We are only a couple of days into 2014 but it is going quite well so far.
I have spent time with friends and relatives, made a profit on betting, had some walks, eaten well and drunk well too – if only I had won the Really Nasty Horse Racing Game in the first few minutes of 2014 my joy would be complete.
At Stanwick Lakes we saw an Oystercatcher on New Year’s Day – doesn’t sound that exciting does it? Well, that is the first January record I have for that species at my local patch so it’s a little bit special to me. A Red Kite drifted over too (don’t tell Richard Ingrams). The bacon roll was just perfect as we sat in the visitor centre looking at the rain getting harder and feeling pleased we had missed most of it and would watch the racing from Cheltenham on TV this year.
And 2 January produced my second-ever record of Whooper Swan for Stanwick – 4 adults flew up the valley – and a Peregrine was putting the fear of death into hundreds of Lapwings as I returned to my car.
In the garden, a couple of Coal Tits have become regular visitors – another good bird for Avery Towers.
My last bird of 2013 was a Mute Swan – it was the only species identifiable in the gloom at the end of a walk, and the first of 2014 was a singing Robin as I filled up our recycling bin with a surprising number of empty Rioja bottles before the rest of the house was moving.
A 2014 bird list of only 53 species so far, but all within a few miles of home.
How is your year so far?
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Happy new year, Mark,
I lived and birdwatched in Northants, near you in the 1970’s and didn’t see any of your ‘star’ species there – ever. The only regular raptor was the kestrel, I never saw a sparrowhawk there and I recall that per the bird report a peregrine was seen about once every other year. So although farmland birds have declined dramatically, some things have improved.
My 2014 list is much shorter than yours, but it does include three diver species, including White billed, a lifer, red necked grebe and avocet courtesy a twitch ( by train & bus) to Brixham yesterday. Now I must go out and look for house sparrow and collared dove.
I always have fun on New Years Day (my birthday) starting off my new year birdlist. This year torrential rain meant I had to do it from behind glas streaming with rain. I did manage 14 species including Siskin. Yesterday the weather was much kinder and I added many more reaching 60 species by dark.
This may all sound very trivial but keeping a Year List is great motivation to get out at every opportunity to add species. There is a serious point too. All the records from this effort get posted on BTO’s BirdTrack.
The year has started well for me too despite the windy wet weather. On 1st my brother and I visited Ripon Parks, Nosterfield Quarry and Nosterfield NR. then the rain came again and we adjourned for the day with 56 species, best of which were three Jack Snipe and a Red Kite. On 2nd we visited Gouthwaite Res (10 Buzzards) went across the moors back towards Nosterfield on the way we added Red Grouse and Woodcock but not Stonechat. The Nosterfield sites added 14 Ruff and 5 Oystercatcher, amongst large numbers of Teal and Wigeon, to yesterdays tally.We finished at Staveley NR where the best birds were 2 Scaup and Willow Tit but we failed with Barn Owl, total 77.
A great 3/4 hr with a pair of Ravens from the house. First of all they were enjoying mobbing 2 Buzzards over Talkinhead fell then went up the valley diving down flushing 1 Black Cock and then later 6 Red Grouse. they settled on Simmason and just seemed to play for 1/2 an hour pulling vegetation, rolling over only 4 ft off the ground and may be trying to trap a vole in a section of grass! this was about 1 mile from the house. I stopped for Lunch and then they had dropped down the valley back to Talkinhead. Love living here. 28 years come 2014. Have a great year. I don’t have to leave the room!!
Happy New Year Mark!
I joined in the new years guided walk at RSPB Conwy again this year (though it took place on the 2nd due to awful weather on the 1st!). I’m not keeping a list this year but I know my total so far is similar to yours and already includes one species (the scaup) that I didn’t see last year. I have also made a sort-of-resolution to use Birdtrack more regularly – I have been uploading my garden sightings (#breakfastbirding on my twitter page) every day so far this year using the excellent and very simple app, and hope to keep that up all year!
I bird watched in my garden on the first day of this year and enjoyed all my garden favourites and yesterday I saw some great birds in Lancashire. Most of my birds begin with B so far Buzzard, Brambling, Black Headed Gull, Blackbird, Blue Tit and a stunning male Bullfinch. I hope that is a good sign for seeing the Buff Bellied Pipit in the Wirral tomorrow.
On the track in the dark on Christmas night returning through flooded roads from Picket Twenty skulked a woodcock that seemed unphased by my headlights and casually trotted in front of us for a couple of minutes while I took photos on my mobile phone camerol until we came to a gap between the hedges and it flew off into the darkness anyway I might as well have used a potato for all the pix were worth but my proper camerol was still on a table in Picket Twenty which is I suppose a form of Murphy’s Law as I have only seen Mr Woodcock a handful of times in seven years and previously all have been fleeting glimpses in the gloaming
With New Years Day being a bit of a right-off following an all nighter and exam revision/magazine editing taking most of the space afterwards, having been out nearly as much as I’d like – I was already on three bittern this time last year! Best I’ve managed was getting out to Shatterford Heath in the New Forest en route to visiting friends out there, on the off-chance of some skulking dartford warblers. But bar lots of crows and the quickest flash of a snipe not much was about. Better luck when I get back to Cornwall!
Peter – welcome! Cornwall is a bit wet, I hear.
Hi Mark,Happy New Year and pleased it has started so well for you.
Not so good for us as both of us have worst cold ever O H had to have Doctor on Tuesday and fortunately brought some anti-biotics with him.We are probably not missing much as we could not travel far as floods are making travelling dodgy.
Dennis – how rotten for you. Hope coughs, floods and weather all clear up soon for you both.
My first bird of 2014 was a lesser black-backed gull rather than the expected collared dove, carrion crow or starling – seen through a rain lashed kitchen window over the back of the house. My last birds of 2013 were a group of corn buntings I heard calling during a respite from the wind and rain. The local starlings have been particularly energetic and noisy over Christmas (and very welcome – to me at any rate) on my neighbours feeders and whirling around the rooftops.
For 2014 I hope to get my own feeders organised in time for BGBW and to add red kite and sparrowhawk to the seen from the house raptor list (which currently has “just” buzzard and kestrel – but I feel privileged to have seen them). The builders have been busy on site and so I don’t think we’ll have the joy of skylarks singing over us this spring, but I’m hopeful we might see a house sparrow and maybe have house martins nesting somewhere on the estate next summer.
Oh, and yes I do plan to leave the house occasionally!
Must quickly mention another 2013 bird highlight back in the summer – a carrion crow inspecting an empty packet of cigarettes. It managed to open the packet to look inside, almost as though it were desperate for a smoke!
Well, I’m four days behind the bar but there’s no App to record the birds in Oman and I doubt there’s to much competition either. Set out today finally. overcast, grey and cold. Well 15degrees C does seem cold these days. Had a few species already mentally bagged. Three species of Bulbul, Isalbelline Shrike, Little Green Bee eater and Purple Sunbirds. First bird seen a House Sparrow, thankfully still doing very well here. A Purple Heron flew overhead and the noisiest birds in the world (Red-wattled plovers) were in fine form.
Moved to the lake and bagged a few Herons including the Black Crowned Night Heron which as its name suggests is a bit of a night bird. Indian Pond, Squacco, Grey and Striated Heron swelled the numbers with a white morph Western Reef Heron and a trio of Cattle Egret rounding off the Heron count. Waders few and far between, whimbrel and Ruff the only shows.
The normal culprits, Common Mynah, Laughing dove, indian roller were about and the White Wagtails have now come back for the winter.
Highlight was the female Kingfisher and I think I got some nice pics of her.
Final tally for the morning 26 birds.
Notable absences Little Egret, Bulbuls and the Isabelline Shrike.
Collared doves are collecting nest material in my garden. “Global warming?”