2010 - My First Year Birdwatching

[SuzieandFlo]

Although I've always liked birds, 2010 was the year I started birdwatching properly. It all started with the bad weather early in the year. With heavy snow in the area and a few forced days off work due to no bus service, I rummaged around the kitchen to see what I could find to feed the birds.
It wasn't long before my garden was full of birds, feasting on the offerings I managed to find.
Back then, it was mostly breadcrumbs, grated cheese and any other left overs I could put out. I certainly didn't have any feeders or even a table, everything was just put on the ground.
Imagine my delight one day when watching the starlings, sparrows, jackdaws, robins and blackbirds, I had a visitor which I'd never seen before. I was fascinated at the way this bird was very aggressive over the apples I'd put out, chasing every other bird out of the garden. After watching this bird, then looking through a book to find out what it was, I discovered that this beautiful but aggressive bird was a Fieldfare. I was hooked from that day onwards and have since bought a few bird books, joined WAB, bought feeders and a regular supply of food, joined the RSPB and bought a better camera than the one I had.
During that spell of bad weather, I also had a Twite and a male Bullfinch visit my garden.
These garden visitors aroused my curiosity and made me wonder, "what other birds are in this area ?". I began going out for walks, specifically looking for birds and was amazed at what I found just a few minutes walk from my house.
In total, I've seen 28 different kinds of bird in my garden, 38 in my local area and at least 10 others (that I recognised), in addition to the local birds, when travelling further afield.
My highlights of the year were the Bullfinch and Fieldfare in my garden at the beginning of the year, the abundance of Skylarks, Yellowhammers, Swallows and House Martins in the area all summer, seeing an Osprey on my first visit to Vane Farm RSPB reserve, and most recently with the latest snowfall bringing Brambling to my garden, and my Christmas morning Yellowhammer in the garden.
I have to say, my biggest highlight of the year was ,sorry, not a wild bird but Ziggy, the Tawny Eagle I got to hold at a local show after I had been asked to "look after" the display equipment while the BOP display was taking place. (a Perigrine, an African Pied Crow and the Tawny Eagle were left with me while the display took place with a Hobby and a "Boobok" Hawk Owl).


Me and Ziggy

I'll make seperate posts with lists of the birds I've seen this year
All of my bird watching has been at weekends and during holidays, as I'm at work from 2 - 10 pm on weekdays. I hope to see more this year but unfortunately won't have as much time on my hands. My pony is expecting a foal which is due early in May so I'll be a bit busy with that this year. Luckilly, the farm where I keep her is a good area for birds and wildlife so I'll still be able to enjoy birds while spending time with my pony and her foal

[aeshna5]

Sounds like you've had a good year there- some good birds too. I rarely see Twite now; they used to be a regular winter bird on some of the north Norfolk reserves, but haven't seen one for a few years now.

Tawny Eagles are great birds- I've never held one, but seen plenty in several African countries.

Hope you find some time to continue with your birding- even though it sounds like you'll have your hands full!

[Bekki :)]

I only started bird watching a couple of months ago when my mum and dad got me interested. I live in Poole and Ive found places really near to me that I never even knew were there! I just bought one of the "where to watch birds in ..." books and I've now found even more places! I'd definately recommend having a look at one of those as you can find some lovely little places that way

we have had some lovely surprises in our garden too a flock of long tailed tits comes to have a nibble at our feeders everyday, a sparrow hawk and a waxwing!

I have to admit that most of the birds I've now seen in my area I didnt even know exsisted until this year!!

Happy new year!!

[tameblackbirds]

That is a lovely post and I am glad you are hooked. Birds will give you a life time of pleasure.

[SuzieandFlo]

2010 Garden Visitors

House Sparrows - 30-40 daily. Hear them chirping in the eaves at night
Tree Sparrows - saw 2 a few weeks ago
Dunnocks - beautiful little birds, lots in the area
Robins - I've had up to 6 in the garden at the same time
Wren - daily visitor but very shy
Chaffinch - daily visitors, had 10 together during the deep snow
Greenfinch - these come and go but had a family of 6 daily in summer
Goldfinch - started visiting in summer and now visit daily, 4 - 6 at a time
Brambling - had a female visit daily during the last heavy snow
Reed Bunting - a male visited the garden every day for a week during the snow
Yellowhammer - 1 male at 10am on Christmas morning
Bullfinch - 1 male during the snow in February
Siskin - several now visit daily and love my nyjer feeder
Coal Tit - daily visitors, sometimes stay and feed but mostly fly in and out
Blue Tit - daily visitors and lots of them
Great Tit - visit nearly every day with the Coal and Blue Tits
Pied Wagtail - visited during snow in Feb, see 1 now and again on the roofs
Starling - 20 - 30 visit every day without fail, large numbers in the area
Blackbird - daily visitors which nest in local gardens
Song Thrush - see more of these in summer but a few visit daily all year
Mistle Thrush - visit the garden mainly in winter, saw a big flock on 1/12/10
Fieldfare - 1 visited the garden in Feb during the heavy snow
Collared Dove - daily visitors all year round
Wood Pigeon - daily visitors all year round
Jackdaw - 20 - 30 visit every day and roost in a nearby tree at night
Rook - visit daily, usually 2 or 3 come with the Jackdaws
Twite - 1 visited in Feb during the heavy snow
Great Spotted Woodpecker - saw 1 once on my peanut feeder, neighbours have told me it's there early every morning.

[Deb London]

Hi SuzieandFlo,

That's a lovely account of your hobby and it was a pleasure to read it.

I hope birdwatching continues to give you enjoyment and that your list grows and grows.

All the best for the birth in May.

Deb

[mamma-p]

Hi Suzie, you became hooked about the same time as I did . I can't even see my garden from the living room or kitchen so missed out on the birds although always had feeders. Then when I was due to have surgery I moved the feeding station so I could see it from my bedroom window so I could watch them while I recovered. I was soon hooked as I saw how many different birds were obviously regular visitors! I now have my camera next to the bed and watch them every day while I have my coffee. I am disabled and on bad days instead of sitting in the lounge I go back to bed and watch the birds for hours.

[SuzieandFlo]

Thanks for the replies I was the same as you Bekki . I didn't know there were so many birds in the area, a lot of them I'd never seen before so yes, it's been an amazing year finding them
Thankyou to everyone who has helped with ID's on here .

2010 Birds In My Local Area

In addition to my garden visitors, many of which live in the area, I've also seen many more whilst out for walks locally.

There are quite a few breeding pairs of Bullfinch in the area, I've heard and caught glimpses of Reed Buntings a few miles away and the nearby hedgerows are full of Yellowhammers. I saw 30 Yellowhammers sitting on a telephone wire less than half a mile from my house at the beginning of November .
In early summer, I was in the woods just quarter of a mile from home when something caught my eye. Seeing movement high in a tree trunk, I looked up to see something moving inside a hole in the trunk. I found a place to stand and observe. I must have watched for about an hour, Mr and Mrs Great Spotted Woodpecker were feeding their young in the nest and I was able to watch without disturbing them. WOW !
So, here's my list of 2010 Birds In My Local Area

Black Headed Gull - Flocks of these 3 gulls are common in the area,
Herring Gull - mostly seen flying overhead or feeding in the
Lesser Black Backed Gull - stubble in autumn.
Common Buzzard - lots of these in the area. I always love to see them.
Kestrel - Common and mostly seen hovering over the wide field margins.
Sparrowhawk - Amazing birds. so quick and agile when hunting.
Red Kite - Saw 1 fly over my house in early December I emailed a
description to my local bird recorder who confirmed ID .
Skylark - The sky here in summer is full of Skylarks in their songflight
Chiffchaff - I love their call from the treetops in summer " chiff-chaff-chiff-
chaff-chiff-chiff-chiffchaff-chiff-chiff-chaff-chaff-chiff-chaff
Willow Warbler - Saw these low in bushes rather than high in trees like
chiffchaff.
Whitethroat - Saw some in the hedges around local fields
Linnet - I've seen a few locally, usually perched on telephone wires above
local arable fields and hedges.
Swifts - Saw a few locally in summer but more further afield
Swallows - HUNDREDS ! A lot where I live but there were hundreds nesting
at the farm where I keep my pony 4 miles away.
House Martins - A large flock gathered at the farm where I keep my pony.
I counted over 300 one day at the end of summer.
Dipper - Quite a few at a nearby burn (stream).
Treecreeper - In the local woods.
Carrion Crow - A few in the area but more Rooks and Jackdaws here.
Magpie - Have only seen 1 or 2 nearby but not in the village.
Tawny Owl - Lots heard calling at night, saw 1 once during the day.
Barn Owl - I've seen one hunting at dusk a couple of times.
Grey Heron - There's one regularly hunting at the marshy end of a nearby
field.
Pheasant - In the surrounding local fields. There are a lot of feeding
stations around here so a lot of game birds.
Grey Partridge - Seen in the nearby arable fields around the village
Red Legged Partridge - Seen near the farm where my pony lives. The
farmland there is more open than it is here.
Oystercatcher - Have seen the odd pair around the fields in wet patches
Curlew - Was surprised to see one in the middle of a field in a young crop.
Lapwing - A few in the area. One day I saw 15 in a nearby boggy field.
Mallard - Have seen the odd 2 or 3 fly over the area
Mute Swan - Waiting at the bus stop going to work one day, I saw 3 swans
fly overhead. Silent but too far away to ID so guessing Mute.
Redwing - Saw a flock in the trees at a nearby small reserve.
Waxwing - Same location as the Redwing, Hadfast Valley Scottish Wildlife
Trust reserve, 2 miles from my house. Also saw about 20 on my
way to work one day in Nov ,in the Sighthill area of Edinburgh.
Pink Footed Geese - A flock of 200-300 flew overhead one day when I was
walking my dog in the nearby fields. Also went to Fala
Moor, 3 miles south of here, as they roost there in
winter.
Meadow Pipit - Also seen at Fala Moor. Saw a lot of these at that location.
Cuckoo - Strictly, I've not seen one but heard them calling here in spring.
Long Tailed Tits - I've seen a few groups locally, flitting about in the scrub.
Saw a large flock at Pencaitland Railway Walk, 3 miles
away.

[SuzieandFlo]

Thankyou Deb I too hope my list grows and grows.
As for the birth in May, I'm hoping for a wee girl (filly) and have already chosen names. Skylark for a girl and Osprey for a boy (colt). Mum's name is "Rowhill Nightingale", hence the bird names for the foal
Thankyou mamma-p I can't see my feeders from any window as I'm in an upstairs flat (block of 4). I always have to go down to the door to see what's at my feeders. Many a time I've had to run back upstairs for my camera, especially when the Reed Bunting, Brambling and Yellowhammer were in the garden.
I hope you're keeping well. I have osteoarthritis in my spine and both sacroiliac joints, so understand the bad days. Getting out and about bird watching helps me with pain control, as long as I don't stand around in one place for too long

As well as the birds listed above, others I've seen further away from home include :-
A pair of Goosander - On the Union Canal, Edinburgh, on my way to work.
A Yellow Wagtail - near Loch Lomond in June
And all at Vane Farm RSPB reserve - Coots, Moorhens, Great Crested Grebes, Little Grebes, a Heronry (about 15 Grey Herons), Shovellers, Garganey, Teal, Greylag Geese and an Osprey.
I will have seen many other birds but don't know enough yet to be able to say what they were. There are probably many more in my area that I just haven't seen yet ! Roll on 2011 to hopefully add to my list .
Thanks again everyone who has helped with ID's .

[Kreacha]

Originally Posted by SuzieandFlo

I can't see my feeders from any window as I'm in an upstairs flat (block of 4). I always have to go down to the door to see what's at my feeders.

What about getting one of those feeders that sticks to your window with suction pads - that way you could also enjoy the birds whilst sitting on your sofa