What floats your boat (1 Viewer)

birdman

Орнитол&

• Dec 31, 2002

• #1

Hope this is not old hat... but here's a few of my boat floaters. I would be interested to hear from anyone with their picks. Feel free to add your own categories.

Best Home Birds (in your country): Bullfinches and Treecreepers in South Yorks, UK, Crested Tits in Scotland, UK.

Best Away Birds (in which country):
Black Woodpecker and Nutcracker in Slovenia, European Bee-eaters, Hoopoes and Black-eared (or cheeked?) Wheatears in N. Spain.

Best Twitch:
Spoonbill at Blacktoft Sands, UK.

Favourite Bird or Family (whether watched or not):
I've got a soft-spot for ducks!

Favourite Patch(es):
Blacktoft Sands and my New Garden.

Birding Ambition:
To see the UK's first Black Woodpecker!

:t:

 

T0ny

Okillre Member

• Dec 31, 2002

• #2

Hi, Birdman, welcome to the Forum. As regards your ambition, maybe you should revise it to read 'The UK's first ACCEPTED Black Woodpecker' ! Good luck anyway.

Tony

 

G

Gaye Horn

Guest

• Dec 31, 2002

• #3

Best Home Birds:Steller's Jays(Canada, BC to be exact)
Best Away Birds:Magnificent Hummingbird in Arizona USA
Best Twitch: White headed Woodpecker,Camp Mackinley Road Mt Baldy BC
Favourite Bird or family: Hummingbirds(four species here for 6 months and we are a Canadian breeding spot)
Favourite Patch: My yard and my home town area Osoyoos, British Columbia Canada
Birding Ambition: to find a hummingbird nest and to see a Roseate Spoonbill
Gaye

 

Steve

Member

Staff member

• Dec 31, 2002

• #4

I think you will find that "some of us have seen black woodpecker"
in may 2000, in The SE of England.

Of course Im sworn to secrecy!!!

 

nigelblake

don't re member

• Dec 31, 2002

• #5

Interesting, the Black woodpecker syndrome that seems to be impossible for the rarities commities to grasp, they are after all only a short hop over the channel. I have seen one myself back in 1972 on the wooded approach light posts at RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, in my plane spotting days, I was 17 then and well into birds too, but not aware of the reporting system for rarities.

Best Home Birds (in your country): would like to finally photograph Wryneck well

Would like to photograph Ibisbill

And return to Tanzania again, also want to visit India

HNY2003
Nigel

 

C

cjay

Well-known member

• Dec 31, 2002

• #6

Best Home Birds (in your country) Purple Sandpipers at Lowestoft. Med Gulls at Great Yarmouth.

Best Away Birds (in which country): Short Toed Treecreeper Germany.
Best Twitch:
Red flanked Bluetail Great Yarmouth 1994

Favourite Bird or Family (whether watched or not):
Gulls esp Herring Gull sub species

Favourite Patch(es):
Lowestoft Suffolk. Benacre Broad Suffolk & Minsmere Zoo er RSPB Reserve.

Birding Ambition:
To write a book on Birding & Birding folk.

Biggest Dip: Siberian Blue Robin Minsmere.

Worst habit: Three Course Lunches.

Embarassing Moment: Saying to Prince Charles at Sandringham Norfolk. Whilst looking for Crossbills. “Blust you look like Prince Charles”

Funniest Moment: Seeing a lady swim Naked in Benacre Broad when told that a hide full of birders were looking at her she faced her bottom to the hide & pointed to it.


CJ

 

birdman

Орнитол&

• Jan 2, 2003

• #7

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I wondered what reaction my Black Woodpecker would get. It really is difficult to believe they've never (officially) made it to the UK!

I have to say, I was seriously impressed with the one I saw in Slovenia (pretty sure he was a he)!

As for embarrassing moment - and only a slightly embarrassing moment (I put myself right before blurting anything out to anyone else)...

I was well chuffed with the Black-Winged Stilt at Cley... thought I was the real deal spotting that.

Anyone who knows Sammy, will know just how UNimpressive an achievement that it.

Still I didn't didn't know he was there beforehand, so I'm counting him as a proper tick (although I am personally splitting the species into two subspecies - Sammy, and Any Other BWS!!!)

I'm also a little bit of a Gull fan, CJ, but I recognise only three species - Black-headed, Black-backed and Other!

So what are the birds you'll never get the hang of? Apart from gulls, its Birds of Prey for me!

I'm really jealous of your hummingbirds, Gaye - it must be amazing to be up close and personal with those guys.

Which leads me to add another extra category - What do you wish you had at home that you ain't never gonna get?

Once again, I open this to the floor...

 

Doug

Well-known member

• Jan 2, 2003

• #8

HI - nice idea for a list

Mine...

Best home birds - Kingfisher & Green Woodpecker - S.Yorks
Best away Birds - Red Kite in Wales
Best Twitch - Can't choose between a 'Common' Rosefinch at Weybourner Norfolk or a Night Heron at Titchwell
Favorite Bird - The Curlew, just love the cry.
Favorite Patches - The garden and Rother Valley Country Park
Birding ambition - to earn my living birding
What do I wish we had here that we 'ain't never gonna get'? Difficult, but I must admit Gayes Hummingbirds must be something else. I have seen how people put out sugar water feeders for them in the Americas.

What about best garden bird? For me, Long tailed Tits, just once.

 

birdman

Орнитол&

• Jan 2, 2003

• #9

Hi Doug,

Best Garden Bird for me? Well at the moment, it's a recent Thrush. (Song or Mistle - I ain't sure, and I'm giving away a bit of my inexperience there!)

Why?

Well we moved house in March 02, so we've got a new garden.
First to dare to visit were good ol' Starlings, and then Magpies. We've had the occasional Collared Dove and few of the common urban birds have sat on the fence - all attracted by scraps of food.

But this Thrush has started to visit the flower bed and search for his (her?) own grubs, insects and worms. Makes it seem like a proper garden.

Luckily, we back onto open land, so I can hear Skylarks, Owls, Ducks and Coots and (yes Doug!) Green Woodpeckers from my garden.

I'll let you know if any ever pay a visit.

BTW, thanks for the Bitterns at Potteric Carr tip. I managed to get a couple of hours there yesterday, but dipped out unfortunately.

I'll get the blighters one day!

 

Steve Gross

Well-known member

• Jan 2, 2003

• #10

Here's a go at it:


Best Home Breeding Birds (in my part of Texas): Painted Bunting, White-tailed Hawk, Red-cockaded Woodpecker (The WP is endangered).

Best Away Breeding Birds (in Texas): Golden-cheeked Warbler, Black-capped Vireo.


Best Twitch: Yellow-faced Grassquit, June, 2002. This was the eighth US record of the bird, and the second in TX.

Biggest Dip: Lucifer Hummingbird in Big Bend National Park. One is practically guaranteed a look at this bird, as it feeds on the blooming Century Plants (a large desert plant). Four straight days of near constant presence in good habitat produced no Lucifer.

Favourite Bird or Family (whether watched or not): American Wood Warblers


Favourite Patch(es): Upper TX coast; Katy Prairie (west of Houston, TX); Texas Hill Country.

Favourite US birding spots: Lower Rio Grande Valley, TX; Yellowstone National Park; Big Bend National Park, TX; SE Arizona; Pawnee National Grassland, Colorado.

Birding Ambition: Lead bird walks, get to 600 US birds (I'm at 486 right now), go to Churchill, Manitoba, Gambell Is., the Pribilofs, or the North Slope of Alaska.

 

G

Gaye Horn

Guest

• Jan 2, 2003

• #11

The bird I MOST would love to have here is the Cardinal... they are beautiful birds and I cannot for the life of understand why they are not here.. we have everything they like including weather!!!
Birding amibition is to go to Antarctica!
Most difficult to ID are the warblers...
Best NEW Life bird in the yard .. Grey Partridge, and a Lazuli Bunting
My favourites are the winged warriors.. my mighty Hummingbirds.. we go through a lot of sugar from march til September..

 

birdman

Орнитол&

• Jan 2, 2003

• #12

Thanks for your response Steve,

I've got a photo of a Painted Bunting as a wallpaper on my PC. It looks a beauty!

 

birdman

Орнитол&

• Jan 2, 2003

• #13

Hi again Gaye,

By Grey Partridge, do you mean Perdix perdix?

If so, it just goes to show doesn't it. On my journey to and from work I see them regularly!

Sometimes you don't realise what you've got, unless you get someone else's perspective.

(BTW, I noticed you wrote "Grey" rather than "Gray" - is this the standard Canadian spelling (with the e)? I'm as interested in words as birds!)

 

G

Gaye Horn

Guest

• Jan 4, 2003

• #14

Morning Birdman!

Yes in mean Perdix Perdix!!! We never had them in our yard before and I have not seen that particular partridge either. I was pleased and here you see them everyday!! Amazing...

I spelled Grey grey because that is what we were taught in school. I also spell things like Colour, Behaviour,Flavour..... these are slightly different then my American counter parts.

 

H

HH75

Well-known member

• Jan 5, 2003

• #15

Best birds here(Ireland):I'll assume this refers to species that are "normal" members of the local avifauna?If so,then I'd have to say all 6 raptors,Bullfinch,Whitethroat,Med.Gull,Little Gull,LT Tit,Grey Wagtail,with Black Redstart and Firecrest as scarce but regular migrants(former also regular in winter:have seen 1 already this year!)
Best birds abroad:Would agree with Black Wodpecker,also Eagle Owl,Little Bittern,Bearded Tit,Long-legged Buzzard,RF Falcon,Spotted and Little Crakes,Dartford Warbler etc.
Best twitch:Only 1?;-)Probably would have to be the Blue-winged Warbler on Cape Clear on 4th Oct 2000,a 1st for the WP!!May write an article on that one,and a few more....
Favourite bird families:raptors,warblers,gulls(esp.those difficult large ones...looking for Caspian at the moment!),waders(esp.Calidris sp.),herons,shearwaters/petrels....actually,most families!
Favourite birding patches:Old Head of Kinsale for seabirds and passerine migrants,Ballycotton for waders
Birding ambitions:finding Fea's Petrel this year,getting my list to 300 before I'm 30(27 now+on 284),writing a few more articles for birding mags,finding a first for Ireland(Black-throated Thrush and Booted Warbler stand out as likely candidates)

 

G

Gaye Horn

Guest

• Jan 6, 2003

• #16

Harry you have quite an accomplished list for one so young... congrats... and may you find your birding amibition to be met and matched...:t:

 

Andy Thatcher

Well-known member

• Jan 7, 2003

• #17

Black Woodpecker around Bentwaters eh. Going to have to check that out as I used to live and my parents do live within 5 miles or so from there !

Best UK Bird - going to take that as favourite. Wildly divergent but bittern or kingfisher depending on what way the wind is blowing.

Best Foriegn Bird - Little Green Bee-eaters - Egypt, Black Storks - Spain/Lesbos and Great Bustards - Spain/Austria. Again taken as favourites.
Suppose rarest would be Krupers Nuthatch - Lesbos, Black Vulture - Spain, Blue Cheeked Bee-eater - Egypt, Sinai Rose Finch - Egypt.

Best Twitch - Haven't really done a lot of this but I guess Canvasback at Welney

Favourite Family - Raptors

Favourite Patch - Not hard as I have seen or ringed Icterine Warbler, Red Backed Shrike, Crane and Wryneck in my parents back garden in Suffolk.

Ambition - To figure out how I got conned into a birdrace this year by my father and to beat him ! Well he has got that back garden and I am in Bedfordshire and we are only counting the UK. Many miles to go on the Vectra me thinks.

 

G

Gaye Horn

Guest

• Jan 7, 2003

• #18

Andy that sounds like fun .. the challenge your Dad put you up on... and with you travelling to his place you will definitely have some odds to work on... he is smart guy..you will learn at the Master's feet.. so your Dad thinks..Love the sounds of your bird faves...

 

Andy Thatcher

Well-known member

• Jan 7, 2003

• #19

I have a few "business" trips lined up that may surprise him

The trouble is that we have relatives in north Norfolk that I suspect will get visited a few more times than normal by him !

 

G

Gaye Horn

Guest

• Jan 7, 2003

• #20

Well Andy this is going to keep you on your toes and doing some serious moving back and forth but in that movement you may be the lucky one..keep us informed on how this all plays out ok?