Gill Osborne
Well-known member
My birding life has been a bit rubbish for the past three years or so as longer working hours and the allotment took up the vast majority of my time :-C This past year has been pretty stressful and I think it all just got to the point where I felt I was constantly trying to chase my tail. In late November things came to a head and I made a decision to take back my life!!! I've had a HUGE mental declutter, sorted out my work/life balance and for the first time in months I actually feel EXCITED and positive once more :t:
The one thing I'm DEFINITELY going to put before anything else is the thing that keeps me sane - being outdoors with Nature. My 2018 Year List total was the worst EVER (82!!!) so this year I'm on a mission to completely and utterly smash through the 200 barrier! I've been SO impatient to get stuck in so without further ado (as they say).....
Gilly's Utterly Awesome 2019 Year List :loveme:
I drew the short straw this year and was on newspaper duty so at work at 6am.
First bird of the year (and the same as last of 2018) was a Blackbird at 7.01am. I was standing at the entrance of the shop and he almost collided with my head as he zipped past just as I stepped out of the doorway to peer up the street!
Next birds were Rook and Herring Gull at 8am then a few more odds 'n' ends as it got light.
1: Blackbird
2: Rook
3: Herring Gull
4: Jackdaw
5: Woodpigeon
6: Starling
7: Collared Dove
I then went out at 9.20 to do a paper round and picked up a few more
8: Black-headed Gull
9: Carrion Crow
10: Magpie
Heard a few more 'smalls' like Robin & Dunnock, Blue Tit & Chaffinch but they're not going on the list until I get a visual.
Finished at 10am so now having a cuppa at my desk in front of the living room window so I can see owt flying past then we're off to the coast for a couple of hours.....I'd prefer more but Neil has a really bad bug so just a short walk and some lovely sea air it is.
11: Feral Pigeon
12: Sparrowhawk - soaring over Northumberland Street and being mobbed by a passing BLack-headed Gull
The one thing I'm DEFINITELY going to put before anything else is the thing that keeps me sane - being outdoors with Nature. My 2018 Year List total was the worst EVER (82!!!) so this year I'm on a mission to completely and utterly smash through the 200 barrier! I've been SO impatient to get stuck in so without further ado (as they say).....
Gilly's Utterly Awesome 2019 Year List :loveme:
I drew the short straw this year and was on newspaper duty so at work at 6am.
First bird of the year (and the same as last of 2018) was a Blackbird at 7.01am. I was standing at the entrance of the shop and he almost collided with my head as he zipped past just as I stepped out of the doorway to peer up the street!
Next birds were Rook and Herring Gull at 8am then a few more odds 'n' ends as it got light.
1: Blackbird
2: Rook
3: Herring Gull
4: Jackdaw
5: Woodpigeon
6: Starling
7: Collared Dove
I then went out at 9.20 to do a paper round and picked up a few more
8: Black-headed Gull
9: Carrion Crow
10: Magpie
Heard a few more 'smalls' like Robin & Dunnock, Blue Tit & Chaffinch but they're not going on the list until I get a visual.
Finished at 10am so now having a cuppa at my desk in front of the living room window so I can see owt flying past then we're off to the coast for a couple of hours.....I'd prefer more but Neil has a really bad bug so just a short walk and some lovely sea air it is.
11: Feral Pigeon
12: Sparrowhawk - soaring over Northumberland Street and being mobbed by a passing BLack-headed Gull