-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Garden (Yard) List 2012 (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter Larry Lade
- Start date
joannec
Well-known member
3 Little Egret and 2 Lesser Redpoll at 8am this morning puts me on 35...your in my sights H!....although probably not for long
Just to put my yearly garden list into perspective...Song Thrush this morning at 7.45am(first one for c6weeks!) puts me on 36....Half way through last years list of 73, already on the 6th day, with another 359 days to go!
In which part of London do you live Ken? I'm thinking maybe near the Leigh Valley or Barns? Great list you've got for a townie!
Two more for me today:
33)Grey Heron
34)Meadow Pipit
KenM
Well-known member
I live on the ridge that straddles Lee Valley to the West and the Roding Valley to the East (unsure of the elevation..c250-300' ?). For reporting purposes...I'm either SW Essex or NE London..depends how the mood takes me.
Added (flyover)..Cormorant today..39..and had this fellow in again..his third visit! in as many days..I don't quite understand the strategy? He flushes the birds from the feeders..and allows me to pick up the camera and shoot against the glass 8' away..before winging off!..Certainly giving it ''the large'' and or expressing a modicum of contempt for yours truly.Attachments
Jane Turner
Well-known member
Only managed a few minutes today -Meadow Pipit added (overhead)
43 from, 25/15 over/in
43 from, 25/15 over/in
Still on zero for all mine, haven't even ticked the actual garden yet
chowchilla
Well-known member
Dawn vigil produced results out the front:
27) White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike.
28) Spotted Turtle Dove.
29) Little Bronze Cuckoo.
Wandered out the back to look for our missing Brush Turkeys and got something better:
30) White-throated Honeyeater; several feeding in the top of a flowering palm.
Back out front and the heat was already getting up; sky-watching finally produced hundreds of Rainbow Bee Eaters and a host of other stuff already recorded for this year. My patience finally paid off however as at least ten 31) Fork-tailed Swift went over. Result! I knew there was quite an influx of them over Cairns and only time would see me eventually tick them off as a 'garden' (OK, Car Park) bird.
Over the road in the huge fig tree (wait till that fruits... ) and eventually the resident 32) Fairy Gerygone struck up for all of ten seconds. Not very impressive but it still counts. 33) Willy Wagtail also finally put in an appearance, which made me realise that even abundant species such as this can disappear for days on end.
I walked some way up the road to investigate what sounded like a Dusky Honeyeater calling from the forest, when I flushed two large birds which disappeared through the trees. They could only have been Nankeen Night Herons! That they appear to be roosting in my street is a revelation, but perhaps not too surprising seeing as Centenary Lakes is so close. Much to my annoyance however they were gone for good and so don't count on my garden list as I was at least 30 metres from the entrance drive. Damn! I'll be keeping an eye out for them however.
34) White-breasted Woodswallow was added as a flyover as I returned from the shops; another abundant species absent until now.
I've heard/seen Spectacled Monarch, Graceful Honeyeater, Brush Cuckoo and Emerald Dove only metres from home this year as well but can't count them yet either...
27) White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike.
28) Spotted Turtle Dove.
29) Little Bronze Cuckoo.
Wandered out the back to look for our missing Brush Turkeys and got something better:
30) White-throated Honeyeater; several feeding in the top of a flowering palm.
Back out front and the heat was already getting up; sky-watching finally produced hundreds of Rainbow Bee Eaters and a host of other stuff already recorded for this year. My patience finally paid off however as at least ten 31) Fork-tailed Swift went over. Result! I knew there was quite an influx of them over Cairns and only time would see me eventually tick them off as a 'garden' (OK, Car Park) bird.
Over the road in the huge fig tree (wait till that fruits...
) and eventually the resident 32) Fairy Gerygone struck up for all of ten seconds. Not very impressive but it still counts. 33) Willy Wagtail also finally put in an appearance, which made me realise that even abundant species such as this can disappear for days on end.I walked some way up the road to investigate what sounded like a Dusky Honeyeater calling from the forest, when I flushed two large birds which disappeared through the trees. They could only have been Nankeen Night Herons! That they appear to be roosting in my street is a revelation, but perhaps not too surprising seeing as Centenary Lakes is so close. Much to my annoyance however they were gone for good and so don't count on my garden list as I was at least 30 metres from the entrance drive. Damn! I'll be keeping an eye out for them however.
34) White-breasted Woodswallow was added as a flyover as I returned from the shops; another abundant species absent until now.
I've heard/seen Spectacled Monarch, Graceful Honeyeater, Brush Cuckoo and Emerald Dove only metres from home this year as well but can't count them yet either...
Last edited:
KenM
Well-known member
At last!...Greenfinch this morning puts me on the big 40 (just before ten!)...Just Heron, Wren, and Mallard would get the regulars out the way...then everything else will be a bonus.....
joannec
Well-known member
Ah......thought it must be somewhere with good habitat nearby. (Sorry for misspelling Lee Valley.)
Two more for me today:
35) Lapwing, distant in flight.
36)Raven
KenM
Well-known member
Either of those would do me nicely, last one would be a garden tick!...(I've only had Lapwing ''flyovers'' quite high..during sky watching periods, thrice if memory serves). Essentially It's Epping Forest that covers ''the ridge'' running from Wanstead in the South to Epping in the North..perhaps 6-7miles in length, primarily mature deciduous woodland/scrub and common land (6000acres approx.). The downside now is...that we have lost a lot of species over the last fifty+ years, by far outweighing the few gains..apart from the BOP's.
Jane Turner
Well-known member
I added Bar-tailed Godwit, Grey PLover and Ringed Plover on this morning's tide
46/25/15
46/25/15
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Dusk until dark revealed three Song thrushes - never seen during the day! Long after the Redwings had come in and the Linnets had long-since settled.
Vigil of largely empty (except for much drizzle of late) skies produced a pair of flyover
46 : Greylag geese.
But, hell, I wish I were in Cairns, Chowie, especially when the figs start fruiting!
Vigil of largely empty (except for much drizzle of late) skies produced a pair of flyover
46 : Greylag geese.
But, hell, I wish I were in Cairns, Chowie, especially when the figs start fruiting!
chowchilla
Well-known member
You're still way ahead of me H!
The fruiting fig promises to bring in Superb, Rose-crowned and Wompoo Fruit Doves and maybe other species...
Speaking of Doves.... another dawn vigil in the Car Park (I ought to bring a chair out and sit there with my bins which would look even weirder...) an 35) Emerald Dove wooped from the forest. I examined the Nankeen Night Heron 'roost' tree (if that's what it is/was) to no avail....
I continued on to Centenary Lakes to look for the reported Great-billed Heron and had excellent views of it fishing in Saltwater Creek. Oh to get this rare heron as a flyover a mere 500 metres away...
Had no less than 18 species not yet on my year list including a Red-necked Crake seen from the boardwalk, which decided to hide under it on my approach! Also flushed another Emerald Dove nearer to home (the one I heard earlier?)
As I got back, I happened to look up the road and spotted a distant flying Egret heading north, which best fit would be a 36)Little Egret. Finally, a flyover water bird! To really get most potential wetland species flyovers, I may have to wait until August/September as the interior dries out and birds congregate at the Lakes.
37) Channel-billed Cuckoo 'rawking' from the forest as I sat in my study (loud enough to be heard over the fans/aircon) completes my list so far for today.
I did scan the sky at about noon for BOPs as there are several potential species to tick off but no luck as yet. Still no sign of any Hirundines yet either...
Last edited:
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Woken this morning by three Tawny owls - a female first, then two males singing their wonderful songs from the nearest trees to my bedroom. I went out and managed to see the nearest and they continued to compete in song for some time.
Though I stayed out till dawn no further new species made a sound.
The field across the road has aquired a flock of sheep overnight- which should improve the potential there as the grass gets shorter. (Maybe a Wheatear in March?!)
47 : Tawny owl.
Though I stayed out till dawn no further new species made a sound.
The field across the road has aquired a flock of sheep overnight- which should improve the potential there as the grass gets shorter. (Maybe a Wheatear in March?!)
47 : Tawny owl.
KenM
Well-known member
Wren this morning no.43...Believe it's going to be somewhat attritional from here on in!
Think I'd better start looking to the skies...if only for inspiration.
Loadza Redwings moving South and then later North, two snippets...first yesterday witnessed (1st time ever) a Song Thrush ''driving'' off and pursuing a Blackbird aggressively from an adjoining hedge through the next garden and across the next..didn't realise they had the balls?
Secondly...observed a not so nomadic ''site faithful'' Redwing bathing in the garden pond this morning..has been present since 9th December..has a single white starboard outer tail margin!
Think I'd better start looking to the skies...if only for inspiration.
Loadza Redwings moving South and then later North, two snippets...first yesterday witnessed (1st time ever) a Song Thrush ''driving'' off and pursuing a Blackbird aggressively from an adjoining hedge through the next garden and across the next..didn't realise they had the balls?
Secondly...observed a not so nomadic ''site faithful'' Redwing bathing in the garden pond this morning..has been present since 9th December..has a single white starboard outer tail margin!
Jane Turner
Well-known member
Wigeon, Teal, Long-tailed Duck, & Black-necked grebe - 2nd ever added today (as well as what looked to be Whooper Swans - though I couldn't rule out Mute as they flew behind the Isle of Man Ferry)
I saw a Glaucous Gull at Meols,but I couldn't re-find it in the 10k Gulls in front of the house. I also spent a time thinking that the BN Grebe was a Little Grebe (which like Glauc would have been 200 for the garden)
50/25/15
I saw a Glaucous Gull at Meols,but I couldn't re-find it in the 10k Gulls in front of the house. I also spent a time thinking that the BN Grebe was a Little Grebe (which like Glauc would have been 200 for the garden)
50/25/15
Attachments
joannec
Well-known member
37) Nuthatch on the peanut feeder.
38) Pied Wagtail
But the biggest excitement is the Ravens; I see them nearly every day. A few years ago they were pretty scarce around here. Last year I suspected there was a breeding attempt in the nearby woods by an immature pair. Hopefully they will be successful this year.
38) Pied Wagtail
But the biggest excitement is the Ravens; I see them nearly every day. A few years ago they were pretty scarce around here. Last year I suspected there was a breeding attempt in the nearby woods by an immature pair. Hopefully they will be successful this year.
Last edited:
halftwo
Wird Batcher
Wow! Only a matter of time for a Glauc, Jane.
