Trystan's World List 2020 (1 Viewer)

Here we go again with another world year list, which I will also break down into country lists as I go.

At the moment I have absolutely nothing booked for the year so no plans to get any personal best targets.

The year started steadily enough, targeting a couple of birds which did not make the 2019 year list because I was too lazy to go for them over the Christmas holiday.

01.01.2020

Stainforth

001. Magpie
002. Blackbird
003. Robin
004. Blue tit
005. Long tailed tit
006. Carrion crow
007. Rough legged buzzard - the over wintering juvenile found quickly and easily perched up. It made a few hops from tree to tree but was generally sedentary.
008. Kestrel
009. Wren
010. Woodpigeon
011. Collared dove
012. House sparrow

An annoyingly long drive around Leeds to get to Rodley nature reserve next.

En route

013. Jackdaw
014. Starling
015. Buzzard
016. Black headed gull
017. Rook
018. Pheasant

Rodley nature reserve

019. Mallard
020. Goldcrest
021. Coal tit
022. Little grebe
023. Common gull
024. Great tit
025. Chaffinch
026. Redwing
027. Goldfinch
028. Tufted duck
029. Coot
030. Gadwall
031. Mute swan
032. Firecrest - With a bit of patience, some great views in the bright sunlight

Chose not to linger at the reserve but headed back through Leeds to spend the remainder of the day at Swillington ings.

Swillington ings

Starting at the filter beds:

033. Sparrowhawk
034. Water pipit
035. Pied wagtail
036. Meadow pipit
037. Grey wagtail

Then onto the reserve:

038. Cormorant
039. Teal
040. Pochard
041. Wigeon
042. Moorhen
043. Lapwing
044. Goldeneye
045. Canada goose
046. Greylag goose
047. Goosander
048. Song thrush
049. Reed bunting
050. Dunnock
051. Grey heron
052. Golden plover
053. Shoveler
054. Pintail
055. Shelduck
056. Curlew
057. Great crested grebe
058. Great black backed gull
059. Herring gull
060. Stock dove
061. Barnacle goose (feral)
062. Kingfisher
063. Stonechat
064. Green woodpecker
065. Short eared owl - 3 flying on the hillside this evening, over 100 people watching, never seen the reserve so busy
066. Water rail

Also a heard only Cetti's warbler. Not the best start in terms of numbers but got all the main target birds so pleased with how the new campaign got underway.

02.01.2020

Tawny owl flew across the road on the way into work. Unexpected bonus!

067. Tawny owl

Then a quick walk at lunch time

068. Bullfinch

04.01.2020

A walk round Fairburn and Swillington with my wife today as she prepared to blow away the Christmas cobwebs gave me the opportunity to try and get a few more year ticks. The hoped for willow tits at the Fairburn feeders did not put in an appearance, increasingly hard to connect with.

Enroute

069. Feral pigeon

Fairburn

070. Tree sparrow
071. Greenfinch
072. Great spotted woodpecker
073. Treecreeper
074. Little egret
075. Little owl
076. Lesser redpoll

Swillington

077. Grey partridge
078. Fieldfare
079. Linnet

05.01.2020

With the news that the choughs which turned up in Yorkshire last year while I was away were actually still present, I decide to try and get these onto my Yorkshire list today. Stuck out in no mans land, the best bet afterwards was to head west towards the Purple heron which has been showing regularly in Lancashire.

Vicoria cave, Langcliffe

080. Raven
081. Chough - 1st Yorkshire - Only one bird but obligingly feeding on the path so very easy to locate. I had not been optimistic about this one so extremely pleased.

Eagland hill

The heron had gone awol on arrival and some showy barn owls had also stopped showing in the windy conditions.

082. Pink footed goose
083. Corn bunting
084. Purple heron - less than an hour to wait before the bird came out of the vegetation and showed very well.

Knott end on sea

I had been told where some twite were being seen here while at the heron site and fortunately stumbled on them very quickly as they were being stalked by a photographer and consequently flew some way down the esplanade.

085. Redshank
086. Oystercatcher
087. Twite

The tide was miles out and there were no other waders obvious. Had thought to call in somewhere else on the way home but the return of drizzle made me reconsider.

12.01.2020

Meeting up with a couple of other Yorkshire bird forum members today. The route was Nosterfield and Catterick for rarities, then up to Cleveland for some general birding.

Nosterfield

088. Smew
089. Scaup
090. Lesser yellowlegs - kept us waiting, hiding in a huge flock of lapwings and thanks to someone else scouring them who finally picked the bird out.

Bolton on Swale

091. Mistle thrush
092. Marsh tit
093. Ring necked duck

Hartlepool headland

094. Eider
095. Turnstone
096. Red throated diver
097. Long tailed duck
098. Guillemot

Hartlepool

099. Sanderling
100. Purple sandpiper
101. Ringer plover
102. Mediterranean gull

Greatham creek

103. Black tailed godwit
104. Spotted redshank

Saltholme

Not long here due to locking the gates at 4. Bit of a dash to try for the long eared owls but the info we had been given was that they are not viewable from the boardwalk but a bit past it. Not much use as it turned out. Either they were too cryptic or we weren't looking in the right places. Normally they put a warden on to help.

105. Marsh harrier

Cowpen Bewley

106. Yellowhammer

Snatched another year tick in the fading light but not the hoped for willow tits.

19.01.2020

BBC said, dry clear wintery day with some patches of fog taking a while to clear.
If it had said, Cheshire and Lancashire will be under a shroud of fog until midday, I might have done something different with my day.

Trying for the Siberian stonechat near Northwich was futile, gave up after a couple of hours of 20-50m visibility and freezing cold and headed to Marshside where the long staying, long billed dowitcher, duly disappeared before my arrival.

Still the Marshside area produced some decent birds including a nice selection of year ticks!

Hundred ends

107. Whooper swan
108. Bewick's swan

Marshside

109. Peregrine
110. Snipe
111. Lesser black backed gull
112. Hen harrier
113. Merlin
114. Dunlin
115. Grey plover
116. Great white egret

26.01.2020

Could have done a repeat of last weekend since I dipped my main targets and both are still present but the weather forecast in that direction dissuaded me from trying.

Four targets today were instead, Hawfinch, Waxwing, Great grey shrike and Common crane. Was 50% successful.

Thoresby park

117. Nuthatch

Retford

118. Waxwing

Idle valley

119. Egyptian goose

Sandtoft

120. Common crane

No sign of the long staying shrike at Hatfield today but the area is massive, so no doubt it will be back tomorrow. Also chased across the reserve looking for some White fronted geese which were also frustratingly absent.

01.02.2020

Redcar Tarn, Keighley

A fairly brief stop in poor weather after spending the morning out with my wife. A sneaky way to get 2 birding trips out of the weekend.

121. Iceland gull
122. Caspian gull

02.02.2020

Tried 2 weeks ago in reverse starting at Marshside where the dowitcher showed amazingly well. Did a bit of birding in the area before heading to Cheshire where the Stonechat kept me waiting til the bitter end.

Marshside

123. Ruff
124. Long billed dowitcher
125. Skylark

Birkdale

126. Cattle egret

Banks marsh

127. White fronted goose

Ashton's Flash

128. Siberian stonechat - 1st UK

08.02.2020

Year ticks are pretty widely dispersed at the moment, making 1 day out per week quite inconvenient, especially as some birds are proving so elusive. Another dip on Hawfinch this morning before cutting losses and heading for the Lincs black throated thrush.

3rd failed attempt for Willow tit on the way home but there was a Blackcap coming to the feeders at Fairburn.

Grimsby

129. Black throated thrush

Fairburn

130. Blackcap

16.02.2020

The weekend threatened to be a washout with another storm passing through along with the disappearance of a long staying grey phalarope at Flamborough on Saturday.

After some miserable weather early on Sunday, it looked safe enough to venture out, starting with the swampy path to the Ferruginous duck at Johnny Browns common I managed to prove, contrary to the bird news info, wellies are not essential, just desirable.

Johnny Brown's Common

131. Ferruginous duck

Ring necked duck was also present

Fairburn

Hadn't thought about just how underwater Fairburn might be, coming in from the A1, meant that I was able to get all the way to the visitor centre before realising that the road in, and the centre were all closed and partly submerged.

An abandoned, smashed up car outside the closed gate added to the end of the world effect.

Not to worry, it was a vast improvement on the previous week when overrun with noisy kids and dog walkers, and I picked up 3 year ticks.

132. Red legged partridge
133. Red kite
134. Willow tit

23.02.2020

Another weekend of wind and rain and some decent birding in spite of it.

Starting with exceptional views of crossbill and goshawk at Wykeham.

Wykeham

135. Crossbill
136. Siskin
137. Goshawk

No luck with hooded crow reported near Filey.

Filey

138. Gannet
139. Fulmar
140. Shag

North cave

141. Tundra bean goose

01.03.2020

Frustrating day in Nottinghamshire today.

5 targets were Woodlark, Lesser spotted woodpecker, Jacksnipe, Red necked grebe and Slavonian grebe, moving a little further south at each stop.

Budby

142. Woodlark

No problem with the first target at least. But then walked into sherwood forest to be told that the LSW has been showing but generally disappeared from 8.30 onward and as it was 9am already and another hour failed to product any sign, I moved on.

The directions I had to the area with Jack snipe were useless. I could see where I needed to be but didn't fancy the massive walk it would have taken to get there.

Next, Holmepierre point to find that there is very limited viewing of the massive lake for Red necked grebe. Got hailed on, waded through a swamp, stood by a busy road, and failed to see the bird.

Attenborough

143. Slavonian grebe

At least this was easy, but the reserve was heaving and it didn't appeal to hang around so with the elusive Great grey shrike reported at Hatfield, I decided to head there.

Needless to say, the bird was long gone but a really good raptor roost of marsh harrier, buzzard, peregrine and hen harrier finished off with Barn owl was very welcome.

Hatfield moor

143. Barn owl

07.03.2020

Better armed, with information, an attempt to catch up with last week's missed species with better weather and better success!

Sherwood

144. Lesser spotted woodpecker - at least 3 seen!

Holmepierre point

145. Red necked grebe

The bird favouring the eastern side viewed from the path into the reserve from the the A52. Easier when there isn't a hurricane blowing in your face. Come on Notts birders, wouldn't hurt to provide a bit more info on the website!

Hatfield moor

146. Great grey shrike

Very distant and took some time to show. Thought it was going to elude again but eventually popped up and then was around for a while but mobile.

08.03.2020

A short walk on the moors this afternoon.

Broomhead

147. Red grouse

15.03.2020

After several dips in Notts this year, a better result in Yorkshire.

York arboretum

148. Hawfinch
149. Woodcock

The latter an unexpected bonus.

Flamborough failed to produce Richards pipit in very blustery conditions so the remainder of the day was spent eeking out a few easier year ticks and connected with the rather elusive hooded crow around Flotmanby.

Flamborough

150. Razorbill
151. Kittiwake

Flotmanby

152. Hooded crow

Swillington ings

153. Knot

Fairburn

154. Black necked grebe

21.03.2020

Another attempt for the Richards pipit today. Once again, weather was far from ideal with an icy easterly not letting up all day.

Flamborough

155. Black redstart
156. Wheatear
157. Puffin
158. Rock pipit
159. Chiffchaff
160. Richard's pipit

Brief views only of the bird taking off and in flight, its ability to vanish into the grass is impressive.

North cave

161. Avocet

Was all that could be mustered here this afternoon.

Fairburn

162. Spoonbill

Already at roost and barely identifiable in dense cover.

28.03.2020

Haven't given up all hope of pursuing a year list despite limited travel options.

Linthwaite

163. Dipper

07.04.2020

Swillington

164. Willow warbler
165. Cettis warbler

15.04.2020

Swillington

166. Yellow wagtail
167. Reed warbler

Amazingly still no hirundines