Best BoP garden list (1 Viewer)

[connorco]

I never really bird my yard mid-day when raptors are out so I'm missing a few species which I should have (Rough-legged Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Short-eared Owl).

1. Turkey Vulture
2. Black Vulture (Probably the rarest bird I have from my yard, CBRC review species)
3. Osprey
4. White-tailed Kite
5. Golden Eagle
6. Northern Harrier
7. Sharp-shinned Hawk
8. Cooper's Hawk
9. Bald Eagle
10. Red-shouldered Hawk
11. Red-tailed Hawk
12. Ferruginous Hawk
13. American Kestrel
14. Merlin
15. Peregrine Falcon
16. Great Horned Owl
17. Western Screech-owl
18. Spotted Owl
19. Northern Saw-whet Owl
20. Barn Owl

 

[Farnboro John]

From central Farnborough, mid-terrace:

Merlin 3 records, all autumn flyovers
Kestrel annual in September, dispersal/migration, never at other times
Hobby Summer local summering birds
Peregrine year-round resident now
Black Kite one record over North in May, years ago: British tick for Maz and my brother Dave (neither of whom cared)
Red Kite common daily sight, six together this morning not unusual
Buzzard Daily when I take the trouble to look
Honey Buzzard two records, one June, one September
Sparrowhawk local resident

Tawny Owl Regular in autumn/early winter, occasional years throughout
Barn Owl two records, presumed dispersing juveniles in late summer

So eleven total, from a garden list of 104.

Worst misses Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier and Osprey, all of which pass over nearby annually. Goshawk ought to be occasional these days. I probably don't spend enough time in the back garden.

Edit: added a few notes about circumstances

John

 

[dwatsonbirder]

My best was from our little cottage on the edge of the Mendips in Somerset, but not so impressive against others listed here. We were only there for 18 months to be fair though!

1) Kestrel - regular
2) Peregrine - regular
3) Hobby - annual, high count of 7 together
4) Red Kite - notable passage in spring, but then quite scarce the rest of the year
5) Sparrowhawk - occasional
6) Goshawk - single record
7) Common Buzzard - regular
8) Honey Buzzard - single record
9) Osprey - 4 or 5 records, including one carrying a fish!
10) Marsh harrier - two records

11) Tawny owl - regular
12) Barn owl - occasional

A satellite tagged White-tailed eagle went over the house according to the Roy Dennis project, but at such a stratospheric height I doubt I'd have been able to pick it up. Interesting to wonder whether the 2011 Pallid harrier could've been visible at any point, or what the flight line of the 2000 Booted eagle would have been between the levels/W-S-M/CVL/Cheddar Gorge... The latter being clearly visible from our garden.

Our current garden list stands at eight, but I can now watch displaying Goshawk from the home office, so not a bad compromise!

 

[edenwatcher]

Previous garden had:
honey buzzard
common buzzard
marsh harrier
hen harrier
sparrowhawk
osprey
(white-tailed eagle - east coast reintro)
peregrine
merlin
kestrel

long-eared owl
short-eared owl
tawny owl

satellite tagged golden eagle would apparently have been visible and we could have had goshawk/barn owl

Current garden more limited

buzzard, sparrowhawk, peregrine, kestrel, tawny owl.

Goshawk (probably seen, display just over the hill), red kite (would have been seen had I been at home!) and osprey (now nesting within walking dstance of home) should all be on the list as should barn owl. LEO rumoured to occur also.

Rob

 

[lgonz1008]

No reserves or big wild areas where I live, just a Florida condominium with few native trees and a water retention pond who's only waterfowl is Muscovy Duck and Egyptian Goose...

But I've had a decent raptor list over the years out of 109 reported species:

1. Black Vulture (used to be a daily guarantee year-round, now maybe 3 times a week)
2. Turkey Vulture (daily bird from fall to spring, sightings in summer are uncommon to rare)
3. Osprey (daily bird from fall to spring, sightings in summer are uncommon to rare)
4. Swallow-tailed Kite (one time during spring migration [March])
5. Northern Harrier (one time during spring migration [March])
6. Sharp-shinned Hawk (uncommon winter resident and migrant, but most often seen in spring migration [March])
7. Cooper's Hawk (uncommon year-round resident, but easier to see in May and September when the fledglings are still learning to hunt and think an open roof is a good spot to hunt from)
8. Bald Eagle (one time during fall migration [October])
9. Red-shouldered Hawk (rare year-round resident mostly due to the lack of a decent park nearby)
10. Short-tailed Hawk (twice last year in winter [December], but never before or after)
11. Red-tailed Hawk (one time during fall migration [October])
12. Barn Owl (one time during spring migration [February])
13. American Kestrel (uncommon winter resident)
14. Merlin (rare fall migrant [October])
15. Peregrine Falcon (one time during fall migration [September])

Not the highest by any means and the lack of proper habitat for owls reflects well that even Eastern Screech-Owl is not listed, but overall, pretty proud of what I've had over the years.

 

[Jon Turner]

No Hobby or Red-foot?

Definitely not Red-foot, but I'd have to look through the records to see if I may have seen a Hobby.... However, Seeing Dantheman's list, I'm almost certain I have recorded an Osprey...

 

[Jane Turner]

1. Sparrowhawk passage migrant, recent resident
2. Honey Buzzard vagrant
3. Common Buzzard rare, but breeds nearby
4. Kestrel scarce passage migrant
5. Merlin regular passage migrant
6. Peregrine almost daily
7. Hobby vagrant
8. Osprey 1-3 every year
9. Red Kite vagrant
10.Marsh Harrier increasing
11. Hen Harrier vagrant
11. Little Owl vagrant
12. Tawny Owl vagrant
13. Short-eared Owl regular passage migrant



Pallid Harrier (Almost certain) see photo - no bins, not possible to quite rule out hybrid
Montagu's Harrier (almost certain) one record