Your own private bird observatory

#BWKM0 ND&B garden challenge
DAY 9 

Is it just me, or are other birder's under the fanciful notion that they are currently manning their own private bird observatory? I'm strutting around the house and garden, taking in the views from various windows; making sure to check neighbouring trees and hedges; getting up early to catch any overhead passage; studying the twitter feed for a head's-up as to what is on the move; doing the log in the evening and then posting a blog update. I could get used to this! I think it's fair to say that for many of us, we will never treat birding in the garden ever the same again.

As much as there is a competitive edge to this enterprise, it is, first and foremost, a coming together of like-minded souls as we endure social lockdown. It is also a celebration of our birdlife through the lens of our dwellings, however modest - or grand - they may be.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

New entries

Richard P (Charmouth, Dorset)
Garden list of 101 species.
Highlights include Storm Petrel, Great White Egret, Osprey, Little Gull and Nightjar.

Seth G (Uig, Skye)
Garden list of 64 species.
An hotel garden, so plenty to explore.

Sam B (Enniskeane, Cork, Eire)
Garden list of 67 species.
Highlights include a Great White Egret.

This brings our 'garden collective' up to 29.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Garden firsts

Wes A (Capel, Surrey) - Mediterranean Gull
Steve G (Banstead, Surrey) - Merlin
Ed S (Farncombe, Surrey) - Mandarin
(we now have 13 garden firsts across the competition)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Garden focus

Dylan W (Thanet, Kent) boasts a garden list that suggests the next few weeks will be profitable.
Stewart S (Howick, Northumberland) has a splendid garden that boasts breeding Tree Sparrows.
Ian S (Sidcup, Kent) with an outlook that is full of possibilities.
The view from the balcony of Plodland. Martin C (Lydd, Kent) looking NE towards ARC and the Water Tower Pits 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

News from around the gardens

Sam B (Enniskeane, Cork, Eire) has reached 34 species, including a re-trapped Chiffchaff that was ringed by him last August.

Seth G (Uig, Skye) has recorded an adult Iceland Gull and Red-breasted Merganser so far this week. Neither will probably bother anybody else's garden list...

Sean M (Pinner, London) has reached 32 species, with his first Song Thrush logged.

Wes A (Capel, Surrey) moves on up to 59 species, with today's highlight being a large flock of gulls moving purposefully northwards, which numbered 140 Black-headed and a minimum of six Mediterranean!

Steve G (Banstead, Surrey) had a 'six species of raptor' day, two of which - Merlin and Peregrine - took him onto 44 species. The Merlin flew over low, in a westerly direction, during the mid-afternoon.

Ed S (Farncombe, Surrey) has forged ahead with 63 species, with two 'commoner' birds being additions today - Skylark and Grey Heron - plus a total surprise - a flock of three Mandarin.

Mathew B (Wrotham, Kent)  - a Cormorant has increased his tally to 34 species.

Dave P (Shoreham, West Sussex) has now hit the giddy heights (his words) of 26 species.

Comments

Michael Drage said…
Steve

38 so far here in Craster, no surprises but 100s of gannets heading north today.
As I only use email could you please send me your email address so I can forward photo and updates? michaeldotdrageatbtconnectdotcom. Thanks and keep up the good work!

28 March 2020 at 19:56
Steve Gale said…
Thanks Michael. I’ve emailed you.
29 March 2020 at 09:40
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goldfinches and Lavender

Image
We have three medium-sized Lavender bushes in our back garden. Throughout the summer the flowers (which last for several months) are a magnet for insects and give off a most restful aroma. As tempting as it is to cut the dead stems in the autumn, we always leave them, as we know that during the late winter we will get visitors to feed on the seed heads... This video was taken from the kitchen window this morning. We will normally see one or two birds over a few days, but have had up to 14 at once. We never tire of watching them. Lavender is a wonderful plant to have in the garden, with year round natural history benefits. So what are you waiting for? They are readily available at a garden centre close to you right now! There is an historic association with Lavender in this part of northern Surrey and south London. Lavender fields have been harvested for many years, with one particular field close to Woodmansterne being very popular with day trippers. A significant proportion o...
Read more

Welcome back!

Image
In November 2005 I purchased a pair of Swarovski 10x42 EL binoculars from The London Camera Exchange shop in Guildford, for the then princely sum of £899. These bins have served me well, with almost daily use in all types of weather, testing their durability to the maximum - salt water spray, deluges of rain, 38C temperatures, dust, dirt, slight knocks... and apart from the armour coating that had started to bubble and come away from the body, nothing to be alarmed about. Then, in the summer of 2022, I noticed that I had a problem when close focusing - the outer focusing wheel would lose grip and it would take me an age to regain a middle-ground distance of focus - plus, over the next few weeks this outer focusing wheel became loose. I resorted to the use of tape to keep it all in place, but realised that I had to do something about it in the long run. For a while I did consider buying a new pair - after all, they were then 17-years old - but they were still optically superb. It seemed...
Read more

A special day

In birding, timing can mean the difference between an average day in the field and that of a spectacular one. Good timing can be helped by reading the weather conditions correctly, or understanding local conditions but it is more often down to pure luck. In this case, I just got lucky... I had not visited Dungeness since March 2022, quite a gap for me. It was high time that I once more trod the shingle and my timing of a visit was down to several factors, mostly a personal liking for mid-late autumn but also because I needed to be at home until September 20th and could not make the journey south until then. I also chose to stay at the bird observatory for a few days rather than make it a day trip. All this conveniently found me stepping outside the observatory's back door in the breaking dawn of Sunday 22nd September, quickly making my way to the fishing boats, an area I prefer to stand to best appreciate any visible bird migration, an aspect of birding that I find exhilarating.  A...
Read more