Changing Boundaries

Aberlady local patch: take 2
Yellowcraig Local Patch
Dave has finally submitted his patch and in his words it is a nice mix of habitat. Meanwhile, over confidence is in evidence a wee bit further along the Lothian coast as Aberlady has decided to change his boundaries to 'give us a chance'!!!

An unexpected long weekend meant I managed to get on patch on Friday. On the way there I found my first thrush flock of the winter in the area, 2 Fieldfares (ok, not exactly a flock!). Hopton was very quiet but as I left it a flock of geese flew low over my head. 26 White-fronted Geese circled briefly before heading west, presumably heading to the Yare valley. While watching these a Song Thrush appeared in the hedge next too me. The rest of the day was a bit of a wash out as I got soaked to the skin but there was a wee bit of movement out at sea, 2 Red-throated Divers and a Cormorant flew south and 24 Wigeon flew north. With these 3 additions my list is now at 46 (51 points).

Roll on Spring!!!

I hit my local patch again this morning and not suprisingly in the high winds there was very little about again. On the way there I did manage to see a Barn Owl hunting near Hobland and a female Scaup at Lound Lakes was the only new bird of note there from yesterday.

On patch I managed 5 new year ticks, Mistle Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Rock Pipit and Red-throated Diver. The highlight of the day was the 4 Red-throated Divers flying south together past Corton. My patch list is now at 43 species (47pts).

Dropping valuable points!

News during the week came through that Aberlady was already on 56 points and counting meant I was exactly 50% behind the early leader (thankfully Ely is on a mighty 2 points!!). Nothing of note was seen in my work patch during the week, although I did have 6 Waxwings over my house on the 13th.

I managed my second visit to the Hopton patch today but again it was pretty dead. A quick visit to Lound Lakes (via Woodfarm Lane, male Bullfinch, Brambling, 2 Stock Doves & 6 LT Tits) had me counting many a feral bird, 130+ Greylags, 69 Barnacles, 3 Gypsies and a Barnacle/Canada hybrid. There was also 15 male & 13 female Gadwall, 6 Tufties and 3 male & 1 female Shoveler on the lakes. Another male Bullfinch and flock of 16+ LT Tits were along the lane leading to the lakes.

On the patch it started well with a Kestrel, 2 Sparrowhawks & 3 Egyptian Geese along Hopton old railway line. A large flock of gulls nearby held 100+ BH Gulls, 20+ Herring Gulls, 6 LBB Gulls, 2 GBB Gulls and an adult Med Gull. The sewage works and church were still pretty quiet again, the female Bullfinch was still in the same place as last week.

Along the coast things picked up. First, a dark-bellied Brent Goose flew in off the sea and I then picked up a feeding flock of gulls 800m+ out at sea. Most were Herring Gulls but there was one large 'white-winged' Gull. It was about the same size as the associating Herring Gulls but too far to ID as a Glauc or Iceland for definate. Typical, the one time I don't take my scope!!! The flock moved on south after about 3 minutes and the sea held little else, 31 Wigeon, 2 Mallard and a 1st winter Med Gull flew south.

So the years total is now 38 species (41 points)

9th January - Back on the Patch!

I finally made it onto my patch last Sunday, unfortunately it was a real struggle with very few birds about. I managed a massive 28 species. Highlights were thin on the ground, a pale-bellied Brent Goose flew south out at sea past Corton, a female Bullfinch was along the old railway line at Corton and 5 Waxwings flew overhead at Corton Church.

I also visited the 2km part of my patch that has been culled for the competition which includes Lound Lakes. Amongst the usual mix of Canada's, Greylag's, Gypsies, Tufties etc was a Ruddy Shelduck, obviously a genuine vagrant because its in Norfolk!!!

Wrong Patch again!!!

My last day in Scotland saw me visit another persons local patch again. This time it was the turn of Mark "the Fat Golden Paul Bear Scholes" Lewis's patch, Girdleness. Things hadn't changed since my last visit there a few years ago, the weather was bitter and wet, too much dog sh*t about and very few birds. It started well with the long staying Glaucous Gull showed in its usual roofs. After that there wasn't much about, a low count of 20-30 Purple Sandpipers at Greyhope Bay, 2 Common Scoter and a Great Crested Grebe at Nigg Bay the highlights. On the non-bird front there was a lot of dolphin activity at the mouth with over 20 Bottle-nosed Dolphins.Glaucous GullBottle-nosed Dolphins

New Year, Wrong Patch!

2011 started the same way as 2010 ended as I found myself over 500 miles from my local patch. The 1st saw me walking around my dads local patch and we struggled to 40 species. Blackbird was the first bird of the year and my parents garden soon produced a few birds including 7 Whooper Swans feeding in the field next to their house. A walk along the river Urie was productive, Goosander, Cormorant, Mallard, Dipper (x3), Woodcock and my first ever Goldeneye for the patch. Other usual suspects for the area were soon added including Long-tailed Tit, Peregrine, Yellowhammer, Siskin, Tree Sparrow and Jay. The walk ended with two good records in Whiteford, 2 male and female Bullfinch and a male Brambling.
Whooper Swan and a local rarity, Goldeneye.

2011 Patches

2011 Local patches

Ely Local patch

Corton/Hopton Local patch (bottom three marked squares)

Aberlady Local patch
My work Local patch

Admitting defeat!!

December has been pointless as I have spent most of the month in Cornwall or Aberdeenshire so have added no new birds to the patch list leaving the way for Johnboy to thump me by almost 20 species, 157-138, I think. Its Johns first ever victory in any bird list type challenge and has left me thinking up as many excuses as possible (offshore too much, in a birdless area of the UK etc etc) but none have been believed!

So, I will congratulate John on his victory (and try and avoid paying for the prize) and look to 2011. How can I beat someone who lives and works on his patch? First, invite more people (less chance of coming last at least), so welcome Stu (Ely patch) and Dave (Yellowcraig patch). Secondly, reduce the size of the patch (3km squares) and thirdly a points system so that you get rewarded for finding good birds and penalised for twitching.

The points system is based on the status of the bird on birdguides website:

Status Points
Common =1
Local =2
Scarce =3
Rare =4
Mega =5

Double points for all scarce birds found and triple points for all rare and mega birds found. Minus the equivalent points for any birds twitched.

Finally, too stop the inland birder from moaning seabirds will get double points if seen in an inland site (Ely!).

Hopefully all these pointless new rules will stop Aberlady running away with it this time!!!

Office birding again (and Cornwall)

Its been a while since I last posted, mainly due to two reasons, I have seen no new birds on the patch and........I've been to lazy to keep up to date! All my local patch birding has again been done down at the beach near work but it has sadly been lacking in quality. The 15th had the unusal sight of a Grey Heron sat on the beach, the 17th had a bit of passage going south, 100+ Cormorants, 20+ Brent Geese, 2 Common Scoter and 10+ Med Gulls while on the 18th there was a bit of duck passage, 75 Wigeon, 2 Common Scoter, 12 Teal and 3 RB Mergansers (patch tick) all flew south.

On the 25th my office moved briefly to Reading, Red Kites from the train making the journey bearable. Since I was almost there (4 hours away) I decided to take a long weekend in SW Cornwall. NOt much birding was done and too much drinking but I did get out on Sunday and walked from Marazion to Drift Reservoir.
It was very cold and Marazion marsh was frozen, pushing out 40+ Snipe into the open and a Bittern made a brief appearance. Several Chiffchaffs feed busily, mainly at Long Rock pool and along the path on the eastern side of the marsh. Also along that path I found two Firecrests, almost a guaranteed spot for them in winter when I lived down there.
Out in the bay several divers were quite distant but I managed to pin down 2 BT, 1 GN Diver and a Slav Grebe. A Swallow hawked over the beach, hopefully stocking up before fleeing the snow that came the day after.
The walk along the coast to Penzance was pretty uneventful with a small flock of Common Scoter offshore and three Black Redstarts on the rocks as you enter PZ. Walking along Penzance Prom I picked up half a dozen Purple Sands on the beach and a Kingfisher flew past. Another Kingfisher was feeding in Newlyn Harbour and another Slav was out at sea just off the harbour.
I finished the day at Drift Reservoir and managed to pick out the BN Grebe that had been reported.
Kingfisher (honest)

Firecrest

Number 3OV2

Horsey Seal

A couple of Saturdays ago I went to Horsey to see some seals and guess what........I saw some. Mostly grey although one common slipped in amongst them. Other than the seals there wasn't much happening, a flock of 60+ Common Scoter offshore and a Green Sandpiper in the field near the entrance. As we left at dusk we were greeted by several hundred Pinkies coming into roost, so it seems winter is finally here!!

Common and Grey Seal