Biking Birder 2015 - A cycle ride to every RSPB and WWT reserve. (2 Viewers)

[Hotspur]

Cheers Lamp - trying to persaude Gary to get to Hartlepool asap before the Shorelark get the urge to head north. How easy is the LEO in the Salthouse area?

Dunno about Salthouse but pretty easy at Saltholme!

 

[Phil Andrews]

Dunno about Salthouse but pretty easy at Saltholme!

Been a long day ....

 

[Phil Andrews]

Saturday's ride from Filey to Guisborough yielded 2 Short-eared Owl and 4 Red Grouse (#186).

 

[Phil Andrews]

Another productive day for Gary with the addition of Long-eared Owl at Saltholme RSPB (#187) followed up by 2 Shorelark at Hartlepool Headland (#188).

 

[Farnboro John]

Another productive day for Gary with the addition of Long-eared Owl at Saltholme RSPB (#187) followed up by 2 Shorelark at Hartlepool Headland (#188).

That's couple of goodies to get out of the way. Nice work!

John

 

[Phil Andrews]

That's couple of goodies to get out of the way. Nice work!

John

The Shorelark in particular is very handy as it probably means that Gary now won't have to go back to Norfolk this winter. The back of the year is looking quite a push, coming off Fair Isle / Shetland is late October, tidying up 4 or 5 species in the Cairngorms, and heading back down south to Worcestershire with some late eastern migrants along the North Sea coast

 

[Nutcracker]

Penduline Tit to look for too at Saltholme, and Smew if still needed.

 

[biking birder 2010]

Penduline Tit to look for too at Saltholme, and Smew if still needed.

Thanks for pointing out birds taht i possibly need. In this case I had seen both species earlier; smew in Cornwall and pendulines at Titchfield Haven.

Great to see LEO, smew, med gull, shore larks, snow buntings and a black redstart yesterday,

ATB everyone.

Plan a rest for two days with my daughter, get clothes washed and the like. Then off to Langdon Beck for black grouse.

:t:

 

[Paul Chapman]

Penduline Tit to look for too at Saltholme, and Smew if still needed.

List & targets per BUBO:-

http://www.bubo.org/Listing/view-list.html?list_id=23533

http://www.bubo.org/Listing/view-targets.html?list_id=23533

All the best

 

[Nutcracker]

http://www.bubo.org/Listing/view-targets.html?list_id=23533

All the best

Bitterns showing regularly at Saltholme too :t:
Also at Gosforth Park just north of Newcastle (needs Nat. Hist. Soc. Northumbs. permit from Hancock Museum)

Willow Tit easy at Prestwick Carr N of Newcastle Airport

 

[biking birder 2010]

Thanks Nutcracker.

My blog has been updated with details of all birding days and thoughts on the blog's reach around the world, Earth Hour, donations and sponsors.

http://bikingbirder2016.blogspot.co.uk/

 

[Phil Andrews]

Gary added Black Grouse (#189) yesterday with a lek of 22 birds in the evening at Langdon Beck. With nearly a fortnight before he needs to be in York and little happening in the country at present he is popping over to Haweswater to secure Golden Eagle and remove some of the pressure later in the year.

 

[Richard Prior]

Gary added Black Grouse (#189) yesterday with a lek of 22 birds in the evening at Langdon Beck. With nearly a fortnight before he needs to be in York and little happening in the country at present he is popping over to Haweswater to secure Golden Eagle and remove some of the pressure later in the year.

'Popping over to Haweswater' :eek!: , again hats off to you Gary, I have enough trouble cycling up the hill to our nearest postbox half a mile away! Mind you, Golden Eagle is often visible from the house here, so that does tend to make me lazy .

 

[Phil Andrews]

A rather frustrating ten days for Gary just, dipping on Golden Eagle at Haweswater and then Bittern at Leighton Moss (plenty of opportunities for the latter over the next few months). He is now back in Yorkshire ahead of the RSPB Member's Weekend at the University of York. Today he dipped on Garganey at Swillington Ings but did add Sand Martin (#190). Tomorrow the target species will be Willow Tit at Fairburn Ings.

 

[Farnboro John]

As there seems to be some newbie interest in the Lake District Goldie this spring, could we possibly have some detail from Gary on his dip - how many hours, any anecdotal evidence of presence/absence etc?

I am conscious of the heavy irony of this request, after I suggested we should be able to give him a lot more help a while ago...... B

John

 

[Phil Andrews]

A productive day for Gary today in and around Fairburn Ings with the addition of Willow Tit (#191), Bittern (#192) and Swallow (#193). On to York tomorrow.

 

[Phil Andrews]

March ends with Gary on 193 species, compared with 172 at the same stage in 2015.

To be in with a chance of breaking the 300 barrier and carrying on to set a European Green Birding record of 305 species Gary probably needs to be around the 250 mark at the end of May. The 57 species required to reach this mark are likely to comprise:

Garganey, Eider, Hobby, Red-footed Falcon, Honey Buzzard, Montagu's Harrier, Osprey, 2 species of rare heron / stork, Quail, Golden Pheasant, Woodcock, Temminck's Stint, Dotterel, Stone Curlew, Black-winged Stilt, Wood Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, another rare wader, Red-necked Phalarope, Little Gull, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Black Tern, Common Tern, Little Tern, Arctic Tern, another rare tern, Bee-eater, Nightjar, Turtle Dove, Golden Oriole, Woodchat, Swift, House Martin, Woodlark, Yellow Wagtail, Woodlark, Nightingale, Redstart, Wheatear, Whinchat, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Grasshopper Warbler, Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Subalpine Warbler,Willow Warbler, Wood Warbler, another rare warbler, Spotted Flycatcher, Pied Flycatcher, Corn Bunting

After attending the RSPB Members Weekend at the University of York over the next few days Gary will be making his way south through Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to East Anglia although he will go where the birds are!

 

[Phil Andrews]

A productive day yesterday for Gary in and around Tophill Low with the addition of Blackcap (#194), Willow Warbler (#195), Little Ringed Plover (#196) and 2 Garganey (#197).

 

[Phil Andrews]

Gary notched up his double hundred today at Frampton Marsh with Corn Bunting (#198), Yellow Wagtail (#199) and Wheatear (#200).

 

[Corvus cornix]

Congratulations to Gary, another milestone reached. On to the next hundred!

Cheers