KB57s 2023 year list (1 Viewer)

[kb57]

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to my 2023 year list thread. As in previous years, IOC format (when I can get it right) for birds plus incidental mammals. Also as before, I'm trying not to twitch rarities unless severely provoked (cf. northern mockingbird, pied wheatear...), and trying not to get to chase year list species too much either.

Only got one longer distance trip planned this year so far and it's for skiing, not birding, so I'm not expecting a lot of lifers. However, I'm now based in southern Portugal interspersed with time back in the UK, and doing freelance work rather than running a business - so a happier work-life balance feels within my grasp, as well as a few Iberian specialities...

Jan 01: Tavira, Portugal
A slow start, with both myself and partner having been laid low by a virus over Christmas. The apartment balcony has yielded a few interesting species since we moved in, including robin, song thrush and greenfinch - although typically it was really quiet this morning. Thankfully the regular black redstart got into my field of view before sparrows and pigeons, for an auspicious start to 2023....

01. Black Redstart
02. House Sparrow
03. Rock Dove (f. domestica)
04. Eurasian Blackcap
05. Common Chiffchaff
06. Eurasian Magpie

Santa Luzia saltpans
07. Lesser Black-backed Gull
08. Common Blackbird
09. European Stonechat
10. Common Redshank
11. Dunlin
12. Zitting Cisticola
13. Common Greenshank
14. Sanderling
15. Kentish Plover
16. White Wagtail
17. Black-winged Stilt
18. Pied Avocet
19. Black-headed Gull
20. Greater Flamingo
21. Great Cormorant
22. Sardinian Warbler

Santa Luzia
23. Ruddy Turnstone
24. Little Egret
25. Grey Plover
26. Common Ringed Plover
27. Grey Heron

Saltpans again..
28. Black-tailed Godwit
29. Common Shelduck

Tavira
30. Eurasian Collared Dove

 

[kb57]

Jan 02: Tavira
Small flock seen from the apartment hawking for insects over an area of open ground
31. Crag Martin

Santa Luzia
There seems to be a dearth of YLGs around these parts just now, vastly outnumbered by LBBs...and of course whimbrels are the default here, curlews quite exciting...
32. Eurasian Spoonbill
33. Whimbrel
34. Yellow-legged Gull
35. Eurasian Curlew

 

[kb57]

Jan 03: Quinta do Ludo, near Faro airport
Dropped partner off at the airport and decided I was up for the circuit from the end of the runway across the Ludo saltpans to the São Lourenço golf course and back. Took my time, spent a bit of time with the scope, and felt OK. Most frustrating (aside from the inevitably frustrating poor view of a Cetti's) was a putative bluethroat on the salt marsh which comprehensively disappeared before I could confirm ID - however there were lots of compensations, including a slender-billed gull doing that weird neck-forward pose, and some excellent views of a small flock of little stints - in between these, the golf course delivered with a purple swamp hen and a small flock of black-headed weavers. Seven not-seen-in-2022 isn't bad for one day either.
36. Caspian Tern
37. White Stork
38. Sandwich Tern
39. Common Coot
40. Northern Shoveler
41. Eurasian Teal
42. Little Grebe
43. Eurasian Wigeon
44. Northern Pintail
45. Slender-billed Gull *
46. Common Waxbill *

São Lourenço
47. Iberian Magpie
48. Crested Lark
49. Common Moorhen
50. Common Pochard
51. Mallard
52. Gadwall
53. Cetti's Warbler *
54. Western Swamphen *
55. Tufted Duck
56. Black-headed Weaver *

Quinta do Ludo
57. Little Stint *
58. Ruff *
59. European Greenfinch

 

[Owene]

Faro looks good for a cheap flight and accommodation rack up the year ticks long weekend

 

[kb57]

Faro looks good for a cheap flight and accommodation rack up the year ticks long weekend

One of the best sites locally is literally just outside the airport - you can tick off flamingo sometimes from the plane on approach to landing! A lot of the wetlands are also quite accessible by train, including those near Fuseta and Olhão, so a hire car isn't obligatory.

 

[martinboer]

One of the best sites locally is literally just outside the airport - you can tick off flamingo sometimes from the plane on approach to landing! A lot of the wetlands are also quite accessible by train, including those near Fuseta and Olhão, so a hire car isn't obligatory.

Saw a lot of Flamingos by Ibiza Airport as well - tick as you fly!

 

[kb57]

Jan 06: Tavira
Seems like my Ludo saltpans walk was a bit premature - been feeling pretty rough the past few days, struggling to work and finish what should be a fairly straightforward report, and hardly leaving the apartment. Slept till 10:30 this morning, opened the balcony windows and noticed some movement in the base of an olive tree...

60. Great Tit

This is actually quite exciting, only my second GT in Portugal - the first being seen in the street tree outside our bedroom in December.

 

[kb57]

Jan 10: Newcastle Airport
Back for a relatively brief visit to UK before I head off skiing...first year list species was seen from the plane window as we taxied into a damp and cold Newcastle...

61. Carrion Crow

 

[kb57]

Jan 11: Newcastle on Tyne
Got the bus into town, adding jackdaw and woodpigeon to the year list. After finishing my shopping, decided on a quick circuit of a damp and gloomy Leazes Park. Hoping for a mistle thrush but had to be content with a few more predictable additions.

62. Western Jackdaw
63. Common Wood Pigeon
64. Canada Goose
65. Mute Swan
66. European Herring Gull

Jan 13: North Newcastle
Leaving aside the uncountable year list view of goldfinches from the house (no glasses on, silhouette, ID by call...), and a heard-only wren, only one addition from a walk through the park.

67. Common Gull

 

[kb57]

Jan 15: North Newcastle on Tyne
Catching up with a few regular UK species from the feeder (although should've got goldfinch from Portugal, based on how frequently I saw them before New Year!).

68. Common Chaffinch
69. Eurasian Blue Tit
70. European Goldfinch
71. Coal Tit

 

[kb57]

Jan 17: North Newcastle on Tyne
Another one from the feeders...

72. European Bullfinch

Off on holiday tomorrow, so not many more opportunities to add UK species before February. Going to fit a day's birding into my upcoming ski trip, so might get a couple of lifers if I'm lucky...

 

[kb57]

Jan 19: Sunshine Village ski area, near Banff, Alberta
Flight into Calgary delayed a couple of hours, so it was dark as my son and I drove to our hotel on the western city outskirts. The following day we set off early to get a full day's skiing in, so it was just getting light when we arrived at Sunshine Village. A few American crows foraging in the car park, then added a few more corvids...

73. American Crow*
74. Clark's Nutcracker*
75. Northern Raven*
76. Steller's Jay*

 

[kb57]

Jan 20: Lake Louise ski area, Alberta
Same species again minus the crows at Lake Louise, plus a flock of pine siskins feeding on the roadside on the climb up to the resort.

77. Pine Siskin*

 

[kb57]

22 Jan: Trans-Canada Highway between Rogers Pass and Revelstoke, BC
Driving down from Rogers Pass, we slowed in response to oncoming drivers flashing their lights, hoping we wouldn't be confronted by some wrecked truck...instead there were a group of mountain goats feeding by the roadside - incredibly my first mammal of the year and a mammalian 'lifer' too, looking like little horned polar bears in their fluffy white coats.

1. Mountain Goat

Illecillewaet River, Revelstoke
This was my birding opportunity, as my son met friends living here and went off cross-country skiing for the afternoon - never worked out how to either stop or turn with XC skis, so reckoned I was safer taking a walk along the Columbia river and its unpronounceable tributary.
It was turning out to be virtually bird-free, not surprising for snowbound winter in Canada I guess, until I reached an area of open water on the, er, tributary and saw a couple of male goldeneyes diving at close quarters. Thought there was a female with them at first, but when she swam into view I could see she was smaller with distinctive head markings - my first lifer of the year, and an excellent close view.

78. Common Goldeneye
79. Bufflehead

Shortly after, a flock of about 20 finch-sized birds flew overhead with soft trilling calls - the weather had clouded over and I didn't get a great look at them, so they'll have to remain unidentified. Apart from a few ravens and crows, nothing much else was about.

 

[kb57]

23 Jan: Revelstoke ski area, BC
The deck of the cafe at the top of the gondola was a great place to recuperate with a hot chocolate, with added entertainment provided by a group of Canada jays which were adept at stealing food from plates on picnic tables while people were eating, and on one occasion from someones hand as they were about to put a chip in their mouth..

80. Canada Jay*

 

[kb57]

25 Jan: Halcyon Hot Springs, Arrow Lakes, BC
This was our second non-skiing day - a long driving day from Revelstoke south to Rossland, with a lunchtime break to soothe aching limbs in a hot spring on the way. Not really appropriate to take binoculars into a jacuzzi and hot pools, but I could've done with not leaving my glasses in the car - there were frequent chickadees in the adjoining trees, and a probable red-breasted nuthatch, all unidentifiable in my myopic state. A flock of common (red) crossbills flying around and making excitement calls before settling in a nearby tree did provide a positive ID and addition to the year list though.

81. Red Crossbill*

Slocan Valley
Incredibly, my first raptor of the year, and a good one too...

82. Bald Eagle*

Kootenay River north of Castlegar
Two swans on the river - not a great view from the highway, but long black beaks good enough for a positive ID

83. Trumpeter Swan*

 

[kb57]

29 Jan: east of Creston, BC
After a stay in Rossland and skiing at Red Mountain and Whitewater with no additions to the year list, we had an overnight stop at a cheap motel in Creston, giving us an early start for our third travel day of the trip. Between Creston and Cranbrook there isn't much settlement and there's a lot of forest. Given icy driving conditions, I was intently focussed on the road ahead, when a large, long-tailed felid loped across the road, less than 100m in front of us. It looked almost black, although that was exaggerated by being backlit by the sun...either way, unmistakeable...

2. Cougar

Panorama Mountain Resort, Invermere
After the morning's excitement, a new bird species could've been an anticlimax. However, for once I had my binoculars with me and could actually identify a chickadee!

84. Mountain Chickadee

 

[kb57]

30 Jan: Panorama resort, Invermere
Skidded to an abrupt halt near the bottom of a black run when a mustelid in full ermine crossed the piste in front of me, carrying an unidentifiable small mammal in its mouth, then disappearing into a hole in the snow in the adjoining forest.
It looked big and long-tailed compared to a European stoat - I considered whether it could've been an American Ermine, which I believe is very similar to a European stoat - but its larger body size and prominent tail (also black-tipped) suggested a long-tailed weasel.

3. Long-tailed Weasel

 

[kb57]

01 Feb: Panorama resort, Invermere
Just as we were leaving to start the journey home, saw two large, relatively long-tailed finches feeding in nearby trees. Female pine grosbeaks - my third lifer of a non-birding trip!

85. Pine Grosbeak

Near Radium Hot Springs, BC
A small herd of bighorn sheep ewes was feeding close to the roadside, providing excellent views as we drove slowly past.

4. Bighorn Sheep

Canmore, Alberta
A final addition to the bird list when we stopped for a break and swapped drivers, my son taking the final leg behind the wheel towards a rather dull and snowy Calgary.

86. Black-billed Magpie*

 

[kb57]

02 Feb: Heathrow, London
Small flock of starlings seen from the plane before we took off for the flight to Newcastle.

87. Common Starling