Weelll... it has been quite some time since I came here to be honest!! I usually post under my other online 'guise', this is soley my work's one... hence, works computer & different email.... & I can be 'watched'!!!! (there are always eyes everywhere!!)...
Stumbled here & thought the owd county page could do with a bit of an uplift as it is seriously flagging here!!!...
This year was the year to do a big county list!!!... Sadly, I took several weeks 'off' birding whilst my divorce was being finalised!! Basically, costing me birds like Cuckoo, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher, Turtle Dove.... to name but a few... I aint had Woodcock, Little Owl, Mandarin, LesserSpot, Hen Harrier.... I didn't 'bother' (???) to go & see a Little Gull at Mire Lake (yeah, I'm a d**k, I know!!!)... I missed out on Wood Sandpiper (1st year that I've failed to score one), Nightjar, Honey Buzzard & a Little Stint!!...
Plus I dipped the recent Yellow-browed Warbler!!! & SE Owl earlier in the year... So, what's that then?... Around 16 odd species?...
But amazingly I'm still on 154 species for the year!!!! My best ever county year list is 157 species ~ so I could've well & truly trounced that one!!!...
Anyway, sod hindsight... let's get to the point of this thread!!!....
2008 in my opinion will be a very, very memorable year for the birds that have turned up... It's 02:30am & I'm at work ~ so if this is kindda vague, I apologise... Here's my personal take on this year... (so far!!)
The year began with some New Year Day's birding with my bud Dave.... 2007 had been a very difficult year for me, after 2 years of trying (& arguing, fighting etc...), my 6yr marridge had ended!! With my (ex)wife leaving me in the September & taking my then, 4yr old daughter with her!!...
I can remember I felt quite alone & dejected... I certainly felt a rift had grown between myself & most of my birding mates ~ alot of which I know is people not wanting to 'impose' on you or maybe say the wrong thing... Also, I kindda alowed it to happen, prefering my own company to that of others...
The Lads were, successfully, twitching a Desert Wheatear up north, whilst Dave & myself were ticking such county beauties as Red Grouse, Whooper Swans & Crossbill...
From memory, the first county tick was a Glaucous Gull which was found at Priorslee Lake!!... I evntually caught up with the bird at Granville Landfill site, just up the road from Priorslee... My 1st county tick for 2008.
The next good tick was 6 Scaup that had remained from the latter part of 07 at Colemere. Also a good area to nail Goosander & Goldeneye.
A flock of 600 Golden Plover just down the road at Condover was another tricky county bird ticked, as was a Merlin at my patch of VP (Venus Pool.... Please Note ~ it's Venus Pool!!... NOT Pool'S'!! There is only one pool on the reserve... the other pool is the trout pool!! Not owned or run by the S.O.S. Instead, by a Jack Russell owning ****, who allows his 2 dogs to run all over VP, disturbing all the bird life!!!) ~ Sorry about that, I'm back again now... Just a wee rant that I'm prone to do when wound up (& I do get wound up easily!!)... I just cant stand my patch being called Venus Pools!!!...
Back to my adventures in Salop before I go off on one again.... There then came news of a Ring-billed & Iceland Gull at The Mere!!... Myself & Rich went the next evening, got utterly soaked and nowt for our efforts!!
BUT.... I nailed Iceland Gull not long after... again, at Granville, and my 2nd county tick!!! (Plus not many people saw the Iceland Gull)
From memory, the next good bird was a county tick for almost everyone.... A Cetti's Warbler at Fort Knox!! (Otherwise, or commonly, known as Monkmoor Pool!!)... There was a pretty bloody good turn out the next morning, especially for Shrop., with a good 20+ birders present ~ of course, my hardcore buds were all there ~ Rob, Rich, Mike, Andy L, Jim, Dave, Andy W.... And we didn't have to wait long before good 'ol Mr. Cetti's gave a burst of song & not too long after, gave great views also!!!...
Monkmoor also earlier had held my 3rd RN Duck for the county ~ initially, very elusive... An early morning visit (straight off a night shift) to Whixall Moss, gave me a 4th county tick ~ a female Marsh Harrier!!!
Back to Ellesmere for an almost point blank view of a Grasshopper Warbler (another county tick for me!!).
Whilst most were south of the county looking for a very tricky Hoopoe (I'd seen it the previous day, my 3rd for Shrop. & 2nd for this year, having had the Conwy bird!!), VP was hosting it's 1st ever Avocet (& quite surprisingly, 2nd ever for the county ~ Rich was to find the 3rd record later in the year at Crudgington!!).
A lifer for me also arrived at VP ~ a Temmink's Stint!!!... And then an awesome gripper with 2 Common Cranes at Crudgington!!!
It was around this time I had ground to a halt birding (the Cranes would be my last 'tick' of any shape of form for some time).... My divorce was finally coming to an end & I was weighed down with paperwork & well... pretty f***ed up to be honest!! Not for me, but for my daughter who was struggling to understand why Daddy didn't live with her...
My break from birding was at the end of spring & start of summer, so you can now see why I failed to get some relatively easy birds this year....
I was kicked back into life with a Great White Egret at The Mere (almost everyone wanted this for a county tick ~ my 8th county tick for the year!!)... I went to see VP's 3rd Pec. Sandpiper (I actually found the previous one ~ yeah, I am gloating!!!)...
Also had my 2nd ever Med. Gull at VP... Not my second Med. Gull!!, my 2nd Med' Gull on my patch!!!.... I didn't write that very well at all.... Oh well, 3:10am now & I'm seriously flagging & now rushing this as I want a quick smoke & then a kip before going home...
My 9th county tick was very recent ~ a drake Common Scoter at VP!!! A county bogey for me!!! And today, on my 4th attempt I nailed Bittern, also at VP... Taking my County year list to 154 species!!!! (Incidently, the scoter took my county life list to a nice round 190 species!!)...
Jim has really stole the show this year, currently sat a full 9 species ahead of me on 163 species for the year, plus he scored Nightjar on Black Hill, managed to see (& photograph!!) a Honey Buzzard over VP, plus he was the 3rd, & last!! person to see Andy L. Yellow-browed Warbler (a county 1st no less!!!).
So, hat's off to Jim!! I think, as ever, Andy L. leads the way & I'm fairly sure he's on 165 species for the year (in county), may be more??... Andy L. holds the county year list record incidently, a massive 175 species!!! (Bigger than most Shropshire birdwatchers county life lists!!!)...
So, there we are... up to date... So, if you're a lister and living in Shropshire, but fairly new, whats good?... Well, a respectable county life list is certainly one thats 200+. As for a county year list?... In my opinion, with some effort & local knowledge 150 should be relatively obtainable!! Big county listers (& we are few!!), aim for 160+....
But, as with all aspects of birding, it's what you enjoy doing & want to do...
Thanks for reading this waffle... let me know when you find that county Wryneck.... or Red-backed Shrike.... or Glossy Ibis.... or Cattle Egret... or Dartford Warbler...
Stumbled here & thought the owd county page could do with a bit of an uplift as it is seriously flagging here!!!...
This year was the year to do a big county list!!!... Sadly, I took several weeks 'off' birding whilst my divorce was being finalised!! Basically, costing me birds like Cuckoo, Whinchat, Spotted Flycatcher, Turtle Dove.... to name but a few... I aint had Woodcock, Little Owl, Mandarin, LesserSpot, Hen Harrier.... I didn't 'bother' (???) to go & see a Little Gull at Mire Lake (yeah, I'm a d**k, I know!!!)... I missed out on Wood Sandpiper (1st year that I've failed to score one), Nightjar, Honey Buzzard & a Little Stint!!...
Plus I dipped the recent Yellow-browed Warbler!!! & SE Owl earlier in the year... So, what's that then?... Around 16 odd species?...
But amazingly I'm still on 154 species for the year!!!! My best ever county year list is 157 species ~ so I could've well & truly trounced that one!!!...
Anyway, sod hindsight... let's get to the point of this thread!!!....
2008 in my opinion will be a very, very memorable year for the birds that have turned up... It's 02:30am & I'm at work ~ so if this is kindda vague, I apologise... Here's my personal take on this year... (so far!!)
The year began with some New Year Day's birding with my bud Dave.... 2007 had been a very difficult year for me, after 2 years of trying (& arguing, fighting etc...), my 6yr marridge had ended!! With my (ex)wife leaving me in the September & taking my then, 4yr old daughter with her!!...
I can remember I felt quite alone & dejected... I certainly felt a rift had grown between myself & most of my birding mates ~ alot of which I know is people not wanting to 'impose' on you or maybe say the wrong thing... Also, I kindda alowed it to happen, prefering my own company to that of others...
The Lads were, successfully, twitching a Desert Wheatear up north, whilst Dave & myself were ticking such county beauties as Red Grouse, Whooper Swans & Crossbill...
From memory, the first county tick was a Glaucous Gull which was found at Priorslee Lake!!... I evntually caught up with the bird at Granville Landfill site, just up the road from Priorslee... My 1st county tick for 2008.
The next good tick was 6 Scaup that had remained from the latter part of 07 at Colemere. Also a good area to nail Goosander & Goldeneye.
A flock of 600 Golden Plover just down the road at Condover was another tricky county bird ticked, as was a Merlin at my patch of VP (Venus Pool.... Please Note ~ it's Venus Pool!!... NOT Pool'S'!! There is only one pool on the reserve... the other pool is the trout pool!! Not owned or run by the S.O.S. Instead, by a Jack Russell owning ****, who allows his 2 dogs to run all over VP, disturbing all the bird life!!!) ~ Sorry about that, I'm back again now... Just a wee rant that I'm prone to do when wound up (& I do get wound up easily!!)... I just cant stand my patch being called Venus Pools!!!...
Back to my adventures in Salop before I go off on one again.... There then came news of a Ring-billed & Iceland Gull at The Mere!!... Myself & Rich went the next evening, got utterly soaked and nowt for our efforts!!
BUT.... I nailed Iceland Gull not long after... again, at Granville, and my 2nd county tick!!! (Plus not many people saw the Iceland Gull)
From memory, the next good bird was a county tick for almost everyone.... A Cetti's Warbler at Fort Knox!! (Otherwise, or commonly, known as Monkmoor Pool!!)... There was a pretty bloody good turn out the next morning, especially for Shrop., with a good 20+ birders present ~ of course, my hardcore buds were all there ~ Rob, Rich, Mike, Andy L, Jim, Dave, Andy W.... And we didn't have to wait long before good 'ol Mr. Cetti's gave a burst of song & not too long after, gave great views also!!!...
Monkmoor also earlier had held my 3rd RN Duck for the county ~ initially, very elusive... An early morning visit (straight off a night shift) to Whixall Moss, gave me a 4th county tick ~ a female Marsh Harrier!!!
Back to Ellesmere for an almost point blank view of a Grasshopper Warbler (another county tick for me!!).
Whilst most were south of the county looking for a very tricky Hoopoe (I'd seen it the previous day, my 3rd for Shrop. & 2nd for this year, having had the Conwy bird!!), VP was hosting it's 1st ever Avocet (& quite surprisingly, 2nd ever for the county ~ Rich was to find the 3rd record later in the year at Crudgington!!).
A lifer for me also arrived at VP ~ a Temmink's Stint!!!... And then an awesome gripper with 2 Common Cranes at Crudgington!!!
It was around this time I had ground to a halt birding (the Cranes would be my last 'tick' of any shape of form for some time).... My divorce was finally coming to an end & I was weighed down with paperwork & well... pretty f***ed up to be honest!! Not for me, but for my daughter who was struggling to understand why Daddy didn't live with her...
My break from birding was at the end of spring & start of summer, so you can now see why I failed to get some relatively easy birds this year....
I was kicked back into life with a Great White Egret at The Mere (almost everyone wanted this for a county tick ~ my 8th county tick for the year!!)... I went to see VP's 3rd Pec. Sandpiper (I actually found the previous one ~ yeah, I am gloating!!!)...
Also had my 2nd ever Med. Gull at VP... Not my second Med. Gull!!, my 2nd Med' Gull on my patch!!!.... I didn't write that very well at all.... Oh well, 3:10am now & I'm seriously flagging & now rushing this as I want a quick smoke & then a kip before going home...
My 9th county tick was very recent ~ a drake Common Scoter at VP!!! A county bogey for me!!! And today, on my 4th attempt I nailed Bittern, also at VP... Taking my County year list to 154 species!!!! (Incidently, the scoter took my county life list to a nice round 190 species!!)...
Jim has really stole the show this year, currently sat a full 9 species ahead of me on 163 species for the year, plus he scored Nightjar on Black Hill, managed to see (& photograph!!) a Honey Buzzard over VP, plus he was the 3rd, & last!! person to see Andy L. Yellow-browed Warbler (a county 1st no less!!!).
So, hat's off to Jim!! I think, as ever, Andy L. leads the way & I'm fairly sure he's on 165 species for the year (in county), may be more??... Andy L. holds the county year list record incidently, a massive 175 species!!! (Bigger than most Shropshire birdwatchers county life lists!!!)...
So, there we are... up to date... So, if you're a lister and living in Shropshire, but fairly new, whats good?... Well, a respectable county life list is certainly one thats 200+. As for a county year list?... In my opinion, with some effort & local knowledge 150 should be relatively obtainable!! Big county listers (& we are few!!), aim for 160+....
But, as with all aspects of birding, it's what you enjoy doing & want to do...
Thanks for reading this waffle... let me know when you find that county Wryneck.... or Red-backed Shrike.... or Glossy Ibis.... or Cattle Egret... or Dartford Warbler...
