Garden / Yard List 2024 (2 Viewers)

[Warixenjalka]

Things are a bit different here BH, Yellowhammer being a common (and sometimes numerous) winter visitor and local breeder, typically one pair breed within earshot of home but between July and end September they're virtually absent. Since I started putting down the' magic Bunting seed' a few days ago the numbers have risen rapidly to around 15 feeding today for example. I keep hoping for one of the other Bunting sp on the Garden List to appear; Rock Bunting (11 records in 8 years but all bar one were in late winter/early Spring); Cirl Bunting (3 records, all in mid-summer) and Pine Bunting (one record, November). At our old place which was also at this altitude I once had Reed Bunting on passage in March but they tend to keep to lower areas, Ortolan here would be a real surprise (perhaps a bit of noc-migging in August might turn one up!
A typically busy Lesser Spotted Woodpecker this morning was spooked by a Red Squirrel before I was able to get a decent look at it, the Squirrel sat on a fairly flimsy branch for the next 20 minutes eating breakfast, Brambling still pretty scarce, just two in the garden and none overhead today but a sign of winter's arrival was a Willow Tit in the garden, they tend to stay in the forest until temperatures drop properly. Something I noticed which was of interest (hopefully not just to me) was another apparent plumage feature to help separate Marsh and Willow, I will try and check this on other individuals (there was just the one Willow T today I think) but it seemed to me that the lower half of the pale eye ring on Marsh is more visible than on Willow, the latter's eye ring barely appears due to black feathering descending around the eye more than on Marsh. Photos of the two species in Shirihai and Svennson seem to bear this out but I attach four photos for you avid Garden Listers to study (on a rainy day of course, life's too short after all ).

Yours Marsh shows clearly that brownish rear of cheek. The ID Handbook of European Birds (Nils van Duivendijk) tells one more ID point: Usually Willows black cap rises behind eye when Marshs black caps edge is straight.
That book doesn't know yours "eye ring" tip neither. Books have a lot of to learn still... 😁

 

[Richard Prior]

Missed the secret there…. What’s this seed or mixture?

Shhhhhh.
If I told you, I’d have to kill you Frank

 

[Frank van Drogen]

Shhhhhh.
If I told you, I’d have to kill you Frank

There's a queue for that, wait for your turn!!!

 

[Richard Prior]

Hahaha, yes I know the feeling, as we share a French wife - I’m sorry I’ll type that again- as we both have French wives we learn to ignore those pressure cooker style emotional explosions and things (usually) calm down again, of course I can’t vouch for the seriousness or not of any death threats from your professional colleagues

Anyway, my neighbour likes a bargain and is always quick to tell me how many centimes he’s saved buying this and that, he was very proud to have found a cheap birdseed a few years back but I noticed that all the birds able to access his feeder were throwing 90% of the grain to the ground in search of one of the elusive sunflower seeds in the mixture (see sample in the hand in photo). BUT, the Chaffinch, Brambling, Siskin and Yellowhammer love it so I scatter it about each winter, our celebrity Pine Bunting found it to its liking as does the odd Rock Bunting and Citril Finch (when they decide to honour us with a visit that is, not this year so far.
Obviously if you have rats in the vicinity, putting seed on the ground can be problematic, so moderation in all things etc etc.
Despite the illustration on the birdseed sack the grain has completely failed to attract a juvenile Reed Warbler ( if that’s what it’s meant to be!).

 

[Warixenjalka]

Maybe you should leave the sack (of birdseeds, I mean) next to feeder, so that the Reed Warbles know that the seeds are meant for them.

 

[birdmeister]

5 November

In general, the day after a big flight is decent but a step down in terms of numbers. Hardly so this time, as the flight of 572 birds came in a significantly shorter time than yesterday's 600! Some highlights included Great Blue Heron (1), Sharp-shinned Hawk (3), Red-naped Sapsucker (1), Horned Lark (465!), Violet-green Swallow (4), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2), and a great day for Western Bluebird (18).

Best of all, the Common Grackle that I'd flubbed the previous day showed up again! It landed at decent range for digiscoped images and much better documentation.

Photos include the grackle (x3), plus flight shots of Horned Larks and Ruby-crowned Kinglets and a nice close Phainopepla.

 

[Oregonian]

#103 for the extended yard, Barred Owl
This was actually found by another birder who came to look for the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that has been, or was, hanging around, here in Western Oregon.

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Sidetracked this morning by Otters. Mother and 1 pup, I have a bad feeling about the absent 2nd pup.

Watched them for c.40 minutes, first on patch, but then moving up to 350m up river. Sadly in low light and they were actively fishing in semi-deep water, so not quite as photogenic as they can be.

View attachment IMG_4477.mov

Finished the day off with 1, maybe 2 male Tawny Owls, hooting from the garden.

 

[Steve Lister]

Here in Leics I will probably be on the southern edge of the main snow tonight so I'm hoping for a bit of cold weather movement over the garden tomorrow. I need both lapwing and Golden Plover for the year so here's hoping.

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

A leisurely morning, can’t really be bothered to get up early as I suspect the main viz-mig window has closed.

Drinking my coffee outside at about 09:45 and a Hawfinch flies over really low and calling loudly. I had a good check of all the tall trees in case it had landed. No sign in the trees but Redwings were coming and going.

This is the third Hawfinch in about a month, in fact I notice that Merlin™️ has downgraded its probability of occurring in my area from a red circle to an orange semi-circle.

Siskins were very obvious this morning, the biggest group was around 15, also a couple of Meadow Pipits over, perhaps I’ve written off viz-mig too soon.

It’s a shame that tomorrow is rain for most of the day, as there could well be some cold-weather movement on the cards.

 

[Warixenjalka]

At yesterday first time in this garden #64. Bird was still here today.

Edit: Also Yellow-necked Mouse - a year tick 😁

 

[Richard Prior]

At yesterday first time in this garden #64. Bird was still here today.

Edit: Also Yellow-necked Mouse - a year tick 😁

It can't be a Rook as it's all alone (as a very young birder I was told "If you see a flock of crows they're Rooks and if you see a Rook on its own, it must be a Crow") . Rook and Jackdaw would both be Garden ticks for me, but they don't like the thin air up here it seems....
Sleet and low cloud today, so I did a bit of analysis of the species that don't pass the winter here to see when their last appearance was this year - quite a cluster between the 16 and 22 October you'll notice (the Yellow-browed Warbler was also on 22nd):
Last dates 2024

Alpine Swift 7 Sep
Common Swift 8 Aug
Honey Buzzard 18 Sep
Black Vulture 2 Sep
Griffon Vulture 25 Oct
Short-toed Eagle 2 Sep
Red Kite 18 Oct
Black Kite 9 Aug
Wryneck No autumn records this year
Hobby 18 Sep
Red-backed Shrike 7 Sep
Crag Martin 20 Aug
Barn Swallow 16 Oct
House Martin 16 Oct
Bonelli’s Warbler 13 July
Willow Warbler 31 Aug
Chiffchaff 22 Oct
Blackcap 22 Oct
Garden Warbler 2 Sep
Firecrest 17 Oct
Short-toed Treecreeper 21 Oct
Song Thrush 2 Nov
Spotted Flycatcher 8 Sep
Pied Flycatcher 10 Sep
Common Redstart 20 Sep
Black Redstart 26 Oct
Yellow Wagtail 11 Sep
White Wagtail 18 Oct
Tree Pipit No autumn records this year

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

A bright but distinctly chilly morning, with surprisingly no cold weather movement, or so I thought. After about an hour, and 1 Meadow Pipit to show for it, I headed back in for breakfast.

As happens strangely frequently, just as I neared the front door, a #98 Snipe flew over quite low, south-west. I was really hopeful of one in the cold, as I hadn’t had one in the early autumn, which is their more regular time. In fact this was my first November record.

As I was to later find out, the washland down river was 99% frozen, so perhaps this was the origin of my wandering waif.

My 💯 target is maybe still a slim possibility…

In other news Mrs. BH has gripped me off by adding a new Mammal (Only 1 previous Mammal, we found Bat droppings one time, before we blocked access, I expect they may still be up in the loft, but we don’t go up there.) to the inside the house list! 🐀

She spotted a Rat strolling across the kitchen whilst we were watching TV, I heard it later. Moves are afoot to block the two possible entry points. No droppings seen, so I think it is the first ( and hopefully last) time it has visited. Frankly I am surprised that living in an old mill for 7 years, we haven’t had any Rodents before now.

By the front door this morning I saw both Rat and Water Vole footprints, alongside Little Egret footprints, in a little muddy stretch of the Millstream.

 

[Richard Prior]

The first snow yesterday saw me put into motion ‘Operation Alpine Accie’, snow at our level at this time of year very often produces a few of this tough species around the chalets, I’ve discovered over the past nine winters that they’re partial to crumbled up fat balls so I laid out some tempting crumbs. Unfortunately AA didn’t show up and various cheeky Tits hoovered up all the crumbs. A clear frosty night didn’t seem encouraging but when I got back from shopping mid-morning Storm Caetan arrived and the first flakes started falling so I repeated the dose. Bingo, within 15 minutes there was an adult



95 Alpine Accentor



gratefully snacking away in the gloom 😊 So I’ve managed to keep up the record of seeing the species every year since we arrived here in 2016 (I was getting worried!). Having comfortably smashed the previous best ever Year Total (89) I know I shouldn’t be greedy, but with only one blank year and several late November to mid December records Citril Finch is still on the radar. Rock Bunting an outsider, despite no December garden sightings there was one last December just a tantalisingly close 200m away up the road. When (if!) the wind drops I’ll start my telescope scan of the stretch of river too which is visible once again now the leaves have fallen (Dipper or Goosander the dream team there).

 

[birdmeister]

6 November

This was the final day of a three-day migration extravaganza from the yard, likely the last big flight of the season. Since then, I've been outside a few days with very limited returns. Perhaps I'll have a post on those as well.

Anyway, the morning dawned bright and calm for the most part. As the morning wore on, I was fascinated to watch as a cold front visibly passed by to the north. Light rain showers obscured the northern sky, and a high cloud bank with a sharp boundary eventually encompassed 90% of the sky. My opinion is that the combination of nice weather early on and the frontal passage had lots of birds moving.

The final tally of 515 migrants marked the third straight day with 500+ migrants and my first ever 50-species November day. I'll include the full flight below, which featured some outstanding additions to the year and all-time list.

142. White-throated Swift - 4 (fifth yard record)
Turkey Vulture - 1
143. Golden Eagle - 1 (new yard species #161)
Sharp-shinned Hawk -1
Northern Harrier - 4 (high count, 2 males)
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
144. Merlin - 1 (2nd yard record)
large falcon sp. - 1
raptor sp. - 1
Horned Lark - 373
Violet-green Swallow - 25
swallow sp. - 19
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 2
Western Bluebird - 8
Cedar Waxwing - 1
Phainopepla - 15
145. Lawrence's Goldfinch - 1 (new yard species #162)
goldfinch sp. - 2
Brewer's Sparrow - 3
Spizella sp. - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 3
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Brewer's Blackbird - 5
Common Grackle - 1 (continuing first county record)
passerine sp. - 31
bird sp. - 4

I hadn't had four year additions in one day since May, and now it's happened twice this month. Similarly, I hadn't had more than one all-time addition per day since last November. That has happened twice this month, too! With some species beginning to move late in the year (Mountain Bluebird, Bald Eagle, etc.), there's a small chance that I'll reach 150 for the year (previous year record for any of my yards was 134).

Unfortunately, between cloud cover and my camera battery dying it wasn't the best day for photos. The Common Grackle appeared to finally leave for good, heading through high up. I got a terrible shot of the Lawrence's Goldfinch, a female-type. This species is best identified by call in flight, which is very distinctive. Many of the year's last Violet-green Swallows were bright males with cotton-white bellies and nice green upperparts.

 

[KenM]

The first snow yesterday saw me put into motion ‘Operation Alpine Accie’, snow at our level at this time of year very often produces a few of this tough species around the chalets, I’ve discovered over the past nine winters that they’re partial to crumbled up fat balls so I laid out some tempting crumbs. Unfortunately AA didn’t show up and various cheeky Tits hoovered up all the crumbs. A clear frosty night didn’t seem encouraging but when I got back from shopping mid-morning Storm Caetan arrived and the first flakes started falling so I repeated the dose. Bingo, within 15 minutes there was an adult



95 Alpine Accentor



gratefully snacking away in the gloom 😊 So I’ve managed to keep up the record of seeing the species every year since we arrived here in 2016 (I was getting worried!). Having comfortably smashed the previous best ever Year Total (89) I know I shouldn’t be greedy, but with only one blank year and several late November to mid December records Citril Finch is still on the radar. Rock Bunting an outsider, despite no December garden sightings there was one last December just a tantalisingly close 200m away up the road. When (if!) the wind drops I’ll start my telescope scan of the stretch of river too which is visible once again now the leaves have fallen (Dipper or Goosander the dream team there).

I’ve had AA here Richard….when the car wouldn’t start! 😉👍

 

[KenM]

6 November

This was the final day of a three-day migration extravaganza from the yard, likely the last big flight of the season. Since then, I've been outside a few days with very limited returns. Perhaps I'll have a post on those as well.

Anyway, the morning dawned bright and calm for the most part. As the morning wore on, I was fascinated to watch as a cold front visibly passed by to the north. Light rain showers obscured the northern sky, and a high cloud bank with a sharp boundary eventually encompassed 90% of the sky. My opinion is that the combination of nice weather early on and the frontal passage had lots of birds moving.

The final tally of 515 migrants marked the third straight day with 500+ migrants and my first ever 50-species November day. I'll include the full flight below, which featured some outstanding additions to the year and all-time list.

142. White-throated Swift - 4 (fifth yard record)
Turkey Vulture - 1
143. Golden Eagle - 1 (new yard species #161)
Sharp-shinned Hawk -1
Northern Harrier - 4 (high count, 2 males)
Red-tailed Hawk - 2
144. Merlin - 1 (2nd yard record)
large falcon sp. - 1
raptor sp. - 1
Horned Lark - 373
Violet-green Swallow - 25
swallow sp. - 19
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 2
Western Bluebird - 8
Cedar Waxwing - 1
Phainopepla - 15
145. Lawrence's Goldfinch - 1 (new yard species #162)
goldfinch sp. - 2
Brewer's Sparrow - 3
Spizella sp. - 2
Red-winged Blackbird - 3
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Brewer's Blackbird - 5
Common Grackle - 1 (continuing first county record)
passerine sp. - 31
bird sp. - 4

I hadn't had four year additions in one day since May, and now it's happened twice this month. Similarly, I hadn't had more than one all-time addition per day since last November. That has happened twice this month, too! With some species beginning to move late in the year (Mountain Bluebird, Bald Eagle, etc.), there's a small chance that I'll reach 150 for the year (previous year record for any of my yards was 134).

Unfortunately, between cloud cover and my camera battery dying it wasn't the best day for photos. The Common Grackle appeared to finally leave for good, heading through high up. I got a terrible shot of the Lawrence's Goldfinch, a female-type. This species is best identified by call in flight, which is very distinctive. Many of the year's last Violet-green Swallows were bright males with cotton-white bellies and nice green upperparts.

….VGS certainly one of my West Coast favs.👍

 

[Montereyman]

For the first time in 30 years a yellow-rumped warbler visited my water tray. Not a rare bird but rare in my neck of the woods.

 

[KenM]

For the first time in 30 years a yellow-rumped warbler visited my water tray. Not a rare bird but rare in my neck of the woods.

They’re the “best ones” Montereyman those that on paper (historically) shouldn’t be there.👍

 

[KenM]

Almost wall to wall blue this am after several days of grey yuk!…and with it an all time record breaking (by at least a month and rarer than a YBW in these parts on this date).
Phylloscopus eurasianus.😮