Young Birder (25 Viewers)

[birding maniac]

I use BOU.
As for the questions
1.Rarest bird not seen- Aberlady Lesser yellow legs been aaround for 6 months
2. Common bird not seen- Redstart
3. Best find- Pectoral sandpiper, RSPB saltholme
4. Birds not twitched- Tufted puffin/Oriental pratincole, Kent, or a reported Mourning dove, Co. Kerry?
5. Rarest bird seen- Eastern Crowned Warbler, lovely bird, 1st. After that it would be the Glaucous- winged gull, 2/3?
6. Most enjoyable- Golden Oriole, suffolk or Montagu's Harrier, norfolk. Although on my estate i walked around a corner and came face to face with a starling. Beautiful, overlooked bird, and neither of us new what to do.
7. Best day out- Lakenheath fen RSPB- Bittern, Crane, Hobby, purple heron, great white egret

 

[Dark Knight]

Ok so the years nearly up so I assume that all you're year list numbers are starting to stop going up (well mine is anyway:-O)

So a couple of questions :king:

1. Any regrets i.e. a rare bird on the your door step you didn't see

2. What was the most common bird you didn't see this year?

And finally

3. What was you're best find of the year (doesn't have to be birds)

My answers-

1. Didn't see a Dipper after 10000000000 attempts

2. Manx Shearwater

3. Bottled-nosed Dolphin off of Holme this summer

Merry Christmas to all

Robert

P.s. sorry of someone has already asked this

hi everyone , 1. tufted puffin ( 20 mins from my house ) :-C

2. lots ( did nt yearlist this year )

3. black redstart ( in my garden ) B

if i could choose 3 birds in my garden christmas morning they would be :

1. greenish warbler ( dipped two so far )

2. pallid harrier ( just love raptors )

3. blackburian warbler ( fantastic yank )

how great would that be !!!!!!!!!

http://robs-birding.blogspot.com/

 

[Ash1456]

More Red Kite images on my blog now, see below for link.

 

[tjbirdofprey]

hello everyone! My mum and dad are back in Spain now with the car so i might be able to get some last minute birding in if im lucky, Oh yeah and have a very merry christmas all of youo

 

[devilbirder]

Hi everybody and seasons greetings. I haven't posted on this thread for ages!

This question thing looks like something to do . . .

1 REGRETS - 2 very close dips due to not arriving quickly enough; worst was Montagu's Harrier at Rainham (male, and mega for london) where we watched people watch it fly off. Other bad one was Black-throated Diver at Papercourt where I was an hour or two late. Not been too bad for dips this year actually.
Otherwise, I regret leaving White-fronted Geese till the second winter period and I don't know if I'll fit them in now. Also regret not going for the Eastern Crowned Warbler and not putting enough effort in for Grasshopper Warbler (my worst tart)

2 MOST COMMON BIRD NOT SEEN- Remarkably managed to miss Grasshopper Warbler and White-fronted Goose (AGAIN!) both much needed tarts. Also missed Arctic Skua and Pied Flycatcher amongst others.

3 BEST FIND Red-footed Falcon at Grove is the rarest but frustratingly brief. Good local finds included Wood Sandpiper, Firecrest, Cuckoo, Whimbrel, Tree Pipit, Spotted Flycatcher etc. Not much.

4 RAREST Brown Shrike I suppose. Zitting Cisticola close second. I think I've seen about 12 BBRC rarities this year. Still waiting for the opportunity for a 1st for Britain and trying to get even twitchier.

5 NOT TWITCHED Nothing that was realistically and ''legally'' available (i.e. without telling parents I have to spend all day at Beddington when am really up in Norfolk twitching a mega) went missing for me this year. I suppose I could have gone for the Lee Valley Savi's. Nothing else pops into my mind right now.

6 MOST ENJOYABLE BIRD - Long-eared Owl, showing EXTREMELY well, at my LOCAL PATCH, letting me get good photographs, on a beautiful winter's day. Birding bliss. Also self found Firecrests (good for Surrey) at another local patch - stunning little birds wintering not far from my from door! Spotted Sandpiper at Abberton was one of the most exciting rarities for me, not because of stunning plumage but because of the intricate plumage differences from Common Sandpiper and the way it was so fascinating to watch! Oh, nearly forgot White-winged Black Tern at Staines. An excellent county bird in top plumage, showing well on a wonderful day, well worth it! Oh, also can't forget that brilliant Pallas's Warbler on Scilly - what a stunner!

7 BEST DAY OUT - there were several good days out. All days on Scilly in October half term were magic. Productive local migration days were the most thrilling, most memorable being 4 patch ticks in one day, one after the other. First Whimbrel (14 in the end!), then 2 Arctic Terns, then 8 Little Gulls, then a stunning Ring Ouzel - all good in 1's in Surrey! There have been countless fun and magical days though spent seeing good birds, in brilliant scenery and with brilliant company!

It's been an excellent year! I've had 45 British ticks of which many were lifers. Ticks aside, I have seen some really great birds, as I've said in great settings with great people. Here's to 2009 and what next year will bring.

A merry christmas and happy new year to all

 

[Littleegret]

Er not to sound dumb but whats BOU or UK400? Are they types of life lists or something?

 

[Littleegret]

Oh there ornithological associations. I've only really heard of the BTO and the RSPB. Never even heard of rare bird alert sites.

 

[Zac Hinchcliffe]

Hey Guys, just to report in that I did get to see my inland Velvet Scoter this morning. it was very strange to drive in all that 'slush'. What a great Christmas Present!

Merry Christmas

Zac

 

[Birding Bob]

Littleegret basically the BOU and UK400 are British bird checklist from my understanding but the UK400 counts sub-species i.e. On the BOU list Brent Goose is only 1 species but on the UK400 Brent is three species (Dark-bellied, Pale-bellied and Brant) meaning 3 ticks instead of 1.

 

[Littleegret]

Thanks Rob

 

[Birding Bob]

If anyone hasn't already got one you can download the BOU list here-
http://www.bou.org.uk/recbrlst.html

 

[Jonny721]

Great shot Zac, what time were you there?

 

[Joseph N]

All these reflections on our birding experiences this year have given me an idea. I think I'm going to right a review of the year, which will include the sort of factors asked in this thread. I'll post it in my blog once I'm up to date (still got to get up to date with Aberdeenshire birding since I got back from Corsica!). Also talking of my Corsica account on my blog, I will be copying the same account in the vacational report part of the forum. Of course, I am not saying you should read it, but I am eager to see what other people that don't go on blogspot think.

Some interesting winter birds recently. Yesterday saw a maximum of 8 inches of snow here in Aberdeen and I was inspired to have a brief garden birdwatch. I watched from my bedroom window for about 20 mins, and in that 20 mins I had c.35 Fieldfare, which were all in one flock, 15 Redwing, 50 Pink-footed Geese and my second ever Buzzard over the house, the latter a strange record for a house situated in the centre of city. The commoner garden bird species (Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit,Robin) were also in good numbers, taking food from the bird feeders which I had kindly put out for them.

Besides garden birding, I am rather tempted to pick up a late in the year lifer (quite an embaressing one really) at Peterhead; 2 Iceland Gulls, before the end of the year. Peterhead is about 40 miles from here but we check the Harbour there for gulls at this time of year when we're on the way back from the Loch of Strathbeg so its well worth a try. Seeing these birds would be a nice way to end the year and a good boost for next year. I'll inform you if I do go up to Peterhead to look for them, and if I see them of course!

Merry Christmas folks. I hope you have a great time, whoever you may be with, whatever you may be doing!

 

[louisfh]

1. None come to mind, I guess I've had a decent year.
2. Didn't do a yearlist so not sure, but I think it would probably be bullfinch, sure I've walked past a couple this year.
3. Common Scoter (don't laugh!) at the bottom of my road! Nothing too amazing but they gave me such a thrill to finally see something unusual on my normal 'rounds'. Followed a close second by California Condors at Big Sur. Amazing birds, to see them soaring around stirred a feeling that's indescribable.
4. Can't think of any although there must have been plenty I could have gone to see, only went on two twitches this year!
5. Brown shrike, I believe it's the fifth?
6. Hmmm that's a real tough one. I think it may have to be the house martins of this year, when the first pair returned locally I watched them for ages. Their excited, energetic flight seemed so different to everything else I'd seen in the preceding winter and they just looked like an absolute image of hope and resilience. </emotional moment>
7. Another really tough one, when I went to Point Reyes in California it was spectacular. Harriers all over the place and birds in every bush, loads of waders and very impressive scenery.

Have a merry christmas and may all your birding wishes come true! Like Joseph put much more eloquently:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

[MCspudd]

Hi everyone today i went to barrow lodge to see the velvet scoter and i saw 1 velvet scoter, 1 female reed bunting, 1 grey wagtail, 2 pied wagtail, 1 kestrel, blue tit, great tits and 1 heron.

 

[Zac Hinchcliffe]

Great shot Zac, what time were you there?

Hey Jonny

Yeh, i was there at about 9.30-10.30. the light wasnt great light so i didnt have complete advantage with the viewing range due to high ISO hence the slightly grainy/soft image.

cheers for the kind words anyway!

Zac

 

[Jonny721]

The light for you was better than mine. We didn't even see the sun. I was there around 2pm

 

[Ash1456]

Merry Xmas everyone and hope you have a bird filled new year!!!!! :t:

 

[Joseph N]

Merry Christmas for yesterday guys! Birding related wise I got a new Moleskine notebook to record my 2010 sightings and a subscription to Birdwatch magazine, great stuff! Did any of you get anything birding related?

Tomorrow I'm going to be taking a big last day of the year trip, where I will be looking for three specific species: King Eider, Long-tailed Duck and Iceland Gull. There are two of the latter bird at Peterhead around 30 miles north of Aberdeen; they would be a life tick. King Eider and Long-tailed Duck, meanwhile, are all the way in Burghead, Moray, a few miles west of Elgin, about 1 and a half hours from Aberdeen. Hoping to fit both of the places in tomorrow and see all three target species. If I do see all three species my year list will end on a good 181 species, my highest yet... Lets just hope light doesn't go against us as we search both places and look for the target birds! I'll report back to you tomorrow what happens on this exciting day ahead of me.

Joseph

 

[Ash1456]

Merry Christmas for yesterday guys! Birding related wise I got a new Moleskine notebook to record my 2010 sightings and a subscription to Birdwatch magazine, great stuff! Did any of you get anything birding related?

I might get a scope with my xmas money. No birding related things becasue the 2nd edition of the collins guide isnt out yet:C:C:C:C:C:C:C:C:C:C