A good year? (1 Viewer)

[monkeyman]

With only six weeks or so 'til the end of the year, my wife and I have managed seven lifetime ticks in 2002 plus a first osprey at Rutland for my wife. Any non-twitchers beat that?

Here's our list:

Great Grey Shrike (Newark, Notts)
Woodlark, Redstart, Pied Flycatcher (photo soon on the gallery) and Nightjar at Cannock Chase, Staffordshire.
Ruff and Osprey (Rutland)
Grey Phalarope (Gailey Reservoir, Staffordshire)

I wonder what we would see if we became full-blown twitchers!

 

[HH75]

Need Great Grey Shrike myself,but the species is very rare in Ireland.Managed 12 ticks so far(not counting the poss.Elegant Tern in Co.Kerry,as the ID is still undecided),quite a poor autumn but a good spring.The ticks break down as follows:
Jan:Twite(found 3 birds in Galway city while there to get a bus to Ballyvaughan,where I saw......)
Black-throated Diver(6+at Ballyvaughan,where regular)
Feb:Hawfinch(rare here,a friend and I found a female in Co.Limerick,with up to 4 in the area subsequently,poss.breeding here?)
Mar:Alpine Swift(found 5 in Cork city centre,only 12-20 mins from my house!)
Apr:Great Spotted Cuckoo(the first twitchable bird since 1975;I was a few months old when that one turned up!)
White Stork(an unringed individual at Ballycotton)
May:Woodlark(only the 2nd since 1966 and 1st twitchable bird;happened to be going to Gt.Saltee ANYWAY when the news broke!)
Golden Oriole(at last!Female on Cape Clear)
Jul:Mandarin(tickable feral population Co.Down)
Oct:Forster's Tern(prob.returning bird Co.Kerry,dipped on 1 there last year)
Serin(1st twitchable bird,got great views)
Bean Goose(rare here,1 Taiga Bean with a Russian White-front)
Should get the Snow Geese before the year ends.....?

 

[monkeyman]

Nice one! I'm envious of the Hawfinch. Yet to clock that (although my wife has seen 'em!)

Just missed out the other week on the Great White Egret at Aldridge in the West Midlands. Maddening as the spot where it was seen is a favourite haunt of ours and I'd driven past on the day before it was reported! By the time I got there, the bird had flown.

I saw my first Chough in the Knockmealldown mountains when I was a lad on a family holiday in Ireland. to my shame, I've yet to make a return visit . . . your list might just spur me to remedy that!

Hopefully we'll get the Crossbills at Cannock Chase this winter. There's already been reports of flocks of up to 80 birds. It's also a good place for Gr Grey Shrikes and (supposedly) Goshawks, but we've been unlucky to date.

Cheers

 

[Reader]

J J's lifer list 2002

Hi all

I haven't chased around anywhere near as much as I used to. I used to be out every weekend but this year I am lucky if I go out one weekend in any month. So far my life list for this year is as follows.

Britain

Titchwell Norfolk Mealy Redpoll
Scarborough North Yorks Ross's Gull
Saltfleetby N.R Lincs Lesser Sand Plover
Drayton Basset pits Staffs Least Sandpiper
Bealach na Ba (nr Applecross) Highlands Ptarmigan
Loch Eriboll Highlands White-billed Diver
Farmoor Res Oxon Franklin's Gull
Flamborough Yorks White-throated Sparrow

Spain

Laguna Dulce White-headed Duck
Sierra Nevada (Ski Slope) Alpine Accentor
Vuelta de la Arena ( on the Coto Donana) Spanish Imperial Eagle

Greece

Tsgari (on Souli Villages road) Rock Thrush
Ioanina Lake Pygmy Cormorant
Wetlands near Sagiada (Nr Albanian border) Slender-billed Curlew
Rodia Lagoon (Amvrakikos Gulf) Slender-billed Gull


I must admit to being very pleased with a good proportion of birds I have seen this year, especially the Slender billed Curlew. That will take some beating no matter what i see in the future.

 

[IanF]

New entries 2002

A pretty good year for us, though we don't travel that much

Scottish Crossbill
Capercaillie
Brambling
Cattle Egret (Majorca)
Ruff
Bar Tailed Godwit
Ring Necked Duck
Slavonian Grebe
Audouin's Gull (Majorca)
Snow Bunting
Woodcock
Twite
Cirl Bunting (Majorca)
Ring Necked Parakeets (Majorca)
Comoon Crane
Hooded Crow
Great Northern Diver
Red Throated Diver
Crested Tit
Brent Goose
Black Necked Grebe
Red Kite
Red Crested Pohcard

Best of all BEE-EATER - local too !

 

[Reader]

Ian

I forgot about the birds that I had seen abroad but not in Britain before this year. The Bee eaters reminded me of that. We called in to see them on our way back home from Scotland. Beautiful birds weren't they. What a bonus having them so close to you.

You will have to visit the South coast in Devon at Prawle point for Cirl Bunting. I have never missed them when I have visited there and they can come very close to you at times, as close as a couple of feet on one occasion. There are other sites, some very close to Exeter but I haven't been so lucky there.

The other birds that I added to my British list this year were:
Littleover Derbys White Stork
Hedra Cornwall Black-eared Wheatear
Cotswold water park (pit 74) Wilts Whiskered Tern
Bishop Middleham County Durham European Bee-eater
Hardley Floods Norfolk White-headed Duck
Minsmere (Dunwich heath) Suffolk Purple Heron

I'm definitely envious of your Capercaillie though. I have lost count of the early morning and dusk vigils I have made for this bird, all to no avail. Next year I aim to go to Loch Garten for one of the early morning Capercaillie vigils. Hopefully I will get to grip with this most elusive bird for me.