Garden / Yard List 2024 (3 Viewers)

[Richard Prior]

No Hobby for me yet, but three falcon species today (apologies in advance for one of my epic rambling posts):

With a consistent end of April total of 72 species in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as today dawned I was looking at a below-par YTD of 67, having only added 7 during the month. It may strike most of you as odd but April often only produces a single figure additions total here, the sub-Saharan migrants that are already back in lower-lying parts of Europe take a bit longer to get to our 1000m. The day turned out extraordinarily well though, leaving your Alps correspondent a very happy Lapin!

Before embarking on a day’s fence repair and maintenance up at Mum in law’s fields yesterday I had done my customary look at Sulens mountain to see if there was any Black Grouse action, the past two weeks of cold and gloomy weather seems to have delayed the usual late April displaying. However I got quite a surprise to see 7 Red Deer way up at the tree line(c1700m), they were struggling to cross the deeper snow to the right of the trees so were undertaking various u-turns and stumbles as they re-entered the forest, flushing a male BG that took refuge on top of a conifer, a female also disturbed a few minutes later.

A very mild night and Sahara dust in the air had me ‘on station’ at the front window by 07h00,as I ‘scoped the area of yesterday’s frolics a deep brown missile shot through my view, not my instant reaction thought “Swift” but a female Merlin charging above the valley in that typical hurried flight. My 5th Spring record here, the score now is March 2 – April 3. Checking down the valley towards the village I could see the first House Martin visiting the nesting site at Manigod’s very own ‘Concept Café’ (getting a bit too swanky for me hereabouts). So two garden year ticks before 09h00 .

Flushed with this success I made a pot of coffee and took a cup outside the back door, we’ve got two very bold Jay around the three houses but something looked un Jay-like about the pink and black and white flurry of bird that I saw in the corner of my eye as it flew round the corner of next door’s house and onto their balcony, “merde” it’s a bloomin’ Hoopoe, only our second ever here. You know the rest, spilt coffee, stumble into house, get the camera, where’s the bird now? - there on the hand rail, click, oops it’s gone. I’m glad I’m a birder first and a bird photographer a very distant second, so I don’t get stressed about getting that perfect image. In this case though the bird was really taking the mickey in deciding to vanish as soon as I’d taken the first burst! A Tree Pipit was now singing at the top of our field so I was on 71 already but despite putting in a good few additional hours I couldn’t add any more by the end of the day, still, mustn’t be greedy.

As for Frank’s challenge for me to take an arty photo of the Grey Heron against a snowy mountain background, I suspect a Swiss/Heron plot, as for the third time since he set me this quest it flew directly over the house, at least this time you can see which Heron species it is (just). 41 species for the day.

68 Merlin
69 House Martin
70 Hoopoe
71 Tree Pipit

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

#74 Mistle Thrush was a long overdue yeartick yesterday. A single bird being unceremoniously chased out of the garden by a couple of Blackbirds.

In a normal year I would have seen MT multiple times by now, they’ve even bred just across the road - but this is not a normal year, and this is my first in 6 months!



Today - Mistle Thrush again. 😉

A Red Kite early this morning tells me that it/they are roosting locally, and breeding cannot be far away.

I also nearly had my head taken off by 2 Kingfishers intent on chasing each other.

I have seen Great Spotted excavating a few nest holes earlier in the year, and then mating in the same tree. Today I saw them actually entering the hole, which I didn’t think was deep. Then I heard youngsters calling, food being delivered and a foecal sac being removed.

 

[KenM]

Following on from ystrdy’s. late afternoon Hobby, a pair soaring over the house at 11.00 soon followed by two Sprawks taking advantage of the heat, then followed (30 mins later) by an all dark Kite sp, distant but a very recognisable signature shape and movement, revealing a short squared tail. IMO migrans was the only candidate possibility.
Wished I could have imaged it, but having imaged one of the closer hobbies badly, there was no point in imaging it, being that much further away against a slightly misty white cloud, a no no for my camera…No.66.

 

[Farnboro John]

Following on from ystrdy’s. late afternoon Hobby, a pair soaring over the house at 11.00 soon followed by two Sprawks taking advantage of the heat, then followed (30 mins later) by an all dark Kite sp, distant but a very recognisable signature shape and movement, revealing a short squared tail. IMO migrans was the only candidate possibility.
Wished I could have imaged it, but having imaged one of the closer hobbies badly, there was no point in imaging it, being that much further away against a slightly misty white cloud, a no no for my camera…No.66.

Having seen some of your previous claims that you did image, all of which showed identifiable Red Kites, this isn't even a case of an unfair records committee when I say that you may not claim Black Kite without a full-frame sharp photo in good light. 65.

John

 

[halftwo]

Looking out (without success for Hobbies & Swifts) did produce two

76: Sand Martins

 

[KenM]

Having seen some of your previous claims that you did image, all of which showed identifiable Red Kites, this isn't even a case of an unfair records committee when I say that you may not claim Black Kite without a full-frame sharp photo in good light. 65.

John

I may, or may not have, explained my problems with previous BK records.
Having seen the “Scilly bird” late eighties nineties, it was comparable to birds that I’d seen at Eilat ‘86.
Fast forward to my next sighting in central France turn of the millenia, with much rufous underneath and a slightly forked tail, indeed comparable to many of the Central European BK’s which to my eye don’t compare to the Scilly bird or the Eilat birds (with their rufous tones and a “more pronounced” forked tail).

As you might imagine, I see the occasional RK over the house (40+ sightings so far this year).
So I’m reasonably well equipped to differentiate between the two species at any angle and most distances.
Their signature movement and shape are very obvious, it’s certainly not rocket science…although there are those that wish it was.😮
For your own peace of mind, may I suggest that in order to sleep nights you can de-tick it!….I won’t be.👍

 

[Farnboro John]

I may, or may not have, explained my problems with previous BK records.
Having seen the “Scilly bird” late eighties nineties, it was comparable to birds that I’d seen at Eilat ‘86.
Fast forward to my next sighting in central France turn of the millenia, with much rufous underneath and a slightly forked tail, indeed comparable to many of the Central European BK’s which to my eye don’t compare to the Scilly bird or the Eilat birds (with their rufous tones and a “more pronounced” forked tail).

As you might imagine, I see the occasional RK over the house (40+ sightings so far this year).
So I’m reasonably well equipped to differentiate between the two species at any angle and most distances.
Their signature movement and shape are very obvious, it’s certainly not rocket science…although there are those that wish it was.😮
For your own peace of mind, may I suggest that in order to sleep nights you can de-tick it!….I won’t be.👍

For instance:

Odd BOP NEast London

Sky-watching at 9.30 am this morning, I picked up this very high BOP going slowly NWest, as I didn't recognise the profile I took a shutter-burst of quite frankly awful images, however on enlargement and auto correction as bad as they are....I thought might be of interest? Essentially body/...

www.birdforum.net

Garden/Yard List 2020

Black Stork is brilliant, Richard! Almost web-footed, but I'm sure you'll take it!

www.birdforum.net

Have a nice day

John

 

[halftwo]

The doorstep vigil produced again:

77: Yellow Wagtail

 

[KenM]

For instance:

Odd BOP NEast London

Sky-watching at 9.30 am this morning, I picked up this very high BOP going slowly NWest, as I didn't recognise the profile I took a shutter-burst of quite frankly awful images, however on enlargement and auto correction as bad as they are....I thought might be of interest? Essentially body/...

www.birdforum.net

Garden/Yard List 2020

Black Stork is brilliant, Richard! Almost web-footed, but I'm sure you'll take it!

www.birdforum.net

Have a nice day

John

Yes John, being a hack photographer I can and do, put up some awful images for general consumption, odd that you don’t put up anything, especially with you being a bazooka strapped photographer! 😮

I will have a joyous day “hunting the clouds”😄

 

[KenM]

Not much to report today save Red Kite, same female Sprawk three times, and Hobby over, interesting to note my third occurrence of Hobby 1,2,1 in 3 consecutive days with just one occurrence of Swift x2, two occurrence of Swallow x3….and no Martins still!

However just circa 3 miles away a Greater short-toed Lark (extremely rare in London) plus a putative 1st for Britain at Holland Haven c68 miles away “Black-backed Citrine Wagtail” Essex is enjoying a purple patch at present.👍

 

[pete wragg]

I wasn't here yesterday, so potentially missed Golden Oriole,Montagu's Harrier and several Black Terns.
Oriole was still around this morning but,unlike yesterday,never came anywhere near mine.
Still managed four new for year
112 - Yellow Wagtail, 1 flew over garden
113 - Red Kite, 1 blogging around
114 - Gannet, 2 on Humber
115 - Mistle Thrush, 1 on LBM

 

[halftwo]

You would definitely had had the Monty's, Pete. I missed it by a minute, despite a desperate dash back from Skeffling!

 

[pete wragg]

116 - Whitethroat, in garden
and a nice Collared Fly,in the hand,just down the road.
It's raining heavily at moment, but hopefully when it stops it could be interesting

 

[hookem2010]

I continue to avoid my mess of a yard as I focus on the nearby parks around it, but I have added a couple new birds to the yard list
63) Brown-headed cowbird- a female provided identifiable views without bins as I was working on a housing project on the patio. They certainly fly over my house with some regularity. The more exciting find was...
64- Hooded warbler- an uncommon spring migrant this far west. As I lamented missing a day of migration due to a constant drizzle and feeling a bit sick, a female was chasing bugs on the ground, allowing for a horrible phone-to-bin pic. New for the yard and county!

 

[Frank van Drogen]

Being horribly behind with something (or, occasionally, many things) seems to be the story of my life. And, since we’re actually of to France for a couple of days next week, I figured I ought to maybe write the update for the short holiday we had at our property over Easter.



We arrived at our place just after sunset the 27th of March after picking up my wife at the nearest station to our place (35 min drive). We had timed all relatively careful, and to our big surprise, both the French traffic and the SNCF were highly cooperative with my wife only having to wait a couple of minutes. As mentioned, it was dark upon arrival, and a bit wet all around so I didn’t spend any time looking for birds.



Contrary to the weather forecast, the 28th was actually a glorious day, blue sky lots of sun and pleasant temperatures, albeit a bit windy. I filled up the feeders which were completely empty and took an hour and a half to walk around our property. I had rained a lot the days before, and the earth was very saturated with water and muddy. The grass was a bit above knee height and we while had planned to cut it close to the house and let it be in the fields, it seemed a bad idea to get the tractor out and destroy the terrain. My son tried to avoid the inevitable and stay in bed as long as possible, but once he got up we kindly pointed out where the hand mower was and put him to work.





During my tour around the property, I encountered some 30 different species of birds. Most of them already on the 2024 garden list, but a handful of new ones. Immediately heard was (49) Hoopoe. The grass being high on our and neighboring properties meant I didn’t get my eyes on it this time though. I heard some (50) Tree Pipits, and before landing on one with my bins I saw a (51) Firecrest. In one of the hedgerows I saw a singing (52) Yellowhammer. Normally those are actually quite abundant, but this would be the only one I would see this stay. A rather unexpected find was a (53) Bullfinch, I didn’t hear or see any all winter, but now saw one (presumably the same one) all four days we were at our place. My wife, not so much into birds, was complaining about the lack of Cuckoos though – for her a sign of spring which she had looked forward to.



Not a new bird for the year list, but I still was very happy to actually notice quite a few Greenfinches, it seems they are making a nice recovery! This did however seem to coincide with a decrease in the number Hawfinches around, not sure if there is a competition based correlation or if there’s another reason.



It was clear we had used up the good weather for these holidays on Thursday; on Friday the 29th we woke up to a grey sky with frequent showers. Over the next three days, we would actually accumulate 60 mm or rain, which caused the normally docile stream between our two ponds to turn into a foaming ri… eh, well, creek. Although spring seems to have retreated for a bit, we did hear our first (54) Cuckoo. Not sure if we missed them the previous day, or whether they had really just arrived, since there were at least three around announcing their presence loudly. The only other new bird I noticed between the rain showers was a (55) Black Redstart.



March 30th not only graced us with many rain showers, but we also experienced a huge hailstorm. Since many of the fruit trees were in full bloom we feared that we would loose most of the blossoms, but it seems most were actually spared. While there was a bit of sun, it did hear my first (56) Willow Warbler for 2024. (Since we are now actually almost 6 weeks later, they actually seem very sparce this year. Didn’t hear a single one in Switzerland and Germany and only at one place during our stay in the Netherlands!) Towards the evening, I noticed a loud group of (57) Fieldfare in a tree near our ponds.



The last day of March they weather was marginally better, and gave us the opportunity to take care of our beehives, though the bees were relatively aggressive. One bee clearly carried a grudge, and came back for me after removing the beekeeper suit, and stung me in my neck. While still being protected, I did notice two (58) Green Sandpipers near the lower pond. My notes say I also saw a (59) Stonechat, but I have to admit, I don’t remember when or where during the day…..



A quick walk around before taking the car back to Zurich on April 1st added a (60) Redstart and a life first for the property (61) Bank Swallow.

 

[Richard Prior]

Lovely stuff Frank, I may have asked before, in which département is your property?

 

[Frank van Drogen]

Lovely stuff Frank, I may have asked before, in which département is your property?

It's in the Allier -- though my wife's grandma would claim it was in the Bourbonnais.

 

[angusmcoatup]

I struggle to update my own thread so rarely post on this one but have just remembered seeing a Sand Martin yesterday over the property. I was trying to find a singing Golden Oriole at the time but the paleness of the Martin caught my eye. Plenty of them to be found a mile or so away near the lake but striking to see one hawking an orange grove.

 

[Richard Prior]

I dream that one day a Sand Martin will get a bit lost and wander up here…
Anyway, they say it’s the early bird that gets the worm, my problem today being that this particular early bird (me) couldn’t tell which ‘worm’ (bird) I had!
06h50, chuffed after successfully spotting a Cuckoo on the Sulens mountainside (and a handsome Fox trotting above the tree line) a slim-winged Harrier rose up behind the summit and started heading north, despite following it in the ‘scope for over a minute I only managed to exclude Marsh and Hen, but the light conditions this early meant it was impossible to even tell if it was male or female. Given the rapid increase in Pallid Harrier sightings through France and Switzerland it’s no longer possible to assume an early May migrating bird is Montagu’s (as I’m sure everyone used to do until recent years I suspect with such individuals too distant or badly lit to discern plumage details) so it’s a BOP that remains unidentified to species.

So just one to add:

72 Cuckoo (2 days later than last year’s first)

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

An early start today. After nearly 16 hours of rain I was hopeful something might have dropped in.

Sadly it was super quiet, I didn’t even bother running the Merlin App, not that it would have picked up a distant #75 Cuckoo calling from across the road. A day later than last year. They usually turn up locally, either side of me, along the valley, a week or two before they turn up to our sub-prime habitat.

Another bodged good bird, was only the 2nd May record of Oystercatcher, had my phone at the ready this time, but the bird veered off before going over me.