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My best Garden tick yet (1 Viewer)

clydeboy

Well-known member
I don't know if I can really describe myself as a "new birder" after a year, although the amount of birds I have "ticked" would make me seem to be.
Most of the birds I have seen (76 in total, 73 of which I have decent photographs of) have been either in the garden or at Broadwood loch where I work, therefore as I don't get out and about much new sightings are fairly few and far between.
So, onto the thread title.
I was sitting at my back door today taking the usual robin in the snow pics, and to be honest I was hoping that maybe a Brambling would appear among the regular chaffies which frequent the garden on a daily basis, this of course would have made my day.;)
While I was snapping away a female Reed Bunting, or Mrs Tashy as my son calls her, appeared and hung about for a while, pleasing me greatly.
Reed Buntings are now familiar visitors at this time of the year but I still get a little excited when they do come in. (which also proves that I'm still a "new" birder.:t:)
While trying to catch a Robin in a xmas biscuit tin pose something "parachuted" down behind a bush out of the corner of my eye.
I thought to myself, "what was that?" but convinced myself that it was probably a starling or a female blackie.
You can imagaine my joy when after about 5 mins the chap in the pics wandered out from behind the aforementioned bush and plopped around in the snow.
He was there for about 10 minutes allowing me to take a load of good shots, and even allowed me to test different camera settings to make sure I got a decent pic.
The orangey bits on his tail made him easy for me to identify using my books after he had left, not to mention his hugely long bill.
I could actually feel my heart speeding up when he appeared, such was the excitement :-O.
Even my daughter was impressed when I showed her my pics, at first when I said "who wants to see my latest garden "jurdie" I was met with the usual, "oh here we go again" only for it to change to "Jeez, what the hell is that?"
So Although this Snipe is common by name, it certainly is not common in my garden, and doesn't normally pose for photographs (according to my books), which has left me with a warm excited feeling all day, and a desperate desire to tell everyone about it.

Who said garden birding is boring.........certainly not me. :-O:t:

Ian
 

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Oooer Ian... I don't think many people could claim a Snipe in their garden, no wonder you're so pleased:t:

And I see nothing wrong with still getting excited by seeing a Reed Bunting there either, I'd be thrilled too.

D
 
Wowzer Clyde!!!!

You wont believe this but I had a Snipe fly through the garden a few months ago (here in East Cheshire), it look dis orientated so must have been disturbed or chased. However yours looks decidedly comfortable..... Bloody brillant mate!

By chance I had a female Reed Bunting visit the garden this morning for another garden tick... Spooky

Very Very well done
 
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Reed Buntings are now familiar visitors at this time of the year but I still get a little excited when they do come in. (which also proves that I'm still a "new" birder.:t:)

Who said garden birding is boring.........certainly not me. :-O:t:

Ian

Real birders appreciate the common birds.. it's not just about ticking the new ones... it's getting to know the familiar that counts!
 
What a superb Christmas present! :t: Those moments, when birds suddenly 'come to you', are truly magical. I bet you've had a smile on your face ever since.
Really pleased for you :-O
Hobbes
 
I'm sure many birders have Snipe on their garden list as a flyover, but to have one on the deck is excellent.
One of my favourites too. Nice one!
 
That's superb - lovely photos too! I've seen one for the first time this weekend myself actually, near the river close to my house, but just very distant views... nothing like this!

Seeing 76 species is pretty good going for a year if you're just doing local watching, I think I'm probably up to something like 80 local birds in about a year and a half of doing much the same. Would love to see one of the local Reed Buntings in my garden, beautiful little birds... one of the wintering Stonechats or Meadow Pipits would be most welcome too! :-O
 
Very nice Ian. I have a garden list of nearly a hundred but no snipe......or reed bunting come to think of it. Good on you!
 
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It's the next day now and I'm still buzzing..:-O
I've started to sort through the rest of my pics and every time I move on to a new one I think "yeeessss".
Quercus you are 100% right, my favourite bird is still the coal tit, I could watch them all day, and even my aggresive robin doesn't stop them going about their business, brilliant wee birds.
Dave I've stuck on a couple of Reedy pics that I took on saturday, just to show off..lol
there were three of them in, on and off all day and It's got now that I don't always dive for the camera every time a Reed Bunting comes in as they are almost daily visitors at this time of the year, although on saturday "Mrs Tashy" was doing her best to stay incognito....:-O


Thanks for all your comments, it's amazing how a new bird gives you a new lease of life.
Ian
 

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You are so lucky having Reedies in your garden Ian, they are brilliant little birds. I really love watching them along the river here and seeing these pics is great.

Coal Tits are lovely too, although I've only ever seen two! I've got a real thing for Stonechats at the moment as I've been watching them down by my local river... like Robins but a bit different. |:D|
 
You are so lucky having Reedies in your garden Ian, they are brilliant little birds. I really love watching them along the river here and seeing these pics is great.

Coal Tits are lovely too, although I've only ever seen two! I've got a real thing for Stonechats at the moment as I've been watching them down by my local river... like Robins but a bit different. |:D|

No wonder Paul
Stonechats are excellent, we have a few down at work but they are very wary and only let you you get so close then move away.
They always seem to keep the same distance...wee buggers.
I did see a family a couple of months back while out and about and they all sat in the car headlights for a while to let me take some good pics.....my son was well impressed by them, and no wonder, lovely wee "chubsters" as he called them...lol

Ian
 

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Ooh, have never looked at pics of a baby one in the books, he looks rather frosty!

The ones here seem ok when you're on the other side of the river, since that's probably around 30-40 feet wide - they'll happily pose and feed on the far bank. I did see one at the local farm and he flew down to sit on top of a bush just seven or eight paces away from me for a few moments, which was amazing. This is a shot of one male I saw yesterday along the river, the best photo by far I've managed of a Stonechat!
 

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Top shot mate.
They are very cool wee birds, I found the ones at work completely by accident when I was stalking a Heron, and it made it all the better.:t:
The young are right scruffy wee Herberts. :-O

Ian
 
\hello - great photos - I had come in here today to share what amazing bird popped in to my garden feeders this morning and found this thread- fantastic! | know how excited you feel, as \I had the pleasure of a Pileated woodpecker at my feeder, and \I happened to see it pretty much by chance. Just walked in to the kitchen and looked out the window, to see it flapping around the feeders - I stood there, stunned - it was gone in about 5 seconds. I know they are in the area, but I have never seen one before in my life. By the time I grabbed my camera and turned it on, of course, it was gone. What an amazing sight for me. He was huge, with strong red and black markings, and long beak and red crest - amazing! I must keep an eye out for him again - hopefully he will visit a few more times this winter.
 
Thanks Ian and Susan. Oh yes, there's nothing like that excitement when you see a really nice bird. I can imagine only too well how you felt Susan, when I had a Sparrowhawk in the garden that hung around long enough for me to dash indoors to get my camera I was almost bursting with it and trying to hold the camera still was so difficult as I was really shaking! :-O
 
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