Bunting
92. Red-Breasted Merganser
93. Goosander
94. Nuthatch
95. Treecreeper
96. Great Spotted Woodpecker

Stopped off at my pit on the way home in the hope of catching the Green Woodie for another year tick but no sign or sound. Nor much of anything else either - last year's Teal and Gadwall have not yet reappeared. Their place has been taken by two Tufted Ducks - can hardly contain my excitement.

Oops, looks like my list is going to consist of shedloads of forgotten additions. Realised today that I forgot to write down from Snettisham:

97. Skylark

A bit of 'extreme birding' today. Blooming gale-force winds and biting rain at Lynford Arboretum but still managed to clock up:

98. Siskin
99. Egyptian Goose (not seen those there before)
100. Green Woodpecker
101. Hawfinch

On the way to Santon to dip the Great Grey Shrike:
102. Brambling (the first of 4 flocks - the biggest about 40 in size.)

No Woodlarks at West Toft.
No American Wigeon at Needingworth. Probably drowned, poor thing. Never seen waves so big on an inland lake before. All the ducks kept disappearing under the surface and flapping like mad to get up again.

Was hoping for Red-Necked Grebe at Fen Drayton but ran out of time. Everywhere I went today I met red lights, 20 mph tractors and roads closed due to flooding. Next year, I want to bird by helicopter (but maybe not in these winds).

Amazingly, still no Mistle Thrush. I usually have 2 in the garden but no sign as yet this year and every roadside Thrush I've checked out has been one of the other 4.

At last.

103.Mistle Thrush

In the back garden this morning while I was doing the washing up. I guess the only reason I haven't seen it till now is that I have hardly been home during the daylight hours.

Today, during a family walk at Ferry Meadows, darting across a river then perched on a branch:

104. Kingfisher

This morning, over the A43 near Blatherwycke, fabulous crisp and sunny Winter's morn:

105. Red Kite
106. Buzzard

We saw 4 Kites altogether, one flew over the roof of the car, giving us brilliant views.

This afternoon, at CEGB Reservoir:

107. Yellow-Legged Gull
108. Common Gull

And at an unspecified location:
109. Ruddy Duck

Just realised I haven't ticked Greater Black-Backed Gull yet and I'm sure I've had at least one but I'll wait till the next occurence now before counting it.

Hooray, finally another birding day out. And what a beautiful day - kept thinking how it typified the 'calm after the storm' then realised towards the end of the day that the saying is actually 'calm before the storm'. Senility is so trying!

Started at Snettisham hoping to see the Smew but no luck. Instead added:

110. Great Black-Backed Gull
111. Knot

Then moved onto Thornham for a bit of twitching and had beautiful (feeding, preening, walking, staring straight at all the cameras) views of:
112. Lesser Yellowlegs (lifer)
and, also
113. Rock Pipit

The Twite turned up and performed nicely too, posing in front of the bridge, perched on reeds etc.

Headed for Choseley Barns where there was absolutely nothing, zilch, nada (well maybe a few Black-Headed Gulls but you know what I mean). But on the road from Choseley to Docking found a big flock of finches etc and lots of lovely...
114. Yellowhammer(s)

Decided to head for home territory in search of swans and ended up at Eldernell as the sun was going down to find a big flock of...
115. Bewick's Swan(s)
116. Whooper Swan(s)

Hanging obligingly around the feeders were four...
117. Tree Sparrows

and cruising the field looking pale and interesting...
118. Barn Owl (hooray, first owl species of the year)

Fifth time of looking for a Smew - so will it become this year's bogey bird? Watch this space.

Hmm, the ticks get a bit harder a few weeks into the year, don't they?

Very nice birding weekend, though. Glorious sunshine in Peterborough - better than drugs (well at my age, anyway). But still no Smew - Episode 6 of Smew hunting consisted of sitting for an hour and a half in the hides at Deeping Lake scanning a huge gathering of Gulls, Wigeon, Mallards, Tufted Ducks and Goldeneye. Enough Goldeneye to give frequent heartstopping flashes of black and whitish diving things which just never turned out to be what I was looking for. Episode 6 continued with a desperate search of Baston and Langtoft pits in the increasingly dark and cold late afternoon. Guess what? Yes, I found one. No, ok then, I didn't. Still no Smew.

Weekend rescued by a trip round Woodwalton Fen Sunday morning in the company of the King of the Fens, Deboo. (Tsk, just remembered I forgot to count his fingers). Sadly, no Short-Eared Owl but lovely views of a (or possibly a few) Barn Owl(s). And, finally, a new year tick:

119. Corn Bunting - a flock of 40+ in a field behind the cattle sheds

Helen

Lovely, lovely, lovely, lovely (got the picture yet?) (here's another one just in case) lovely day out today. Beautiful sunshine, no wind, crisply cool and what better excuse to head for the North country for a bit of high-calibre twitching. Showing well (intermittently) in a variety of Cotoneasters in the posh suburbs of Bingley:

120. American Robin (lifer)

I did spare a thought for the poor householders - must be like waking up one morning and discovering you've become Kate Moss (but without the compensations (by which I mean the money and not the opportunity to sleep with Pete Doherty)).

And on the return journey to reduce the mileage per bird to a more environmentally-acceptable level (and pay a conscience-soothing couple of quid to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) we stopped off at Potteric Carr. Sadly, no Bittern - we were in the wrong hides at the wrong time (and I'm not for a minute blaming the long-haired layabout who insisted that one hide was poor bittern habitat and moved us back to the other - only for us to be joined 30 mins later by a local bragging about the great views he'd just had from the first hide!). But very much compensated by the following:

121. Willow Tit (lifer)
122. Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (lifer)
123. Lesser Redpoll

But, blow me, still no Reed Bunting. (And no Smew - but you knew that.)

Helen

Guess what? Still no Smew. But who cares - today was Owl dipping day, not Smew dipping day. Went after a Tawny Owl reported by the river at dawn but reckon I probably had the wrong tree because could not find it. Then moved onto Eldernell where I bumped into Deboo and Eddieh (sadly not tickable - already on my list) and Dave picked up:

124. Stonechat

Then on to March Farmers where we had distant views of a Short-Eared Owl but I'm not ticking it because I'm not sure I would have been able to id it on my own. So, can only add (and finally!):

125. Reed Bunting

Ice cold wind tested my new thick gloves and socks (bought for Bulgaria next weekend) and sadly found them wanting - both my fingers and my toes got cold. The new thermal underwear worked a treat, though, the rest of me was warm as toast.

Bean Geese and Scaup at Welney I hear - I know where I'm hoping to go tomorrow.

Grey day, mild again at 10 degrees. Change of plan. Hoping the Bean Geese might hold on a bit longer, I went instead to Diddington to have a look for:

126. Black-necked Grebe (lifer)

Found it on my own amongst a flock of Wigeon and a Little Grebe turned up in the field of view to provide a very convenient comparison.

Flushed with my success at finding one black and white (well yellowish but never mind) diving thing I decided to have another go for a Smew since one was reported at Paxton pits only 10 minutes away. I'm sure you can guess how it goes from here: arrived at the Visitor Centre, Smew last seen on Sailing Lake, head for sailing lake, scan all visible birdlife, scan it again, scan it a bit more, notice some Gadwall that just came out from behind an island, scanned exit and entrance to Island, hoping for emerging Smew, no Smew. Decide to try Heron Lake (Smew seen there on other occasions), stop at bottom of lake, scan birdlife, rule out all the Goldeneye, scan again, keep scanning, wait for various Tufted Ducks to reemerge from dive just in case, keep scanning, give up and walk to top of lake, repeat procedure from bottom of lake. No Smew. I think that was Episode 7 in which Helen searches for a Smew and doesn't find one. When will she learn? Reminds me of one of my favourite Aimee Mann songs:

Ladies and gentlemen--
Here’s exhibit a
Didn’t I try again?
And did the effort pay?
Wouldn’t a smarter man
Simply walk away?

However, undaunted by defeat I headed on to Woodwalton Fen for a second go at the Short-Eared Owls. After 30 mins on the North Bank in the biting winds, briefly glimpsed flying and then landing out of sight on the ground:

127. Short-Eared Owl

Tried hard to string a Snipe into a Woodcock on the walk back to the car but it would keep flaunting its white belly at me. Home to haggis dinner.

No new UK birds to add this week. If I was the sort of person who would take advantage of a work meeting in Stamford on Thursday to nip into Burghley Park on the way back to the office then I could have had a look for the Mandarins and failed to find them - but I'm not so obviously I didn't!

But apart from dipping Mandarins the main reason I failed to add any UK birds is because Friday to Monday were spent in Bulgaria! Which inspired me to add up my Europe list too. My only other birding Europe trip was Spain/Gibraltar in 2005 - the trip that started me off on this awful addictive, expensive, time-consuming nightmare. I dug out the list from that - well-over 100 birds but since I can only add the ones I clearly remember and think I could have id-ed for myself this is all I'm having:

Europe = UK (presently at 218) plus:

Spain
1. Cattle Egret
2. Black Stork
3. White Stork
4. Griffon Vulture
5. Audouin's Gull
6. Bee-eater
7. Blue Rock Thrush

Bulgaria

Trip to see the Red-Breasted Geese. The blurb for the trip said 'Bulgaria has an overwintering population of RBGs numbering 5,000-20,000'. How many this winter, do you reckon? The WWT's man in Bulgaria counted 86, I think. I counted 8!

8. Red-Breasted Geese

Almost outnumbered by the next one:

9. White-Tailed Eagle

I was just bowled over by the number of raptors to be seen in the wetlands around Kavarna. At one point we were watching about 10-12 Marsh Harriers, at least 4 White-Tailed Eagles, a Hen Harrier and a couple of Common Buzzards all over the reed beds at once. Really amazing. And finally, after shedloads of Common Buzzards perched on roadside trees, one that flew off with tantalisingly long wings:

10. Long-legged Buzzard

Chirping in the reed beds and apparently surprisingly early for the area:

11. Penduline Tit

Roosting on a cliffside, hooting, stirring gradually and finally just before dusk plummeting off its perch:

12. Eagle Owl

On the final morning, before our flight back from Sofia we took a walk around the city park where we saw bucketloads of Nuthatches, Treecreepers, G Spot Woodies, Green Woodies, very tame Jays, gadzillions of Great Tits, Tree Sparrows and:

13. Syrian Woodpecker
14. Middle Spotted Woodpecker.

A lovely holiday - Bulgaria is a great place. Shame about the RBG numbers but we had a fabulous morning watching the flock of White Fronts lift off the lake and settle to feed in the field in the snow. Followed by an equally rewarding evening watching them return as the light dwindled and settle on the lake squabbling loudly.

I woke early this morning to the sound of rain outside my window. Spent half an hour clinging to the duvet mulling over the merits of staying where I was compared to the merits of getting out there and trying to see some birdies. The latter finally won. And turned out to be the right choice - the rain had stopped when I opened the front door and only returned in the form of a bit of drizzle later.

Being an idiot who never learns I thought I'd have another little tootle round the A15 gravel pits looking for, amongst other things, a certain 4-letter bird. (Those 4 letters used to be S M E W but have mutated over time until none of the original letters remain). Started at Maxey where I knew there wouldn't be a Smew, hoped there might be some waders or a Jack Snipe and actually found something pretty good for the area:

128. Little Gull

Even nicer because Will refound it later - I hate seeing good things that don't get confirmed.

Can't even be bothered to tell you about the result of the potentially ****-yielding pits. Work it out from the list. ****!

Dragged the family up to Welney for lunch - finally after the Bean Geese and Scaup.

129. Scaup

No Beanies. Still at least I've only looked for them once.