Afternoon #patchbirding 80 Avocet, Golden Plover, Little Stint, Green Sand, Marsh Harrier, Kingfisher, Merlin, Peregrine, 3 Stonechat, 3 Bullfinch. Decent enough high tide roost but other than the Stint didn’t produce much else #LocalBigYear
A tale of two cavity nesting birds 1st the declining willow tit a bird that is getting harder and harder to pin down in Stoke-on-trent and 2nd Ring-necked parakeets which is getting a stronger and stronger foothold in the city. #localbigyear
Chilly dawn #patchbirding Goosander, Water Rail, 6 Avocet, 50 Grey Plover, Turnstone, Jack Snipe, Green Sand, Spotshank, 7 GWE, Marsh Harrier, 3 Cetti’s, 2 Stonechat, 3 Rock Pipit, Twite, Lesser Redpoll #birding #LocalBigYear
11 miler this morning after some roadside repairs to fix a snapped chain!. Bird wise, best on offer locally - 2x Hobby, 2x Grey Partridge, 5 x Swift, Wheatear and Yellow Wag. Generally very quiet. #lowcarbonbirding #localbigyear
Afternoon #patchbirding 2 Greylag, Water Rail, 162+ Avocet, 12 Barwit, 3 Turnstone, 7 Knot, Jack Snipe, Green Sand, Med Gull, YLG, Merlin, Cetti’s, 3 Stonechat, Rock Pipit, Twite giving it some beans, 2 Bullfinch. Ended with a fiery sky #sunset #LocalBigYear
Trying something new this year.
The no-optics #localbigyear - trying to see and ID as many bird species as possible without optics (bins or scope)
List stands at 30 species so far. Best birds BL Kittiwake, Little & Caspian Gull.
Plus apple pie at SurfenBeach.
#BirdsSeenIn2024
Pleased to find this smart looking Kittiwake this morning at RSPB Middleton Lakes. Other species new for the year inc. Common Sandpiper, Grasshopper & Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat, 2x Swift. Little Gull still present. #localbigyear (121) Mercian Birding
20 miler around N.Warks farmland this pm. 7x Wheatear and a handful of Swallows noted. Then the first visit of the year to Birch Coppice Business park where this smart Wheatear gave good views. #lowcarbonbirding #localbigyear #birdingbybike
Nice lunch time walk over to Farnborough. The fields are still mostly frozen which has brought the usually flighty and skittish Redwing flocks closer to the warmer field margins.
#LocalBigYear
At least 4 Blackcaps and a smash and grab Marsh Tit on my garden feeders New Year's Day 2023. A slow but enjoyable start to #LocalBigYear
Sedge Warbler
Cromwell Quarry
12/4/2024
A fantastic gem in a large bramble area on my patch today, which has now become an eBird hotspot (Sutton on Trent Farmlands and Holmes).
Great to hear it several times and to get views after.
Patchwork Challenge #localbigyear ✅ 96
It’s been a good week locally for insects!
Silver-studded Blues and Large Skippers have emerged on both Ormes. A nice trip to Eyarth Rocks yesterday gave me my first Pearl-borded Fritillaries.
Birding has been quiet,
Wood Warbler takes me to 152 for #LocalBigYear though.
Feel very fortunate to have yet another bird-filled year. Finished slightly short of last year's total with 166 species recorded within 10km of home, with many of the highlights photographed below 🚴♂️ #LocalBigYear
My first Sand Martin of the year flew north at the River Trent by Sutton-on-Trent on Sunday afternoon!
I was alerted by its little chattering noises as it flew in.
#birdsofthepentagon
#localbigyear ✅ 91
#BirdsSeenIn2024 #birding
