Paul_Gower
Well-known member
Not sure if this should be here or in the Lists forum, but I would be interested in people's thoughts. Having not been much for keeping lists in the past, I decided recently to produce a garden list. This raises some interesting questions! For one thing, my "garden" is about 3 acres, some quite normal garden, other bits of copse and scrub - mixed deciduous trees, thorn, bramble, bracken etc. It is bordered by pasture land, with a stream 100 yds away, and woodland and common beyond.
Most of the birds on my list are "window ticks" but a few are not - the pheasant and the fieldfare in the orchard can't quite be seen from the kitchen window for example, and I haven't seen a chiff chaff or a goldcrest from the window althogh they are certainly to be found close to the house. And what about birds that fly over regularly but don't actually visit, like ravens, curlew, or gulls? Or swifts, which fly busily around in our "airspace" but don't nest here? I can count shell duck as a window tick because they graze on the hillside opposite, but they are not a garden bird! At night I can here lapwing in a nearby field and have seen them overhead - can I count them?
Does any of this matter?
Best wishes,
Paul
Most of the birds on my list are "window ticks" but a few are not - the pheasant and the fieldfare in the orchard can't quite be seen from the kitchen window for example, and I haven't seen a chiff chaff or a goldcrest from the window althogh they are certainly to be found close to the house. And what about birds that fly over regularly but don't actually visit, like ravens, curlew, or gulls? Or swifts, which fly busily around in our "airspace" but don't nest here? I can count shell duck as a window tick because they graze on the hillside opposite, but they are not a garden bird! At night I can here lapwing in a nearby field and have seen them overhead - can I count them?
Does any of this matter?
Best wishes,
Paul