Green Listing 2021 - Joint thread (1 Viewer)

[Colin Conroy]

Following on the theme of the previous 'lockdown listing threads' ( https://www.birdforum.net/threads/joint-bf-lockdown-listing-autumn-2020.396184/ and https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=388090 ), a joint green listing thread, whether you are in lockdown or not, and makes it easier for all to take part - green birding and patch birding probably the way forward!

Any birds seen or heard from home, by foot or cycle (we'll argue about other options if they crop up). Please post up your sightings and lists (and any other highlights/anecdotes of course). Will set up a googlesheets doc spreadsheet later too and keep a running total for BF members for the year.

Good luck and good birding!

Hiya,
I don't normally post on birdforum but one of my friends told me about this thread. I'm doing an NMT (non-motorised transport) bird list this year, which sounds pretty similar to what you are talking about. I did the same thing with a few others in 2010, in the Vancouver area and decided to do it again this year, where I live now (Middlesbrough, UK). The rules I am going by are that I can count anything I see have journeyed from my house by foot or bike (rowing/ sailing boat would also count). I am allowed to use motorised transport to travel home by (such as taking my bike on the train) but I wouldn't arrange for someone to pick me up in the car (I don't have that option anyway). Also, the Tees Transporter Bridge counts as motorised transport (as it's basically a cable car with very long cables) but I can use it to get home. I'm mostly posting about my NMT-list on my blog but will post here occasionally during the year. Weather's been pretty rotten here so far this year so I'm only up to 31 species so far.
Bye for now
Colin Conroy
Middlesbrough

 

[Nutcracker]

Yep, I'd recommend IOC. Unfortunately, it's too late for me to add all the necessary international qualifiers ('Eurasian', 'Northern', etc.) to my posts #8 & #13 above, as they're only editable for a day after posting. Should be fairly obvious what they are though, and I'll try to remember to include them for forthcoming posts.

 

[lammergeier05]

Three new this morning: Anna’s Hummingbird, Pacific Wren, Spotted Towhee (10 total)

 

[Nutcracker]

--[4 Jan]--
61 Shoveler (1 female / 1st-w)
62 Crossbill (flock 8-10 flew over)
63 Greylag Goose (flock 55)
64 Gadwall (flock 36)
65 Stonechat
66 Mistle Thrush (2, at last!)
67 Fieldfare (flock 7)
68 Pheasant (2 female)

--[6 Jan]--
69 Pink-footed Goose
70 [Eurasian] Tree Sparrow
71 Willow Tit
72 [Eurasian] Bittern (patch gold!)
73 Little Grebe
74 Rook

 

[dantheman]

42. Great Spotted Woodpecker
43. Magpie
44. Starling

Two new additions today -

45. Feral Pigeon
46. Lapwing

Had to take the car for it's annual MoT yesterday and at the first roundabout leaving home noticed a Lapwing in flight in a muddy stubble field. Still there today (actually saw 3). A good bird as not normally annual in the haunts I usually frequent in the Falmouth area. Feral Pigeons a bonus!


The car failed it's test - think I may be carless from Friday on!

 

[dantheman]

Thinking about lumping etc - if we're doing a world list we should decide whose taxonomy (and species names) we're using. As it's being organised by someone UK-based, do we just follow the IOC list for simplicity?

I was thinking about perhaps going through the spreadsheet and scattering the word "Eurasian" liberally around the current species list, but that's not something I feel I should do unilaterally!

Noooo!

OK I know it has to be accurate. For the overall joint master list feel free to edit it to the correct international name to avoid confusion. For eg the UK section I expect there is no need.

;-)

 

[dantheman]

Hiya,
I don't normally post on birdforum but one of my friends told me about this thread. I'm doing an NMT (non-motorised transport) bird list this year, which sounds pretty similar to what you are talking about. I did the same thing with a few others in 2010, in the Vancouver area and decided to do it again this year, where I live now (Middlesbrough, UK). The rules I am going by are that I can count anything I see have journeyed from my house by foot or bike (rowing/ sailing boat would also count). I am allowed to use motorised transport to travel home by (such as taking my bike on the train) but I wouldn't arrange for someone to pick me up in the car (I don't have that option anyway). Also, the Tees Transporter Bridge counts as motorised transport (as it's basically a cable car with very long cables) but I can use it to get home. I'm mostly posting about my NMT-list on my blog but will post here occasionally during the year. Weather's been pretty rotten here so far this year so I'm only up to 31 species so far.
Bye for now
Colin Conroy
Middlesbrough

Nice one, welcome aboard. Look forward to seeing what you come across and your highlights.

I was thinking about the strictness of the rules - I think a purposeful and unnecessary car journey to get home is not really in the spirit of it, but would tend to agree that use of public transport (which is to be encouraged anyway in itself) is ok. What do the purists think? ;-)

 

[dantheman]

As a Vancouver, Canada resident, I will offer a different mix for a patch list. While it can’t compare to warmer climes, Vancouver does have the advantage of the only snow-free winter region of Canada with a possible winter list of over 100 species. A full metro Vancouver year list (by car) would be approximately 260 species - maybe 1/2 that in a patch list would be doable.

I will start things off simple with:

Glaucous-winged Gull
Northwestern (or American) Crow, depending on taxonomy
Black-capped Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet
(European/Common) Starling
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch

We were in Vancouver in late summer 2013, tried birding with limited success but was good fun.

I've added your list to what I've renamed the N America section on the spreadsheet, if you or someone else wants to confirm the new species for the joint effort.

 

[Nutcracker]

Nice one, welcome aboard. Look forward to seeing what you come across and your highlights.

I was thinking about the strictness of the rules - I think a purposeful and unnecessary car journey to get home is not really in the spirit of it, but would tend to agree that use of public transport (which is to be encouraged anyway in itself) is ok. What do the purists think? ;-)

Definitely not the Infernal Combustion Engine!

Public transport - as it is at least in part a covid-related thing, I'd suggest not: at least in UK, the 'frivolous' use of public transport is discouraged, if not outright banned; the busses and trains are needed to get medical staff & shop staff in to work, and they need to be distanced from each other when travelling. So a bus with just 3 or 4 people on board is 'full'. If a birder gets on one, a nurse at the next stop may be denied, not get to work on time, and one of their patients may die as a result. Personally, I've not been on a bus (or train) for almost 11 months now (stopped using them 2-3 weeks before the official lockdown began, as I could see what was coming . . . unlike the Govt. idiots).

Electric bikes / skateboards / wheelchairs - debatable. I'd certainly allow them for people who can't get about much by their own muscle power. But they do use electricity to charge up, so are not carbon-neutral until the national power grid as a whole is carbon-neutral, which, in the UK at least, it isn't yet.

 

[Nutcracker]

Given that this is a communal list rather than an individual one, could it be moved to the Birds & Birding section, like the Garden / Yard List 2021 and January 1st joint Birdforum list (2021 edition) threads? I'm finding it rather invisible here as I rarely look in this section of Birdforum. And perhaps made a 'sticky' so it doesn't disappear later in the season when new posts might be few and far between?

 

[Swindon Addick]

Just saw what I think is our first UK Marsh Tit. Worth the walk.

 

[dantheman]

Given that this is a communal list rather than an individual one, could it be moved to the Birds & Birding section, like the Garden / Yard List 2021 and January 1st joint Birdforum list (2021 edition) threads? I'm finding it rather invisible here as I rarely look in this section of Birdforum. And perhaps made a 'sticky' so it doesn't disappear later in the season when new posts might be few and far between?

Agree, I was thinking the same. Maybe also add 'Lockdown' to the title? Probably no need to make it a sticky at this stage though ... ?

In any case I was wondering why this was kinda falling flat ... think maybe a combination of things including the spreadsheet being offputting, too many long listers being offputting. The target of having to add new species being off-putting (people are competitive, so if they think they won't see much they don't want to show themselves up?). Maybe all rather counterproductive? I don't know?

Of course it's just an extra, and most people use cars/will have joined the garden listing thread.

With regard to purity of lists - a consensus can of course be reached (for adding to the joint list - rules have to be rules), but I also wouldn't want to put people off by making it too rigid. So if you use public transport on the way back just make a mention of it. At some point I have to take my car to the scrapyard (10 miles away) at which point I will have to walk back - might make a detour to get some more birding in!! Just as long as you aren't travelling there and back by neferious means to the spot where you then do your birding (otherwise all drives to all nature reserves could be included!) Or something like that ...

Still early days yet of course ... ;-)

 

[Andrea Collins]

River Duddon estuary and a small patch of scrubby grassland/woodland above the shore, Cumbria, UK. A few minutes walk from my house this morning.

1. Barnacle Goose.
2. Common Shelduck.
3. Eurasian Wigeon.
4. Northern Pintail.
5. Red-breasted Merganser.
6. Goosander (unusual to see six together on the estuary - presumably because most of the local freshwater is frozen).
7. Common Eider.
8. European Herring Gull.
9. Great Black-backed Gull.
10. Black-headed Gull.
11. Eurasian Oystercatcher.
12. Ruddy Turnstone.
13. Common Ringed Plover.
14. Grey Plover.
15. Sanderling.
16. Dunlin.
17. Common Redshank.
18. Bar-tailed Godwit.
19. Eurasian Curlew.
20. Common Woodpigeon.
21. Dunnock.
22. Common Starling.
23. Common Blackbird.
24. Song Thrush.
25. Redwing.
26. Long-tailed Tit.
27. Blue Tit.
28. Eurasian Jay.
29. Common Magpie.
30. European Goldfinch.
31. European Greenfinch.
32. Twite.

Red Knot and Little Egret notable by their absence from the estuary and the woods were unusually quiet. Not a single raptor is unusual as well.

(I find adding anything to the spreadsheet myself a bit off-putting. I'm really good at breaking anything to do with computers).

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Did a 9 mile round trip with the hound today. Added 5 to my year list. New Muck boots are surprisingly comfy.

Greylag
Little Egret
Common Redshank
Curlew
Common Sandpiper

 

[Swindon Addick]

I think perhaps we just encourage people to post their personal green lists and not worry if there's nothing new? This can be quite a good encouragement just to walk or cycle instead of driving somewhere, which also fits with the lockdown rules in the UK, at least for now, with the preference for staying local and the insistence that trips away from home should be for exercise. If the spreadsheet gets a bit behind, there will always be someone who's locked down and looking for something to do who can update it a bit (as I did last night to put the words Common and Eurasian in lots of places in the world list). No real need for people to update it themselves if they're happier just typing a list in the thread.

And with that, today's update to my personal green list:

9 Jan
20 Cormorant
Black Swan (escapee so not counted)
21 Rook
22 Goosander
23 Grey Heron
24 Marsh Tit
25 Great Tit
26 Tufted Duck
27 Common Gull
28 Stock Dove
29 Dunnock
30 Coal Tit

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Did a shorter walk with the hound today. Woodcock and Meadow Pipit new for the year for me. Woodcock is not an easy bird around here.

Rich

 

[Swindon Addick]

My suet feeder combined with a cold snap to deliver the one species I wanted for my garden year list:

15 Jan
31 Blackcap

Meanwhile I've just caught up the spreadsheet with everyone's contributions up to today. Subject to correct by sharp-eyed people noticing errors. I think we're on 276 worldwide, with 98 UK, 38 rest of Europe (all France), 83 South America, 106 North America.

Link to Dan's spreadsheet to save people scrolling back to where it was first posted:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...k6l70UVaE6-7hJoa_FGKGkrqY/edit#gid=1676269895

 

[connorco]

I've updated my list, bringing my personal list up to 130, and the North American list up to 131

 

[Richard Prior]

I've updated my list, bringing my personal list up to 130, and the North American list up to 131

That's very impressive, especially as we're still in January! Meanwhile I've reached 40 here in France with a Grey Wagtail in the farmyard as I skidded up the road this morning.

 

[connorco]

That's very impressive, especially as we're still in January! Meanwhile I've reached 40 here in France with a Grey Wagtail in the farmyard as I skidded up the road this morning.

Well, it's averaging around 65 degrees here (around 18 Celsius for you non-americans), so it feels like spring is starting, and there is lots of activity around.