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Green Listing 2022 - Joint Thread (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter dantheman
- Start date
l_raty
laurent raty
A stop at the 6th Belgian Isabelline Wheatear yesterday, while cycling back from the coast to Brussels, added that species to the Europe and World lists.
My 3rd one, after one in Limburg in the spring of 2010 and one on the coast in the fall of 2013. (Not counting a car-assisted observation in 2005.)
My 3rd one, after one in Limburg in the spring of 2010 and one on the coast in the fall of 2013. (Not counting a car-assisted observation in 2005.)
l_raty
laurent raty
Currently in E Belgium (some 140 km east of home). Huge numbers of Cranes over the last two days, Black Grouse, and a couple of other species I had not seen this year yet.
Still here today, riding back tomorrow. Slightly foggy currently, and rain is to come, so I may well end up soaked at some point... (The weather over the last days was quite incredible for mid-November - 16°C, bright sun, big blue skies, nymphalid butterflies and dragonflies still active.)
Still here today, riding back tomorrow. Slightly foggy currently, and rain is to come, so I may well end up soaked at some point... (The weather over the last days was quite incredible for mid-November - 16°C, bright sun, big blue skies, nymphalid butterflies and dragonflies still active.)
l_raty
laurent raty
Cycled back from the High Fens (E Belgium) on Tuesday as planned; went to see the White-headed Duck that is currently present in Harchies (some 80 km SW of Brussels) yesterday. The ride back from Harchies included 4 hours in heavy rain and wind (in the dark), so was a bit rough... 
I already saw white-headed Duck in 2010 with the bike (Waarnemingen.be); but this bird, though unringed, did not make it into Cat A. Also saw Belgian birds that were fully accepted in 1989 and 1991, but that was car-assisted, which makes the current bird a potential lifer... Fingers crossed.
Also Bewick's Swan at the same site as the duck.
I already saw white-headed Duck in 2010 with the bike (Waarnemingen.be); but this bird, though unringed, did not make it into Cat A. Also saw Belgian birds that were fully accepted in 1989 and 1991, but that was car-assisted, which makes the current bird a potential lifer... Fingers crossed.
Also Bewick's Swan at the same site as the duck.
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Edward
Umimmak
I ride my bike a lot and am always birding in my head so I inevitably see stuff from the saddle. Added a few things to the list which were missing, e.g. Gyr Falcon, Rock Ptarmigan, Harlequin Duck, Red-necked Phalarope, Horned Grebe, Iceland Gull, Glaucous Gull, Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting.
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
It appears that none of us saw Lesser Redpoll before October! I've added Laurent's one to the Europe and World lists as he beat me by a few days.
Xenospiza
Distracted
After a holiday and a weekend where I couldn't go anywhere anyway, I finally managed to add Scaup (reported as possible Lesser) and Red-crested Pochard to my green yearlist today. At least it was dry, but this grey cold weather is not my favourite. Next week I should really go searching for crossbills again.
Some Kittiwakes still in the state which would be nice, but too distant for my maximum radius... (I am not Laurent).
Some Kittiwakes still in the state which would be nice, but too distant for my maximum radius... (I am not Laurent).
I listed it as Common Redpoll, but the only ones I identified this year were cabaret.
l_raty
laurent raty
I was wondering about this possibility, actually. (Which is why I didn't add the species myself to the joint list.)
33 species that I haven't seen this year have been seen in Belgium in the last 7 days, so there should still be some fun to have out there.
Still missing Scaup too; Red-crested Pochard, I have seen only in parks in and just outside Brussels, and I'm unfortunately a bit too aware of the origin of these ones... (They all descend from a pair of wing-clipped birds that was released by the municipality in a park in Zaventem, a dozen years ago, and started to breed there. The females of this population were culled a couple of years ago, I think -- in any case, all the birds that are left now are males... which, in the absence of partners of their own kind, produce hybrids with the local female Mallards.)
How far would you go for a good bird ?
(What I've been doing recently has been (more or less) reasonable -- or at least it's how I perceive it. I've definitely been much more excessive in the past, in any case. And I would certainly survive the loss of some lingering post-lockdown kilos...)
Xenospiza
Distracted
My goal this year was to do all birds that are less than 40 km from my home by bicycle (unless the weather would take away all enjoyment).
Even when I didn't have a car going further than 40 km away was a rarity... but then I had access to useful transport.
My maximum distance (one way) ever must have been about 55 km, but that ended in a dip (Bridled Tern on its last day ever in the Netherlands...), followed by 55 km of riding back through a nasty cold front (at least I had wind in the back). It is a miracle I didn't give up twitching immediately.
l_raty
laurent raty
I saw that one in 't Zwin back then. (Or its companion -- they were two initially in NL.)
(1989... Showing our ages, I guess.)
The most distant twitch I ever did on a bike "in one day" (i.e., without at least stopping somewhere to sleep a few hours) was this : [route], [sightings].
(You won't see these because the records of this species are hidden in our database, but I had a fox in my street when coming out at 05:11, and again when coming back at 05:12 next day -- so it actually lasted a day and a minute.)
But I don't think I would repeat this tomorrow...
The most distant one-day dip that I can remember right now was : Zwarte Stern - Chlidonias niger 2010-09-30 | Waarnemingen.be. (The target was a White-winged BT.)
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Xenospiza
Distracted
Pfff... I think I would already fall apart in Dinant. Or at least need a 30-minute break to stop coughing after that steep slope!
l_raty
laurent raty
Yes, I've already ended up walking next to my bike a couple of times in that particular slope (it's just after Dinant -- to leave the Meuse valley)...
But on this day, I got the news that the bird was still there just before starting climbing -- this helped a bit.
Richard Prior
Halfway up an Alp
Some herculean efforts by you bikers again this year, I managed No.88 for the year this afternoon on our walk from home, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (the first I've seen anywhere this year!).
ohlookabirdie
love the birds!!!
Hey guys looks like its been a good year, i'm hoping to do a green/cycling list in 2023, and hoping to add in some photography too. pretty serious cyclist since fisrt UK lockdown, doing 50-100km in a ride and averaging about 25kph. was wondering what the best way to carry a DSLR and not too seriously affect my cycling efficiency. are aero backpacks a thing people use? do you guys have any tips or things i should know before trying this?
l_raty
laurent raty
Hi James,
Of course, adding gear to what you carry will affect your cycling efficiency, to some extent at least, and it's probably up to you to decide what you regard as acceptable.
I carry my binoculars on a rather long strap which I pass above my head and a shoulder, so that I can either grab them and take them quickly in front of me when I need them, or push them back and place them on my back when I cycle (to avoid having them hanging down towards my handlebar). I want the strap to be free to move around my torso -- a backpack would create a significant obstacle to this, so I never use one. I have a rack and bags on the bicycle, and use these for my gear. (Of course, a rack is additional weight.)
(I guess my speed must vary from abt. 15 to close to 25, depending on what I'm doing (cycling + lose birding vs. just cycling with a distant target) and of external conditions (hilly vs. flat terrain; fine weather vs. frost / rain / wind). I did not monitor this closely recently but, a couple of years ago, the modal distance I covered, on a full day out, used to be 160-180 km. Completing a journey is generally more important to me than chasing speed records; reflecting this, perhaps, my current frame is CrMo steel: sturdy and (I hope) durable, but not really the lightest material one can find...)
ohlookabirdie
love the birds!!!
thanks for the reply, lots to consider for sure. i think a small back pack would suit me well as im more likely to ride to a location and then do some birding, rather than just stop when i think i see something. I ride a Aluminium framed Cube and i love it, im certainly no speed demon, but i do like to push it when i can
