Enjoy living in a place with a low bird density? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Chapman]

I have had three patches.

The first was my local walk from my parental home in an urban environment in Harlow (Metropolitan Essex) with low biodiversity but back then wasteground could yield breeding Grey Partridges and Skylarks and wintering Snipes as well as the occasional Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

My next patch was Amwell Gravel Pits in the Lea Valley on the Essex/Hertfordshire border being 15 mins from my home in Essex. I never watched Amwell religiously because my birding had become more mobile but this was a significant step up with personal highlights being Temminck's Stint, Wryneck and Purple Heron. i found nothing of note.

My current patch is coastal on the Bristol Channel at Clevedon and Portishead still in a relatively impoverished part of the country. I saw a Black-winged Pratincole here before it was my patch & finds have included Kentish Plover, Wryneck, Sabine's Gull and Glossy Ibis. I have seen Franklin's Gull, Spotted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Caspian Tern, Rose-coloured Starling and Dusky Warbler amongst a patch list in excess of 230. Whilst working, I watched it religiously save when dragged away by lifers and short trips abroad. I now watch it as much now I am retired but also do more birding away from the patch.

I am happy to stay here and bird it for as long as I can despite deteriorating habitat and access and failures by the local conservation bodies and local authorities but I would rather headbut a brick wall repeatedly than move back to an area of lower biodiversity. I could achieve an annual yearlist on foot from home around 140 with a fair wind and determination and a maximum of 150. Inland in Avon, around a 100 away from the reservoirs seems a good patch score.

An idea of relative diversity can be seen in the attached images from a recent BB article.

There is one world birder and twitcher I know that produces find after find in Hertfordshire and another notable similar birder produced find after find around Slough. Astonishingly perseverance and dedication far beyond my levels of skill or motivation.

Just a personal perspective.

All the best

Paul

 

[Mysticete]

So I did my Master's in San Diego, which by far is one of the single birdiest cities in the USA, only beat I think by Corpus Christi. Within an hour drive you had rocky and beach shoreline, estuarine marshes, freshwater lakes, chaparral, oak woodland, mountain coniferous forests, grasslands, and desert. It existed at the junction of the "southwestern" bird avifauna as well as the Pacific coast fauna. Add to being right one the Pacific flyway, and birding opportunities were incredible. I can't even list all of the rare birds I saw in three years living there, including vagrants from Mexico and the Old World

I then moved to Laramie, Wyoming, which is the anti-San Diego. Yes, we had some cool birds locally...American Dippers, Canada Jays, lekking Greater Sage Grouse. but the high elevation meant that birds seems to almost navigate AROUND the area, and the long brutal winters were just...too much. It was fine for a few years, but by the end I was more than happy to leave

I feel like Wisconsin isn't too bad. We are not the rarity magnet to the extent that places like San Diego are, but there is a good diversity of habitat and we are right on the Central flyway. Some really good spots locally. Winter is still a pain, but the diversity is higher, and includes stuff like Snow Buntings and Snowy Owls. And at any rate I usually just focus on fish keeping at this time of year, which keeps the tedium at bay.

At any rate I'd say truly low diversity spots kind of become boring fast, but diversity is on a continuum and there are other factors for an enjoyable birding experience.

 

[William Lewis]

“Cope” as a noun seems to be a recent neologism amongst those ‘down with the kids’, I’ve frequently seen it used, as ‘copium’ (cf. opium) of Russian attempts to polish the turd that is the performance of their armed forces.

As a more-or-less retired Bedfordshire birder my sympathies are with William (you could have a life sentence there, lad), and I find myself in full agreement with Richard and Ken.

Dave Ball
Bedfordshire finds include: Wilson’s and Grey Phalaropes, American Golden Plover*, Ferruginous Duck, Ring-necked Duck, Great, Arctic* and Long-tailed* Skuas, Eider*, Velvet Scoter, Red Kite (pre-reintroduction), Gannet, Temminck’s Stint, Monty’s Harrier, and probably a few more I’ve forgotten and several I missed/cocked up/didn’t get accepted (Bee Eater grrr, Black Kite grrr)
*Firsts for county. Doubtless soon to be outstripped by Steve Blain 😡

Hi Dave.

My local spots are round stotfold/radwell. Cycle spots are up at the old quarries round biggleswade. Any local suggestions? Also where on earth did you find those county firsts!?

Will

 

[01101001]

For five years I lived in Warsaw. At first I was not thinking much about it as the birds there are in principle quite similar to those in the Czech Republic, there are a few specialties, but not a long list. The landscape doesn't look particularly exotic, just some meadows, rivers, forests, quite a lot of habitation around the city. Of course, having Biebrza not that far seemed to be nice, but even there the list of what can be seen got quickly exhausted.
And then I slowly begun realizing the difference. There were birds (and mammals, and later amphibians, and then insects ...) everywhere. There was so much random wild habitat, so much room. And while the species were not groundbreaking (except for the fantastic twitching opportunities), there was just this constant onslaught of nature.

Then I moved back to Prague and now I see the stark contrast. Here, the landscape is utterly devastated by intensive agriculture and development. Such a little area gets left to nature - and even that which does is lifeless compared to NE Poland. On the map - and on the surface - the countries are so similar, but the reality can't be more different. Now I am suffering the life back here and missing my Warsaw living deeply. Yes, I cope with that by traveling near and far, including Poland, but it's simply a big difference to having all the nature at my doorstep.

Upon consideration, I think I haven't valued Warsaw enough because I just got used to it. Which district did you live in during your stay? I'm based in Białołęka, and I've seen a hare (long ago) & heard of two sightings of elks, and last year I observed a beaver in a culverted ditch between a supermarket by a busy expressway and some housing estates. I wonder whether any important flyway passes through Warsaw, as some skeins of geese fly to the north, while others fly to the east, and there are quite a few of them overall (for example, two of them this evening and one above my home just a while ago--I wouldn't be surprised if their numbers for today went into the thousands).

 

[jurek]

Vistula and Narew are two big flyways in the Warsaw area.

 

[opisska]

I lived briefly in Targówek and then 4 years in Wawer, close to the Szybka station. I would literally bike for a couple of minutes to enter Mazowiecky Park Krajobrazowy and then get lost in the woods, with wetlands with plenty of amphibians, or bike the other way to the banks of Wisla to watch birds on the sandy banks. There was a beaver family in a roadside ditch a few minutes walk from our house. In winter, moose were easy to see in the military areas just a little north of us - I am still not sure what the rules for entering are, but I never had any issues. On the other side of the river, just next to the busy Siekerki bridge there are some oxbow lakes hosting Little Bittern and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Several Greenish Warblers could be found in parks during summer, Red-breasted Flycatcher sung in the woods by the river and one year there was a Blyth's Reed Warbler regularly seen in a green area still within the city. Close to our place was also Zakole Wavierskie, a beautiful undeveloped green area with corncrake and many other birds, but I have heard this may fall victim to housing soon.

 

[jurek]

From the time I lived in Warsaw, best places were Zegrzynski reservoir and Pomiechówek on Narew, and Vistula from the Warsaw-Kabaty south. Plus the city rubbish dump and Kampinoski forest. However, Warsaw was really, really poor place for any rarities. And became poor in any birds in winter, once it snowed and most waters froze over.

Skeins of migrating geese in Warsaw tended to fly illogically north in autumn and south in spring. It was because geese in Central Europe migrate mostly east-west, and were further diverted to follow bends of Vistula.

 

[Himalaya]

I live in an inland area of a coastal county but on average make 1 trip away from my patch a month. There have only been 2 accepted BBRC level species from my patch in 25 years and some not submitted claims such as Black Eared Wheatear. That was seen by 1 observer. A mixture of poor level habitats gives some diversity. I add a few new species each year to my patch list....i am probably on just over 150.

 

[edmondpogi]

There are people who may prefer living in a place with low bird density, perhaps because they find the noise and mess associated with birds unpleasant. Additionally, some people may have allergies or health conditions that make it difficult for them to be around birds.

On the other hand, bird enthusiasts and birdwatchers may find living in a place with low bird density unsatisfying, as they miss out on the opportunity to observe a diverse range of bird species. For them, living in a location with high bird density may be more fulfilling and exciting.

However, it's also true that living in a migration hotspot may lead to a decrease in excitement over time, as it becomes more commonplace to see rare birds. This phenomenon is known as "the rarity trap," where birdwatchers may become less interested in common birds and more fixated on rare or exotic species.

 

[THE_FERN]

Alas I live in a low density place but not by choice. Once upon a time, not many years ago it was higher density... During my time in London I've watched as various things have contracted to the outer limits. Now even the skylarks are nearly gone from Wanstead.

I wish there was some sensible "duty of biodiversity maintenance" placed on local authorities so that at least their open spaces were enhanced for wildlife. Alas, as a birder I'm very much a minority user of my local parks (no dog, jog, or sprog) so my view doesn't carry much weight.

To the person who started the thread with not many birds in Oxford, I say "turn to butterflies instead..."

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Alas I live in a low density place but not by choice. Once upon a time, not many years ago it was higher density... During my time in London I've watched as various things have contracted to the outer limits. Now even the skylarks are nearly gone from Wanstead.

I wish there was some sensible "duty of biodiversity maintenance" placed on local authorities so that at least their open spaces were enhanced for wildlife. Alas, as a birder I'm very much a minority user of my local parks (no dog, jog, or sprog) so my view doesn't carry much weight.

To the person who started the thread with not many birds in Oxford, I say "turn to butterflies instead..."

Turning to other stuff helps. My patch is relatively low diversity for birds, but that makes all sorts of nationally common birds very exciting finds! It's pretty good for dragonflies and butterflies though, which helps in the warmer months. Lately I've got obsessed with ladybirds and found it to be really exciting looking for them (and finding a surprising variety of species).

 

[THE_FERN]

Turning to other stuff helps. My patch is relatively low diversity for birds, but that makes all sorts of nationally common birds very exciting finds! It's pretty good for dragonflies and butterflies though, which helps in the warmer months. Lately I've got obsessed with ladybirds and found it to be really exciting looking for them (and finding a surprising variety of species).

Well, we do have Harmonia axyridis...

But also rose chafers which I guess you might not

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Well, we do have Harmonia axyridis...

But also rose chafers which I guess you might not

We do get Rose Chafers. But with regards to ladybirds, you'd be shocked how many you'd find if you looked, even if you live on a housing estate. On my patch I'd pretty much only notice H. axyridis until I started looking last year. Since then I've found 27 species.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

The main problem with having a low-diversity patch, is the risk of falling foul of the insidious effect of Duffer's Law.

Duffer's Law (aka Duffer's Law of Diminishing Concentration) states: "Ability to maintain the level of alertness required to optimise likelihood of noticing a notable bird is inversely proportional to the length of time since you last noted one." It is quantifiable and measured in units of tixels, where 1 Megatixel is the level of alertness birders operate on whilst birding a coastal migration hotspot shortly after they've spotted something notable, and 1 tixel is the level a birder on a duff local patch operates on who has found sod all for ages and is spacing off due to the effect of Duffer's Law.

 

[earlytorise]

To the person who started the thread with not many birds in Oxford, I say "turn to butterflies instead..."

I have done just that! And insects have provided me with a great many lifers.

 

[THE_FERN]

I have done just that! And insects have provided me with a great many lifers.

Good stuff. Dunno if still present but once upon a time you could find brown, black, purple and white letter hairstreak within or very near the city, plus purple emperor, wood white and white admiral

 

[aeshna5]

Good stuff. Dunno if still present but once upon a time you could find brown, black, purple and white letter hairstreak within or very near the city, plus purple emperor, wood white and white admiral

With the exception of Wood White all of these are possible in the London Natural History Society recording area.

 

[Elkhornsun]

I have a little of an acre of oak woodland at my house and starting 25 years ago I started adding native shrubs to improve the area for birds. Most natives plants are very slow growing or easily decimated by deer. But I now have had more than 58 bird species in my yard and at daybreak the chorus birds' songs begins and I find it delightful. In the surrounding area the homes have yards that are bird deserts with mowed lawns and ornamental flowers and no native trees.

Nothing beats being able to make a cup of coffee in the morning and then go outside and watch a dozen bird species and listening to their calls. No need to get in the car and drive for miles and then hope to find something. When traveling overseas on bird photography trips my wife and I enjoy sitting outdoors and watching the various bird species in each area. Being able to do the same at our house is a very special experience.

I do have to deal with the free roaming cats from time to time but there are remedies to deal with that problem.

 

[THE_FERN]

With the exception of Wood White all of these are possible in the London Natural History Society recording area.

Yes but over a larger area. Most if not all are within the (much smaller) Oxford city limits. I think wood white is generally quite scarce now..?

 

[aeshna5]

Yes but over a larger area. Most if not all are within the (much smaller) Oxford city limits. I think wood white is generally quite scarce now..?

Yes I think Wood White is pretty scarce though I believe doing well in its Surrey stronghold at Chiddingfold.

With the exception of this & Black Hairstreak I can see all the others within a 5 mile radius of home. A few years ago I would never have thought of seeing Brown Hairstreak near home but is now recorded in several sites near me.