Garden / Yard List 2023 (3 Viewers)

[Richard Prior]

That said, in order to imitate them, Great Tits would probably need exposure to an extent, something that is somewhat lacking hereabouts at the present time.
FWIW two independent colleagues “could hear” where I was coming from on this, albeit would have preferred to have heard “more” calls.😩
Looks like I’ll have to snap one!…just like the Wood Warbler.😉

Afraid so Ken, like your colleagues I see where you’re coming from, that call at the very start is curious, but is very likely to be a Great Tit, they are real bu- -ers with their huge variety of calls. I assume BH didn’t literally mean they imitate Marsh Tit, but they do a call very similar at times (amongst their other ‘57 varieties‘). I have Blue, Great and Marsh daily throughout the year (all breed in our and the neighbours‘ garden), just to muddy the waters, our Marsh Tits also do a passable Great Tit version of their call which has caught me out a few times!
Two more Hobby through this morning (!) and a few Siskin beginning to appear plus a frustrating skulker in the hedge/ forest edge this morning that had my Sylvia radar twitching, but never showed well enough ( I was starting to think/hope Garden Warbler but it was no doubt a Blackcap, ah well, onward and upward!).

 

[Jos Stratford]

Cranes enjoying the 26 C start of winter 🙂, flock at 160 now. Nice male Hen Harrier through this morning, feeders getting busy with Lesser Spotted Woodpecker a welcome addition to the nuts this week, joining Great and Middle Spots already using the feeders. White-backed, Black and Grey-headed Woodpeckers all active and vocal.

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Afraid so Ken, like your colleagues I see where you’re coming from, that call at the very start is curious, but is very likely to be a Great Tit, they are real bu- -ers with their huge variety of calls. I assume BH didn’t literally mean they imitate Marsh Tit, but they do a call very similar at times (amongst their other ‘57 varieties‘). I have Blue, Great and Marsh daily throughout the year (all breed in our and the neighbours‘ garden), just to muddy the waters, our Marsh Tits also do a passable Great Tit version of their call which has caught me out a few times!
Two more Hobby through this morning (!) and a few Siskin beginning to appear plus a frustrating skulker in the hedge/ forest edge this morning that had my Sylvia radar twitching, but never showed well enough ( I was starting to think/hope Garden Warbler but it was no doubt a Blackcap, ah well, onward and upward!).

Yes, imitate was the wrong word. But they have a call that sounds quite like Marsh. I heard it this morning.

Funnily enough I ran Merlin and it knew instantly it was Great Tit, but after a while it said I was hearing Marsh Tit. I don’t think I was.

 

[KenM]

Afraid so Ken, like your colleagues I see where you’re coming from, that call at the very start is curious, but is very likely to be a Great Tit, they are real bu- -ers with their huge variety of calls. I assume BH didn’t literally mean they imitate Marsh Tit, but they do a call very similar at times (amongst their other ‘57 varieties‘). I have Blue, Great and Marsh daily throughout the year (all breed in our and the neighbours‘ garden), just to muddy the waters, our Marsh Tits also do a passable Great Tit version of their call which has caught me out a few times!
Two more Hobby through this morning (!) and a few Siskin beginning to appear plus a frustrating skulker in the hedge/ forest edge this morning that had my Sylvia radar twitching, but never showed well enough ( I was starting to think/hope Garden Warbler but it was no doubt a Blackcap, ah well, onward and upward!).

Yes, Great Tits really can be a pain in the Butty Richard, however it was unfortunate, that I was a tad slow in using the phone video sooner, as the call was more frequent and consistent.

My relatively new hearing aids were “high pitch” tailored and have brought my youthful hearing back somewhat, can recommend them for anyone of a certain age.😮

Not being a “techy”, I haven’t yet worked out how to get an email audio clip onto BF’s Q&A which might have helped, as it was sent to me by the finder of the “local” Marsh Tit…and to my new ears was a dead ringer!

Anyway I’m away for a few days, will endeavour to catch up with that on my return.👍

 

[birdmeister]

Yesterday was slow in terms of numbers (29 migrants), but two highlights spiced things up. A brilliant male Vermillion Flycatcher passing by low was just my second ever here, after one earlier this spring. Later on, a

119. Bewick's Wren (new yard species #136)

poked around in the neighbor's yard, landing on our fence for a bit. I didn't really expect one, but they do occur in the desert sometimes. They're more frequently found in riparian cottonwood/willow habitat, or at mid-elevation scrub oak.


Today featured some more action (47 migrants), but nothing new or really exciting. Certainly some good looks at birds, though. I'll dump a bunch of photos, including White-crowned Sparrow, Phainopepla, and Harris's Hawk.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Morning backdrop to breakfast, Crane flock has risen to 220, noisy.

 

[birdmeister]

Another fairly quiet day with 50 migrants passing. Barn Swallows had their best push of the year so far with 12. Not much else was very exciting, but I finally got a good photo of an adult Black-throated Sparrow. They are so crisp and clean, it's hard not to like them.

 

[Warixenjalka]

At the first time I count monthly birds from Kotka's garden: September total was mighty 18 species!
On the other hand, I was home only in weekends.

At today I get 12 already... and 2 of them was new for a garden 🥳

#48. Wren - They are everywhere now, so not a big surprise
#49. Great Cormorant - Surprise is that I haven't seen it before. After all, I live on island (kind of)

Today's birds included the second Goldcrest of the year

 

[Richard Prior]

At the first time I count monthly birds from Kotka's garden: September total was mighty 18 species!
On the other hand, I was home only in weekends.

At today I get 12 already... and 2 of them was new for a garden 🥳

#48. Wren - They are everywhere now, so not a big surprise
#49. Great Cormorant - Surprise is that I haven't seen it before. After all, I live on island (kind of)

Today's birds included the second Goldcrest of the year

That’s a lovely photo Wari, it would make a nice Christmas/New Year card!

At the last gasp September clocked up one more species than August, 61 as against 60 thanks to a flyover Serin!

October off to a good start with 37 seen or heard today including the three vulture species, the Griffons and Cinereous will be off South very soon, slim pickings for them from now on perhaps as the sheep flocks descended yesterday.

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

With Westerlies if one sort or another all month, September did not set anything alight. Finished with 61 species (avg. 62.5) so not terrible but not great either.

However one or two new species for September has pulled this month into first place for species richness over the last 6 years, with a total of 88 species.

Today started October well, with a first record for October of Cetti’s Warbler. They clearly had a good breeding season and the local-ish pair has spread out along the river, including our garden.

36 species for the day is an okay start, but unless we get a change of weather I’m not expecting anything much.

 

[Warixenjalka]

One more species from yesterday:

#50. Goosander - I thought that I had this one before but no

 

[birdmeister]

I haven't been properly watching for a few days. A new year bird still showed up, though! I heard an unfamiliar call from a group of House Sparrows in the pomegranate bush outside my open window. I snuck over to investigate, and was met with my closest looks ever at a

120. Dickcissel (regionally fairly rare)

My delight turned to brief panic when I realized I'd left the binoculars and camera in the car. Oof! The flock had moved when I got back, but I still got some audio of the distinctive flight call and a really dodgy cellphone photo. Dickcissel is likely underreported in this area as a rare but regular migrant. Interestingly, mine "read the script" perfectly, since vagrant Dickcissels often join up with House Sparrow flocks! They do bear a surprising resemblance...

 

[KenM]

Another one I need BM!…..that means in the words of General Douglas MaCarthur…..or praps not!, the way things are going over here at the moment.😮

 

[birdmeister]

This morning (3 Oct) was fabulous! Those windy afternoons and evenings with a blustery Southwesterly did not help migration the past few days. Last night, though, winds began light NW and switched to a calm/light ESE by sunrise, reverting back to light WNW. This is a good pattern conducive to overnight migration and morning flights. It took a bit of time to develop, but the final results were excellent. Total of 288 migrants for the early morning session. On top of that, I watched the skies while working outside around midday and watched a spectacular group of 141 Turkey Vultures swirl together and then stream south with two Swainson's Hawks! I'm including the full totals for the morning flight, to show again how the species have totally changed since August.

waterbird sp - 5 (geese/ibis/cormorants way out there)
White-throated Swift - 17 (new yard high count, 3rd yard record)
Killdeer - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Common Black Hawk - 2 (one of my favorites!)
American Kestrel - 4
121. Black Phoebe (new yard species #137)
122. Horned Lark - 11 (yard FOY and new high count)
Barn Swallow - 1
swallow sp - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 2
Phainopepla - 13
Chipping Sparrow - 6
Brewer's Sparrow - 10
Spizella sp - 16
Lark Bunting - 2
White-crowned Sparrow - 4
Vesper Sparrow - 2
sparrow sp - 2
Western Meadowlark - 3
Red-winged Blackbird - 2 (rare from the yard)
Brewer's Blackbird - 77 (new yard high count)
blackbird sp - 21
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 7
Wilson's Warbler - 1
warbler sp - 4
passerine sp - 54

I finally got a decent photo of a Common Black Hawk from the yard, too! Bonus photo is of a local Red-tailed Hawk adult.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Quietening down in this next of the woods ... except for the Cranes. Should depart any day now, but the flock has risen to an all-time high of 350 now, truly impressive soundtrack to have around the house!

Great Grey Shrike also hanging out and, after a pair in the spring (my first for ten years), a nice covey of eight Grey Partridge back a few days back trundling across my lawn.

No new birds for the year however.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Getting ready for winter however - feeders already busy and bought peanut supplies today: 200 kg, should be enough for all winter (had aready bought 80 kg of grain a few days back - but that'll last only a month).

 

[Jos Stratford]

Crane flock is going bonkers - topped 450 this morning and actually woke me up when the entire flock starting calling all around my house as they left their roost at dawn!

Pretty good day too, continual southbound Bean and White-fronted Geese, c3000 by day's end, plus a Great Grey Shrike in subsong, a good movement of Chaffinches pulling in a couple of Bramblings and, late afternoon, two Black Redstarts and a Northern Wheatear (my latest ever and first ever October records of both species).

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

I mis-counted September and actually finished with 63 birds for the month, a shade above average - I thought you should know. 💁🏻‍♂️

This month has started slowly. However I did find a Water Vole in the garden this morning, the first for two years! It was quite near to where I’ve seen suspicious ripples in recent weeks, so my sense of expectation was heightened. It was in virtually the same spot 4 hours later, just munching away.

View attachment IMG_9803.mov

There is a rumour of a hint, of a possibility of maybe a slight touch of easterly in the next couple days. I wonder if it will deliver me anything? It can’t deliver less than what I’ve had.

 

[Steve Lister]

Just thought I would say something to prove I am still alive - bumped into someone a few weeks ago who had been told I had passed away.

Very quiet in, around and over my garden so far this autumn, with nothing NFY for five weeks! Two Reed Buntings migrating over this morning is about as good as it gets so far. I see predictions of swarms of Redwings arriving tonight, so hopefully things will pick up soon.

 

[Frank van Drogen]

Just thought I would say something to prove I am still alive - bumped into someone a few weeks ago who had been told I had passed away.

Now, that must have been a shocking surpize for both of you!