Still doing it. Yesterday I had 12 Wrens in hour 1, six in hour 2: yup, this is an Unusually high bird count.
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- Thread starter Stephen Dunstan
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Still doing it. Yesterday I had 12 Wrens in hour 1, six in hour 2: yup, this is an Unusually high bird count.
joannec
Well-known member
Well, I did survey my Sussex Weald tetrad today without the helmet......no golfers about on the golf course. Highlights were 2 Redpoll, my first Redwings of the season and four different Kestrels. Thirty one species altogether in the two hours. At one point I was looking over a farm gateway across fields when the farmer turned up and offered to let me walk over his farm in subsequent surveys, I was nearly at the end of my two hours at the time. That should add to the species count as there is a lake with no public access to it.
Tree Sparrow
Well-known member
Ah but did you wear your cycle helmet just in case there were any golfers?
That was nice of the farmer to give you access in the future.
TS
Dermot Breen
Well-known member
I did a square in Connemara National Park/Twelve Bens Mts. on the west coast of Ireland last winter and had just one Raven and even that was flying over! Looking forward to doing the early winter visit|=o|
Dermot
Dermot
joannec
Well-known member
Ah but did you wear your cycle helmet just in case there were any golfers?
No, no one about apart from the groundsmen. Golfers are fairweather guys and the weather wasn't great.
Yes, it was. In my experience farmers are pretty interested in the wildlife on their farms. I did offer to provide him with a list of birds I've seen on his farm and I do happen to know that he's put up barn owl boxes. He's not a birder but like a lot of country people is interested in wildlife generally.
Surreybirder
Ken Noble
It really pays to spend time talking to farmers, I find. They often have a good idea of what can be found on their land... and, as you say, once they get to know you they will let you reach the parts that other birders can't reach. The farmer across the road from us has given me quite a few bird books - including some really good ones.
Ken
Slow going today in Glen Clunie, above Braemar. Heather and scree covered hillside, flat grassy valley bottom with medium sized river, and a small coniferous plantation. Only three inhabited houses. So what did I find? Six birds, and half of them were Buzzards. Actually, I may have counted one of the Buzzards twice but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Two Meadow Pipits, and the star of the day - a Dipper.
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Should have said, good to hear from Ireland, not many of you heroes it seems.
joannec
Well-known member
markgrubb
Leading a life of quiet desperation
I did 2 upland tetrads on Friday-one was a rough hillside and produced only 5 species and 6 birds. Star was a grey wagtail that appeared on the 50m of stream just before I left.
On Sunday I helped out with the Borders blitz covering areas that have been hard to cover. The area was north of Kelso and mostly unpromising large fields of winter wheat and stubble. There were good numbers of tree sparrows(up to 25 in one tetrad), yellowhammers, redwings and fieldfares. Also noticeable was the absence of some birds that I see very commonly eg no sign of a magpie all day. I did 5 tetrads in the day and boy do I feel sore today from wandering around all those sodden fields
Stewart J.
Well-known member
Completed 4 tetrads in the Southern Wark forest over the weekend (NY77) not a great deal though star of every tetrad had to be Crossbills, some of the males song flighting. Others included various tits especially Coal, plenty of Chaffinches a few Siskin and oddly for conifer forest a Jay?
Stewart
Stewart
Capercaillie71
Well-known member
Jays are pretty common in conifer forests here (probably the main habitat I see them in), although usually there have to be some broadleaves (e.g. oaks) not too far away.
I've yet to start any tetrads this year - I have only taken on two so far, due to most of my nearby 10K squares having reached their minimum allocation. Also, I found that taking on six last year was pushing it a bit.
I've started putting in a few roving records though - two decent flocks of Tree Sparrows (60 and 45 birds respectively - the first count being 'unusually high' when I entered it) and I got my very first validation query (Parrot Crossbill ID!).
Stephen Dunstan
Registered User
I did a tetrad outside my immediate area on Saturday (Carnforth) and found that my route was probably not optimal because some fishing lakes had been developed since the map online was produced. Saw a Bullfinch which was my first on a TTV as they are rare on the Fylde.
Stephen.
Stephen.
Surreybirder
Ken Noble
I've had about six validation queries so far, all from Northumbria... an area for which I have submitted comparatively few records. Mind you, I've had fun querying records submitted by others for Surrey! (dartford warbler, hawfinch and the like).
Ken
Stephen Dunstan
Registered User
I did a tetrad this morning before the rains came which included Ribby Hall, a conference centre and holiday village. Plenty of Moorhens there on the ornamental pools, elsewhere in the tetrad there were a couple of Buzzards, a few Grey Wagtails etc.
I have had loads of validation queries, including for Feral Pigeons every time I do a Blackpool tetrad.
Stephen.
I have had loads of validation queries, including for Feral Pigeons every time I do a Blackpool tetrad.
Stephen.
markgrubb
Leading a life of quiet desperation
Finch flocks!!
I did a tetrad in the Scottish Borders today-thought I would just do an hour as it looked like rough hilly grassland at 8-1200 feet. It started out as uninteresting rough hilly upland but a fair bit of the land was managed for pheasant and partridge shooting. In the end it took me 3 and a half hours with the 'stop the clock' bit taking ages. There were a number of fields that had kale and oil seed rape and some other form of brassica that had been allowed to go to seed-the main reason being feed and cover for the game birds. There were large finch flocks in each field-flocks in the hundred flew up from time to time but were only a small portion of the birds on the ground feeding. I could get a rough idea of the flock size and a rough idea of proportions of each species from birds on wires/trees. I used this for a guestimate and came to 1100 chaffinches with lesser numbers of other finches though I think this was a serious underestimate.
Anyone else have experience of finch flocks and trying to count numbers?
Only 15 species in total but managed a dipper and a raven amongst them
I did a tetrad in the Scottish Borders today-thought I would just do an hour as it looked like rough hilly grassland at 8-1200 feet. It started out as uninteresting rough hilly upland but a fair bit of the land was managed for pheasant and partridge shooting. In the end it took me 3 and a half hours with the 'stop the clock' bit taking ages. There were a number of fields that had kale and oil seed rape and some other form of brassica that had been allowed to go to seed-the main reason being feed and cover for the game birds. There were large finch flocks in each field-flocks in the hundred flew up from time to time but were only a small portion of the birds on the ground feeding. I could get a rough idea of the flock size and a rough idea of proportions of each species from birds on wires/trees. I used this for a guestimate and came to 1100 chaffinches with lesser numbers of other finches though I think this was a serious underestimate.
Anyone else have experience of finch flocks and trying to count numbers?
Only 15 species in total but managed a dipper and a raven amongst them
Why yes, but probably not such large flocks as you had there. I haven't yet found any better way of guestimating numbers of each species than what you did. Sometimes I do a very rapid scan of the flock in flight trying to count a distinctive species like Goldfinch, but I'm sure I don't get them all that way.
I know people do photograph them and count afterwards from the photo but I'm not a photographer: do people find this works ?
Tree Sparrow
Well-known member
Last year I realised I was seriously underestimating flock sizes when I took a photo of a flock of linnet, printed it off and counted them. I'd thought there were about 50 but when I counted them it was about 200 and that was only the main body of the flock. So now I do try and photograph flocks to count later although I always check through them with my bins to see if anything else is mixed in.
Was out at dusk today hoping to see badgers and disturbed fieldfare beginning to roost. Not looking forward to trying to count them from the photo as there must be at least a couple of thousand and that was just the ones in the photo.
TS
Surreybirder
Ken Noble
I must admit that I'm not very good at flock estimates but I do know that when I guess and then count I usually seriously underestimate. There was a large mixed flock of finches on stubble near my home a few years ago - greenfinches, brambling, chaffinches, goldfinches. I tried to count the bramblings as there were not too many of them, then I just tried my best guess of the others. Not very satisfactory, but so many were out of sight at any one time. I did try videoing them but the quality wasn't good enough to improve my guesstimates.
Ken
Ken
Stephen Dunstan
Registered User
Did some Atlasing in East Lancs yesterday whilst visiting relatives. Some decent birds along the Leeds-Liverpool canal at Rishton including Goosander, Stonechats and Reed Buntings. Today at Lytham a harsh wind made things challenging so Whooper Swans in a field and a Little Grebe on a ditch were welcome.
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