Garden/Yard List 2018. (6 Viewers)

[Simon Wates]

55 Little Gull - an adult flew SW low overhead

That's on my potential list - was hoping for one with the Kittiwakes passing recently, mind you I'm only 250m inland!

 

[halftwo]

Several Fieldfare - one looking moribund in the t
road - desperately searching for food - and yet they will not come down to the food on both my gardens.
Four were sitting six feet away in a bush in sight of the food but wouldn't budge. They were squabbling over a few cotoneaster berries against next door's house.
In the back there is oats, raisins, nuts, pears and seeds - but almost nothing is coming for it.
50 yards away a neighbour has a variety of birds in good numbers!
I can't figure it out.

 

[KenM]

Several Fieldfare - one looking moribund in the t
road - desperately searching for food - and yet they will not come down to the food on both my gardens.
Four were sitting six feet away in a bush in sight of the food but wouldn't budge. They were squabbling over a few cotoneaster berries against next door's house.
In the back there is oats, raisins, nuts, pears and seeds - but almost nothing is coming for it.
50 yards away a neighbour has a variety of birds in good numbers!
I can't figure it out.

Normally I don't get Fieldfare in the grdn. however this am a triple Whammy! after a long period of nowt! With the Fieldfare having returned from yesterday (I thought that it might, as it stayed for 8 hours ystrdy!)

 

[halftwo]

Nice one, Ken. 2 Ffs actually went to the food. Not sure if either fed!

 

[Paul Chapman]

Eight additions in the last two days bring me to 37 - of which 30 photographed:-
30 Redwing Garden GB-ENG 01 Mar 2018
31 Northern Lapwing Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018
32 Common Snipe Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018
33 Eurasian Wren Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018
34 Gray Wagtail Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018
35 Meadow Pipit Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018
36 Common Chaffinch Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018
37 Green-winged Teal Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018

The non-photographed remain Cormorant, Common Gull, Jackdaw & Long-tailed Tit plus Lapwing, Grey Wagtail & Chaffinch from these additions. Missed a few chances at a couple of those. I find it difficult to give the garden long preferring to go for a quick potter so today I forced myself to try for an hour or so from the house!

All the best

Paul

 

[KenM]

Nice one, Ken. 2 Ffs actually went to the food. Not sure if either fed!

If the temps. stay low H!...things might become conducive for your Fieldfares to hang around. Today...yesterday's bird was on the apples at 6.15am where it remained until 5pm, apart from being spooked by the Sprawk (twice), and by me at day end, when I put out more apples.

Best of luck tomorrow. :t:

 

[Simon Wates]

This winter there's been a few Fieldfares in the Algarve - but not in the garden. It would be like getting a GG Shrike or something in one's garden in the UK for us here!

One new today, sorely missing.

41. White Wagtail

 

[Nutcracker]

37 Green-winged Teal Garden GB-ENG 02 Mar 2018

Really?? :eek!:

 

[Paul Chapman]

Really?? :eek!:

It is a one man crusade isn't it! I must get round to changing my ebird settings. Too lazy to edit the list. It was indeed Anas crecca crecca rather than Anas crecca carolinensis though I have found one drake of the latter on my patch previously.

Other taxonomies are available....

Lapwing onto the photo list this morning so 31/37. Now for a potter.

All the best

 

[halftwo]

Success today with 2 or 3 Fieldfares and a Redwing, as well as the usual Blackbirds feeding on the apple I put out.
Also a Goldcrest in the garden.

 

[KenM]

Awoke to my 3rd day Fieldfare this am, briefly joined by circa another dozen, exchanged a few "chacks"....and off they went leaving him to it!

 

[Jos Stratford]

Really?? :eek!:

If you were truly confused, rather than simply raising a point, you could always have checked the photo of the individual that Paul posted alongside.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Kestrel added this afternoon as number 38 so 31/38 now.

I spent a bit of time this afternoon on the garden birds. I fear my local Woodpigeon may become flightless if it eats all the grain. One dominant Fieldfare is hogging the apples.

All the best

Paul

 

[Nutcracker]

One dominant Fieldfare is hogging the apples.

Split them up and spread them out! It can't guard them all if they're spread over several metres :-O

 

[Paul Chapman]

Split them up and spread them out! It can't guard them all if they're spread over several metres :-O

I tried throwing them around but when the first four sunk 18 inches into the snow, I ended up clearing a patch of ground! I'll clear a bigger patch tomorrow. 3

 

[Richard Prior]

Huh, Paul, your problem is SSS (soft Somerset snow), the snow here is the real tough stuff, if I throw an apple outside it'll bounce halfway to the village.:t: No Fieldfares ever come into our garden anyway, but the French Blackbirds only appreciate haute cuisine so I'm obliged to cut up apples into mini-pieces for them, perhaps I'm spoiling them but spreading the bits about cuts down on energy-wasting fights on their part.
The return of the snow on Friday saw the return of the Alpine Accentors, at one moment I had four on the roof and another two in the neighbours' cherry tree. Three stayed to feed yesterday and one this morning as the thaw set in. The warmer air from the south has brought with it our first returning breeder, singing at dawn today:

41 Song Thrush

Seventeen days later than last year's first one (I'm still waiting for Simon to release the Woodpigeons he's clearly got caged in the Algarve in a feeble attempt to keep my list down:eek!.

 

[NookoftheAvon]

13. Black-headed Gull
14. Common Gull
15. Raven

 

[Jos Stratford]

Huh, Paul, your problem is SSS (soft Somerset snow), the snow here is the real tough stuff, if I throw an apple outside it'll bounce halfway to the village.

Huh, think you're tough Richard ...if I throw an apple outside, it'll bounce half way to the village and then crack someone's skull open as it will already be a solid block of frozen apple. :-O

French Blackbirds only appreciate haute cuisine so I'm obliged to cut up apples into mini-pieces for them.

Lithuanian Blackbirds are mostly wimps - they migrated out months ago, but had a Fieldfare today, fully armed with a pneumatic drill to smash open any apples he might be lucky enough to find.

 

[Steve Lister]

All the snow has gone and with it any chance of an Alpine Accentor but another unexpected goodie today, all be it gone very quickly

56 Merlin

Not surprisingly a garden lifer to boot, #76.

Steve

 

[Paul Chapman]

I couldn't bring myself to stay in the garden/house today. (70+ species on my patch.) At least three potential additions within 50 yards of the garden in the last couple of days including at least one Jack Snipe on the stretch of river of which I can see a small portion from the garden. I just lack the discipline for this!

All the best

Paul