|
Jan 2017
7:39pm, 29 Jan 2017
17,355 posts
|
KinkyS
The highs and lows of birding...
Just got back from a fabulous week in Norfolk. New bins purchased on the first morning, followed by bagging 103 species for the week 
Among the many relatively common ducks, waders, raptors and passerines of all kinds (I can do a full list if anyone is that bothered!), we also bagged some more unusual highlights:
Siberian chiffchaff, helpfully right next to an overwintering regular chiffchaff so we could see the difference.
Dartford warbler - took three trips on three days to the heath to find one!
Bearded tit
Great white egret
Red throated diver
Velvet scoter
Shore lark
Water pipit
In theory the list could be 105, since I'm 99% certain that the enormous juvenile gull with no trace of black on it must be a glaucous gull but not quite good enough with gulls to be sure. And I did see a monochrome bird fly past my field of view that someone else with a scope said was a little auk while we were sea watching, but for all I know it could've been a gull so I'm not counting it. The dozens of long-tailed ducks at Titchwell were frustratingly not showing when we were there, and the ferruginous duck at Broadmarsh was similarly conspicuous by its absence on the day we visited, but other than that (and the lack of a flukey bittern) we saw everything we had hoped for.
However, when we got home, we discovered that the patch of scrub behind our house has been completely cleared All the bushes, shrubs, young and mature trees have gone, leaving a barren wasteland. Presumably, the sizeable population of assorted tits and finches that we used to enjoy watching from the back windows of the house will have gone too I'm more than a little bit heart-broken that such a valuable resource for so many birds has gone, especially at the toughest time of year for them. I knew it had to happen eventually, planning permission has been granted for a big building merchants right at the end of our back garden, but that doesn't make it any easier to see.
Fortunately, our beloved garden regulars Owen and Mrs Owen the blackbirds, Little Rob and Brave Rob the robins, and double dunnock action are still around. I'd be completely devastated if our favourite feathered friends had disappeared too, especially as the scrub clearance unluckily coincided with us not feeding them for a week.
|
|
Jan 2017
8:49pm, 29 Jan 2017
24,551 posts
|
GlennR
A good week, but that's not nice Kinky. What do we want a building merchants up here for?
|
|
Jan 2017
9:16pm, 29 Jan 2017
22,451 posts
|
Derby Tup
Real mixed fortunes Kinky :-):-(
|
|
Jan 2017
9:32pm, 29 Jan 2017
7,010 posts
|
Watford Wobble
Sorry to hear that news Kinky. Some would say it's progress.
Well done on the Peddars Way result. Look forward to reading the blog when it comes.
Birds seem especially hungry at the moment. I was greeted by LTT in the next door neighbours ash tree.
|
|
Jan 2017
9:14am, 30 Jan 2017
22,085 posts
|
HellsBells
That is sad Kinky, but what a great list
Sat watching a great spotted woodpecker on the feeder 3 feet from the window whilst eating my breakfast this morning - they don't visit us very often and lovely to see them when they do
|
|
Jan 2017
11:41am, 30 Jan 2017
1,459 posts
|
Fragile Do Not Bend
Huge flock of redwing here, I'm no good at estimating numbers but must be a couple of hundred. A lot of of them are in the tree in the field next door and they are making a racket that sounds rather like a load of starlings coming in to roost.
|
|
Jan 2017
11:44am, 30 Jan 2017
1,460 posts
|
Fragile Do Not Bend
|
|
Jan 2017
12:50pm, 30 Jan 2017
17,356 posts
|
KinkyS
A blue tit came to our feeder this morning. I'm a little bit encouraged that it hasn't abandoned us
I forgot snow bunting on my list of Norfolk exotica
|
|
Jan 2017
1:38pm, 30 Jan 2017
1,349 posts
|
Surelynot
Big Garden return for my small patch of front garden:
Blackbird X1
Wood pigeon x 2
Jackdaw x 1
Robin x1
Dunlin x 2
House sparrow x 5
Chaffinch x 1
|
|
Jan 2017
1:46pm, 30 Jan 2017
25,240 posts
|
macca 53
Big Garden return
wren x1
collared dove x4
house sparrow x 2
great tit x1
blue tit x1
goldfinch x2
yellowhammer x1 (unusual to see a singleton, they usually appear as a mini-flock of 6-12)
chaffinch x3
very unusual not to have a blackbird or two - they are around just didn't visit us yesterday.
|
