bonxie birder
Going for the One
That’s impressiveWell, not a long walk but I've had 136 species in my backyard
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Operation COVID - my 5 mile birding list (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter bonxie birder
- Start date
Paul Chapman
Well-known member
I have the good fortune to be within walking distance of the Bristol Channel and this adds significantly to the variety of my local sightings particularly with a decent wader list.
A 5 mile list is not one that I have actively kept. Indeed, all my bird lists fell into disrepair in spring 2021. I do intend to sort that out in particular with my eBird records once I have got my head around the more complex and lengthy moth spreadsheets.
However, my best efforts this afternoon produced a patch list in the 230s, a 5 mile 2021 list in the 130s and an "on foot" 2021 list in the 120s. Four patch ticks were highlights being Long-tailed Duck, Nightjar, Rose-coloured Starling and Glossy Ibis. The two Glossy Ibises flying north were on the same day as the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling. A two patch tick day which was quite remarkable.
My plans for 2022 include some very significant local effort and indeed to keep accurate and up to date records.
Other highlights this year were a wintering Black Redstart (in my view a returning adult female) and a stunning confiding juvenile Little Stint amongst the wader passage. Spring passage included Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and Whinchats and other waders included Curlew Sandpipers and Avocet whilst I connected with more Mediterranean Gulls than normal and an autumn Shag. Seabirds included Pomarine and Arctic Skuas as well as Guillemot but the seabird list was well below normal years.
One of the other 2021 highlights has been more Otter sightings than previously and once I sort out my moth lists, I expect the final 2021 patch tally to be well in excess of 500 species with at least Toadflax Brocade and Devon Carpet as new macro species.
All the best
Paul
A 5 mile list is not one that I have actively kept. Indeed, all my bird lists fell into disrepair in spring 2021. I do intend to sort that out in particular with my eBird records once I have got my head around the more complex and lengthy moth spreadsheets.
However, my best efforts this afternoon produced a patch list in the 230s, a 5 mile 2021 list in the 130s and an "on foot" 2021 list in the 120s. Four patch ticks were highlights being Long-tailed Duck, Nightjar, Rose-coloured Starling and Glossy Ibis. The two Glossy Ibises flying north were on the same day as the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling. A two patch tick day which was quite remarkable.
My plans for 2022 include some very significant local effort and indeed to keep accurate and up to date records.
Other highlights this year were a wintering Black Redstart (in my view a returning adult female) and a stunning confiding juvenile Little Stint amongst the wader passage. Spring passage included Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and Whinchats and other waders included Curlew Sandpipers and Avocet whilst I connected with more Mediterranean Gulls than normal and an autumn Shag. Seabirds included Pomarine and Arctic Skuas as well as Guillemot but the seabird list was well below normal years.
One of the other 2021 highlights has been more Otter sightings than previously and once I sort out my moth lists, I expect the final 2021 patch tally to be well in excess of 500 species with at least Toadflax Brocade and Devon Carpet as new macro species.
All the best
Paul
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Chris Bell
Well-known member
An excellent thread.
I live 18 miles from the coast as the crow flies with much sub-optimal habitat.
Despite this I have managed to see 209 species within five miles of my door with 199 of these being self-found. Hard work but equally rewarding too; my last tick was a Firecrest in January 2018.
The search for the magic 200th self-find continues unabated.... Hopefully I'll manage one before the Ruddy Shelduck upgrade which would be a bit of a hollow victory!
I live 18 miles from the coast as the crow flies with much sub-optimal habitat.
Despite this I have managed to see 209 species within five miles of my door with 199 of these being self-found. Hard work but equally rewarding too; my last tick was a Firecrest in January 2018.
The search for the magic 200th self-find continues unabated.... Hopefully I'll manage one before the Ruddy Shelduck upgrade which would be a bit of a hollow victory!
Mark Harper
World Birder
I live a couple of hundred metres from the coast and have concentrated on a patch list which the furthest point is about 2km from my house and have seen 242 species on the patch in 8 years and 183 this year. Looking at the 5 mile limit increases my total list to 261 and year list to 191. A lack of fresh water on my patch means that I am missing a couple of species that I see every year within 5 miles when I get to the nearest decent sized patch of fresh water, e.g. Little Grebe and Little Ringed Plover, I will hopefully pick these up on the patch eventually, not so sure that I will get the Siberian Accentor and Taiga Flycatcher on the patch anytime soon though.
KenM
Well-known member
I’m approximately ten miles from St Paul’s and c45 miles from the coast, using a two mile radius from base encompassing the KGV/William Girling reservoirs and Epping Forest.
I’ve clocked up c215 species since the ‘70’s (150+ from the house and 19 from adjoining Forest land), with c46 emanating from the Lee Valley reservoirs, many of which have been distinctly coastal in origin…Gannet, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Leach’s Petrel and Eider etc…and it’s taken 50+ years….here’s to the next 50! 😂
I’ve clocked up c215 species since the ‘70’s (150+ from the house and 19 from adjoining Forest land), with c46 emanating from the Lee Valley reservoirs, many of which have been distinctly coastal in origin…Gannet, Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Leach’s Petrel and Eider etc…and it’s taken 50+ years….here’s to the next 50! 😂
KenM
Well-known member
An impressive “close to home” list there Chris.👍
KenM
Well-known member
Great shots Paul!…particularly impressed with the Little Stint👍
Thanks Ken! Blessed with a nice variety of habitat - beach, harbour, vineyards, arable, mixed woodland, scrub etc. Plus being on the Via Pontica doesn't do any harm!
Chris
I counted mine up out of curiosity. For home in inland southern Italy (Caserta province), my 10km list for 2021 adds up to 158 (one of the best local birding spots is actually about 5.5 miles away, and we don't use miles in Italy anyway, so I bumped the limits up to the closest round number). It is quite far from the coast, but does have an excellent variety of habitats (I've seen Wolf within 10 km of my house).
I spent quite a bit of time both spring (Apr 20 to the end of May) and fall (mid-Oct to mid-Nov) on the island of Linosa. For this year, my list for within one mile of the house we stay at when we're there is 160. The house is almost in the middle of Linosa so only one tiny bit of the island is excluded from the one mile radius circle.
I spent quite a bit of time both spring (Apr 20 to the end of May) and fall (mid-Oct to mid-Nov) on the island of Linosa. For this year, my list for within one mile of the house we stay at when we're there is 160. The house is almost in the middle of Linosa so only one tiny bit of the island is excluded from the one mile radius circle.
bonxie birder
Going for the One
Great total. That is going to beat my entire uk year list for 2021
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Hm. I've used a 10 mile radius since James Andrewes of this parish and I competed on year-lists, him in Cheshire and me in Farnborough - the idea was to cut down on twitching mileage but actually going up down and across a ten mile radius circle to work as many habitats as possible racks the miles up! Both of us in both years we ran the competition scored in the 160s (we each won one year). I'd have to work out my overall ten mile list but I could do it with a bit of effort, maybe over Christmas. I'll get back to you....
John
John
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