Metamatic Forums Socialising The Green Room 2011 New Year birding Challenge

Just a quick note to let you know of a project I'm involved with here in Southampton.

It's a kind of sponsored bird race - I'm on a mission to try and record 100 different bird species within the city boundary by Good Friday.
That's the date of the Southampton Passion Play

www.southamptonpassion.org.uk

which several friends of mine are taking part in.

I'm raising money to help fund the event, and you can follow my progress and see a list of the birds I encounter in my new blog:

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com

There's also an interview/feature with yours truly about this challenge online for a few more days at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00cv3v5/Steve_Harris_07_01_2011

Starting at approximately 50/51 minutes in

Thanx

Excellent, a birder myself ,will have a read. Good luck!

Good luck with that. A birder myself , I haven't been out yet this year but that's a good challenge.

Great challenge, I wish you loads of success with it. I took part in the Facebook challenge last year to photograph 100 bird species in 2010 and although it was just for fun, it was very enjoyable and I ended up with 175 species photographed for the year. You can see them here:

http://daveshedman.multiply.com/photos/album/32/100_birds_for_2010

I'll be keenly following your progress and looking forward to seeing what interesting species you come up with. Good luck!!

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Thanks - and wow!!!

Some amazing birds there - and great pictures.

Sadly, I don't even OWN a camera, let alone know how to use it!!!

My challenge was much easier, Martin, I had an entire year to photograph 100 different species anywhere in the world (there are 953 different species in sub-Saharan Africa so 100 should never be too difficult) but you have only a few months to find 100 in a relatively small area. Good to see you're well into the fifties already!

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Good luck with the project Martin.

Over the last year I've taken to identifying and photographing all the varieties of bird who frequent our back garden. We've set up a buffet for them, consisting of various things. The seed mix and suet-filled half-coconuts have been the most popular, with the suet balls proving to be a waste of time and only the Bluetits taking an interest in the peanuts!

Get yourself a good entry level digital camera (Canon are always good, for example ), and get photographing those feathery friends!

Thanks for the advice Alex.

I'll need a good zoom too as bird photography is quite difficult on rivers, lakes and in woodland.

What kind of kit spec would suit this??

Mind you - I have no budget for such a thing...!

That particular only has a 4x optical zoom, so not the best, but I would say average optical zoom for that level of camera. Still good for getting to the other end of the garden from afar!

My own camera is a few models up from that one, and it has a 12x optical zoom, which is much better. Then of course, you're looking at higher prices and we're still not talking big, professional SLR level. Many cameras also come with Image Stabilisation (IS) these days, which is very handy when trying to photograph birds, especially the fast moving ones like Blue Tits.

I suggested that particular Canon as a good 'starter' camera (my wife just bought one) since you said you don't own one, although as yo can imagine, there's a lot of choice (probably too much, as is the case with almost everything nowadays) out there. But most 'budget' cameras don't have that great a zoom; anything in the £100-300 price bracket will probably come with sufficient lens capability; 10x and above.

This sounds like it should be in a camera thread...

Wow! I didn't realise that there were so many Foxx fans also into birdwatching!! Myself included. Must admit I've never tried photographing them. Perhaps I should give it a go too.

I know - great, isn't it!!

I am on a kingfisher hunt this week. Sadly both spots on the river near me where I have seen them occasionally this winter haven't turned up the goods yet...

Think yourself lucky you only have one species of Kingfisher to hunt for over there. There are about ten different species over here and some of them are very difficult to find. I'm still after the African Pygmy Kingfisher and Half Collared Kingfisher for my list.

I recently read about the new Canon SX30 digital camera which apparently has an optical zoom equivalent to 24 - 840mm!! That's 20x optical zoom, which seems remarkable for a digital camera. I'd be tempted to sell my kit and buy one of those if it's true, as my 70 - 300mm zoom is sometimes inadequate for smaller birds at a distance.

One of the advantages of photographing them is when you come across something you can't identify. There are loads of great forums where you can post your photos and get advice from other birders on how to ID some of the trickier species. You should see some of the debates that rage on Simply Birding over the identification of Pipits!

How's the challenge coming along, Martin? Birding in the winter can't be easy with all the cold weather you guys have been having recently so kudos to you for giving it a go!

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Oh the feathered avian variety My inner "Sid The Sexist" was expecting something else there ! The best I can do is The Eagles and an Emu (sans Rod Hull natch )

Nice one Martin

Even as an erstwhile country-boy, sadly I know little about ornothology so I'm enjoying your blog...

[I must admit "A quick Shag at Town Quay" caught my eye .. ]

BTW be careful when talking about "uccelli" to an Italian ..

Good luck with the challenge Martin, and its fascinating to learn that there are so many birders on the forum, (at least now we have a thread).

I just posted another 'session' on the blog.

With photos (not mine) and maps (mine) and all that malarky.

Thanks for following guys

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com

Excellent report, Martin, and what a pleasure it must have been to see the deer at such close range, one of those nice little bonuses that turn up now and again on birding trips. I was surprised to hear that Bullfinch are so uncommon down there, I used to get them in my back garden in Edinburgh every autumn / winter so I assumed they were quite a common bird. My nemesis was the Goldfinch, only saw them in my garden three times in four years.

Keep at it, I'm confident you're going to get your 100 species by the end of the challenge!

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Great stuff Martin. Interesting read. Talking of Bullfinches, I used to see them quite regularly where I live,Liverpool,but haven't seen one for years. Are they generally less common these days I wonder,or perhaps just round here?

Bullfinches have declined dramatically in ten years. On a par with Skylark, Lapwing and Tree Sparrow.

67 today.

read on, Macduff

http://birdingwithpassionblog.com

You're doing really well, with 67 under your belt already. You mentioned not hearing the call of the Tawny Owl and it got me wondering whether or not you tick birds you have heard but not seen. When I go out birding, I will put birds I only heard on my list for the day, but will not add them to my 'lifelist' if they're ones I've never seen before. This is why it took me two years to get Pearl Spotted Owlet on my list, because we hear one calling in the vlei (marsh) next to our housing complex almost every night, but it's always after dark so we never see it. It was only last winter when we spent a day in the Kruger National Park that we actually saw and photographed one in daylight.

So, if you hear the Tawny Owl, will it go on your challenge list or do you have to see it? Just curious.

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No - for the challenge, I am happy just to hear the birds.

I wouldn't 'tick' something tht I have only heard and NEVER seen though - but I can't imagine that will happen in this situation.

Thanks for following though

This article may interest you birders...

Pigeons "sniff" their way home...

Thanks Alex - fascinating!!

I think

Up to 70 now with a new Bird of the Year - Peregrine Falcon

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com

And here\'s today's amusing Bird-related news feature!

Peregrine Falcon is a great bird to reach the seventies with and one that's still absent from my list. They're not so commom up here in Gauteng Province where I live but we're doing a road trip to Capetown in March, where there's a very healthy breeding population so fingers crossed!

Also interesting to hear that Grey Wagtail is one of your favourite British birds because we had a mega-twitch here the last couple of days when one was spotted in Walter Sisulu Botanical gardens, a mere 9km (5.4 miles in old money) from our house. In Southern Africa they're described as a "rare palearctic vagrant" and according to the distribution maps there have only been about a dozen previous confirmed sightings in South Africa. The last time one was seen in the botanical gardens was 1993. I had one in my garden in Edinburgh a few times but to see one 6000 miles away (that's 10,000km in new money) is something special. My photos aren't great because it was on the rocks below a high road bridge and my puny 300mm is not good at picking up detail at that range. Here they are anyway:





Keep up the good work Martin, I'm really enjoying your blog!

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Saw this article online today and thought it might be of interest to you and the thread contributors Martin.

Jailbirds

All the best,




EG

Thanks for the pictures Bob - fascinating how rare that bird is down your way. they regularly fly over my garden!!

Updated the blog challenge today - 75 species now.

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com

Another fascinating and entertaining blog entry Martin. I have to agree with you about forest / woodland birding, it can be very frustrating but it is rewarding when a good one appears. Patience is something that's definitely required, as you also pointed out. One of my fellow twitchers over here sweet talked a security guard into letting him into the botanical gardens at 6.00am (8.00am is the official opening time) to look for the Grey Wagtail and it didn't show until 11am. Mind you, one thing worse than woodland birding is high altitude grassland birding!

I didn't really start birding seriously until I came to live over here so my UK list is mainly birds seen in my garden in Edinburgh, so I get quite envious when I hear you talking about close up views of Redpolls and things like that. If I ever get a chance to come back to the UK on holiday I think I need to add Southampton to my itinerary!

Only 25 to go, you're almost there.

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Thanks a lot.

Those 25 are going to be very hard. I'm expecting to stumble around 85 which I hope to be at by the end of next month. I've a list of six species that I know I have 'missed' this tear already. It's going to be very weather dependent.

We have a cold, bright snap now, and the woodland is coming alive. Woodpeckers drumming etc etc...

Which means that spring is coming. So my chances of any more winter ducks, grebes, divers etc is fading fast.

You're probably already aware of this, Martin, but just in case you're not, here's something that might interest you, culled from the HMHB Lyrics Project page where we're discussing whether or not Sanderling should have a capital 'S' (as you can see, I believe it should).

"BBC’s Countryfile show has been filming at the gem of Dee Estuary birdwatching spots, Hilbre Island, and it’ll be broadcast this Sunday evening 6th Feb."

If you're wondering what a Sanderling in the Dee Estuary has to do with Half Man Half Biscuit (and also where I got my current online name) look here.

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Coolio!

So - birds in songs?? An idea that Ivan Basso was no doubt about to have...?

I'll open a new thread

Reached a milestone in the Challenge today

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com

I was always going to get 80, but the mix of species I've seen to date hasn't been what I would have expected.

Firecrest. Overgrown Victorian cemetery. Sorted.

In a somewhat interesting turn of events, we have a new resident in our garden who is hogging the bird table and feeder and tree that everything is on!

Unfortunately, it's not a bird. Looking at my wife's camcorder footage, it appears to be either a Water Vole or very large rat!!

What you need, Alex, is for a few of the local raptors to discover your unwanted guest! The main problem I had in the UK was those pesky squirrels helping themselves to my bird food.

Congratulations on the Firecrest, Martin, a bird I would love to see but I know they're not exactly easy to find. Of course, they're not found at all where I live now so my chances of seeing one in this lifetime are remote to say the least.

Only 20 to go, could be a nailbiting finish!

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Was reading this earlier on the bus, in today's free Metro paper. The article in full:

"Turtle Doves only exist in Christmas carols in Britain - so when one turned up in a garden, those in the know flocked to the scene. Within 24 hours, 450 twitchers were queuing up outside Steve Aker's house to see it - after paying RSPB 'bouncers' a £5 toll (to the bird charity, we should add).
Ten enthusiasts at a time were herded into Mr Akers' kitchen in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, and given five minutes, starting when the bird was spotted. "They all being well behaved at the moment," said the 56-year-old, who first saw the Eastern Orientalis, a sub-species of oriental turtle dove, near his bird table on Saturday.
The bird has only been spotted twice before in this country. However, it only made a brief appearance yesterday and had not been seen since 8am. "We have several hundred frustrated people outside," added Mr Akers."

The article is accompanied by a fascinating wide angle photograph of a row of houses, outside which there is a long queue of men the length of the pavement and continuing beyond the picture frame.

Sorry to hijack your thread a bit Martin but you know how excited we twitchers get when something special happens. :rolleyes:

I mentioned earlier that I was hoping to see a Peregrine Falcon during our trip to Capetown next month, as they're not common in most areas of South Africa whereas the Western Cape has a large, healthy breeding population. Well, yesterday morning my attention was grabbed by an angry Black Shouldered Kite dive-bombing a bird on the electricity pylon next to our housing complex. Despite the dull, overcast and drizzly conditions I managed to get good enough photos and looks with the binoculars to identify it as the elusive Peregrine Falcon, most likely a young female. The South African sub-species is listed as 'near threatened' which makes the sighting here on the outskirts of Johannesburg even more special.

As I said, the lighting conditions weren't great but I thought you might like to see the photo as it shows the difference between the African and European races, having more barring on the breast and heavier streaking.



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Wow!! Great picture - and thanks for sharing the story. Glad you caught up with this bird.

I've been embroiled in a case of misidentifying a gull myself this weekend.
Previously ( I was a twitcher and avid birder ten years ago) I have been really into gulls, but obviously got a bit rusty the last ten years as I haven't watched a gull roost in earnest in that time.

Subsequently, I misidentified this:

http://www.goingbirding.co.uk/hants/show_photo.asp?photo_id=1608

A leucistic Herring GUll.

Never knew such a thing existed...

Hey ho

Leucism and melanism - the curse of birders! Although it only deals with Southern African birds, there are some good photos of leucistic and melanistic birds on Trevor Hardaker's Zest For Birds website. Click on the 'Bizarre Birds' link on the left.

There were three possible ID's for this Falcon too because, like leucistic and melanistic birds, juveniles can be a pain to ID. There was a possibility of this being a juvenile Lanner Falcon or even Eurasian Hobby. However, the advantage of being a member of a birding forum is that there are always plenty of people to assist in nailing the ID.

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It's now over two weeks since I got to 80. Its' getting hard

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com/2011/03/03/southampton-east-feb-18th/

83 now, and the list of bird species I have 'missed' is in double figures.

Still, there's a nice map for you to look at, and I'll have some pictures up tomorrow

It always gets more difficult as you get closer to your target and 83 is tantalisingly close to the magic 100. Even if you don't make the 100, 83 is, in my opinion, a more than respectable total for a relatively small area in a relatively short time, should you get no further than that. However, I'm sure you'll get at least a few more before the time is up. And as you said in your blog, you never know when birds will turn up when you're not even looking for them, such as our recent visit from the Peregrine Falcon.

Our species list for South Africa now stands at 284 (having added Desert Cisticola and Long-Tailed Paradise Whydah last week in the Free State) and we're hoping to hit the magic 300 mark next week on our road trip to Capetown as the Western Cape is an area we haven't really birded yet, with lots of endemics (i.e. species not found anywhere else). We're back on the 17th so it'll be interesting to see if we hit 300 before you hit 100, since we both need roughly the same number of species to reach our respective targets. Good luck!

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Inspired again. Four in two days. Including some must have (but no less amazing birds) like Kingfisher and Tawny Owl

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com

I'm sure you've heard about this, Martin, but if not, get yourself down there now!!!

http://www.goingbirding.co.uk/hants/birdnews.asp?date_search=8&date=2011-03-22

http://www.simplybirding.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=171&t=36061

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Woke up this morning to the birds twittering (?) outside ... it must be Spring then.
:rolleyes:

We've just bought a special bird feeding construction for the garden. Be interesting to see if it attracts any new visitors.

Birds usually take a couple of days or so to get used to a new feeding station, being naturally wary creatures, but you'll soon reap the rewards. So much of their natural habitat is being destroyed by humans, I think it's only right that we give something back by providing a safe and reliable source of food. Our garden is tiny but in the 3¾ years we've lived here we've managed to attract 44 different species by putting out food on a daily basis.

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We have pet cats...

So do my neighbours. And my neighbours neighbours...

Thanks for the earlier links tho Bob - I subscribe and regularly post at the first one already! First for news on all the birds around.

Steadily moving forward now, and I picked up a Pheasant] today which lifts me to 89 species.
And I still have spring migrants to get, so I'm quietly confident now.

Maps and photos online in the ole blog:
http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com/

I was at the estuary near my home, and saw three Turnstones,cute little birds I only new them to be Turnstones by the prescence of some twitchers who said the bird is fairly unusual in the UK.

There is a very noisy Green Woodepecker behind my office, sounds like a Kookaburra!

Getting tantalisingly close now Martin, only 11 to go. We reached our 300 milestone and then some during our trip to The Great Karoo, Capetown and the West Coast, but that's not surprising since it's an area we have never birded before. Including the Black Faced Waxbill we picked up today on our drive back home from the Free State, we now stand at 316 for South Africa in just over three years. I think that puts into context what a huge achievement it will be to find 100 species within the limits of a single city in such a relatively short time!

John, one of the 'lifers' (i.e. new species for our list) we got on the West Coast was in fact the Ruddy Turnstone.

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Thanks for your encouragement Bob - and congrats on getting to 300. That's a very good UK year list total...

I'm just beginning to feel confident now. The next half dozen should be relatively easy to get - provided I can get out to the right places:

Wheatear
Sand Martin
Swallow
Willow Warbler
Whinchat
Whitethroat
Common Tern

All these beginning to migrate through Hampshire and return to their UK nesting grounds.
I just need to keep praying for patience!

Bird News of the day. And encouraging it is too!

Martin, I can confirm that two of the species you mentioned are on their way back to your neck of the woods now. The Eurasian Barn Swallows and Willow Warblers that migrate down here in your winter are becoming harder and harder to find now so their migration has probably already started. Our 'indicator bird' for seasonal changes (i.e. we know summer is here when we see the first one and winter is here when we stop seeing them) is the European Bee Eater and I saw one of those this morning so summer's not officially over for us yet, although things are certainly looking autumnal. Fascinating to think that the Willow Warblers you see there in Southampton could be the same ones we saw here in South Africa in December!

Alex, that's an interesting report and good to see Starlings making a comeback. When I was a kid in Central Scotland our garden was full of Starlings but when I started listing the species visiting my Edinburgh garden just before I left the UK I had only one Starling in two years (2006 - 2008).

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Willow Warbler yesterday, so I guess they have made the journey!

Stringy, net one in the winter your end and send me a message...

Also picked up Sand Martin and Marsh Tit yesterday which brings me up to a more than respectable 95.

I'm sure you're going to make it now with only five to go. And you never know when something special is going to turn up. The other day we spotted a Lesser Grey Shrike sitting on an electricity pylon near our house. Very unusual for this area, it had probably just stopped to 'refuel' on it's northward migration back to Europe. Still hearing the European Bee Eaters but they're flying higher now, which is generally a sign that they're preparing to migrate. If the cold, wet and miserable weather we've had for the past 48 hours continues I think they'd best get a move on!

95 down, 5 to go - a real nailbiting finish!

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P.S. Birdlife South Africa's choice of bird of the year for 2011 is something you should recognise:

http://www.birdlife.org.za/page/5319/national_bird_week/

This means we've actually seen this year's choice. Last year it was the Lesser Flamingo and we didn't see any. The year before it was the Cape Robin Chat which you see everywhere.

Should be number 97 if it all goes to plan...
(Wheatear down for 96?)

Never saw a Wheatear when I lived in the UK, which species do you get over there? We've seen two species here so far, Mountain Wheatear and Capped Wheatear but I don't know if either of those is the same one you guys have over there. I suspect it's the one listed in Roberts Birds Of Southern Africa as Northern Wheatear, which is a very rare vagrant to these parts. There have only ever been 5 sightings in South Africa so you're more likely to see it than I am!

Just read your latest blog entry, Martin - congratulations on the Red Kite, a stunning bird to get anywhere, any time. And you're right about keeping your eye on the sky too, you just never know what's going to come along. Over here, it's telephone poles you need to keep your eye on because raptors love them! At least four raptors on our list were first spotted at the side of the road on telephone poles, including the rare and very elusive Southern Banded Snake Eagle. There are people here with 600+ species on their South Africa list who haven't yet seen this bird. We weren't even looking for it, just driving from Cape Vidal to St.Lucia when I saw this brown blob on a telephone pole so I slammed on the brakes and got out of the car. It just sat there wondering what all the fuss was about and let me take lots of good photos.



Keep 'em peeled, 100 is just around the corner!

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Cooool - what a great picture!!

Smart bird too of course. And thanks for the story - I've had moments like that.

I've been out this morning from 0600 to 1400 walking bl**dy miles along the river that runs past my house.

Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) for 98 and then a Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica) for 99...

Think I might open a book for wagers on the next bird, but Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) has to be the favourite.

I learned last night that 108 species have been seen in Southampton this year, and the first person to reach 100 got there on Saturday...
Still, I never said I'd be first.
Amazingly, the list for the city currently stands at 220!!

It's always fun wondering what the 'milestone' bird will be. It could be something wildly exotic or something plain and ordinary. Glad to see the Barn Swallows made it though. Strangely enough, we thought all our swallows had left then this morning a group of about 6 Greater Striped Swallows was swooping over our house. They only migrate within Africa but we hadn't seen one for ages and assumed they had gone north already. I guess birds have their own timetables!

Anyway, I'll wager a bag of crisps and a bottle of Tizer on Northern Wheatear. Any takers for Andean Condor at 17,000,000 - 1? Mind you, from what you said, Black Stork is a definite maybe, that would be a cool bird to get for the magic 100 methinks.

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P.S. Our 300th was a Bank Cormorant, seen on Nelson Mandela's former home, Robben Island.

The RSPB are currently offering a free CD of birdsong and bird sounds.

Relax, identify your garden birds and drive the cat insane all in one go!

Coincidentally, we currently have two nests. The first being a House Martin's next under the eaves. it's been a pleasure to watch them build, and as it's next to my office room window, I can hear them twittering away and arguing over who gets the biggest worm for dinner.

The other nest is a surprising discovery. The Forsythia bush in our back garden wasn't trimmed quite enough in the spring, and following last month's rain, the whole thing has drooped and is stuck in a hanging down position. The other day I was about to go and shorten the branches (thus enabling them to rise back up again) when I found in the middle of it, a perfect bird's next - complete with feathery occupant, staring angrily out at me.

Needless to say, the bush hasn't and isn't going to be trimmed until further notice. That said I'm hoping the weather doesn't play a part in blowing it out or anything, but it's a lovely sight to behold. I looked at it through the branches yesterday and saw a load of tail feathers sticking out of it.

First of all, congratulations Martin on reaching the magic 100. Since it happened while this forum was incommunicado I had to offer my congrats on your blog page so it's nice to be able to post here now. A great achievement, well done.

Alex, sorry to be a smart-@rse but Housemartins are aerial feeders so unless you have flying worms where you live they're squabbling over who gets the fattest insect. Hats off to you though for not trimming the bush while the birds are nesting in it. I wish more people would show such consideration for our feathered friends. Kudos for that!

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Cheers bob et al - it was a real fun thing to do and got me back into birds at a fundamental level. I understand and appreciate them far more now than when I was a twiggler (twitcher). Common birds have taken on a new dimension, and I feel so much more 'connected'.

Keep following the blog as I'm still going. 112 in Southampton for the year now.

And today I've added a poem what I wrote

http://birdingwithpassion.blog.com/2011/07/13/the-poetry-of-summer/

I must admit, it's been a while since I looked at your blog, having thought it may have gone quiet after you reached your target. I'll try and find time to pop in today and have a look, see what I've missed.

The poem is superb, I really like it. I particularly liked the line "The Linnets that we overlook" because I know only too well that birders often get so excited about the 'specials' they're looking for that they tend to forget how beautiful the 'common' ones are. The final three lines are stunning!

Let me reply with a poem what I recently wrote on Born Poets (a poetry forum to which I subscribe at) about our old friend the Ovambo Sparrowhawk, who recently returned to the pylons to 'thin out the numbers' of the LBJ's that frequent our gardens. The challenge for the day was to write an eight line poem (and yes, it was inspired by Bowie's song of that name, my idea), so here it is.

The Sparrow And The Hawk

Overcast day, silent and grey,
sits on his hunting perch scanning for prey.
Still as a rock, eyeing the flock
seeking a target on which he can lock.
King of the sky, glint in his eye,
watches for little birds passing him by.
Sparrow flies past, victim at last,
aerial predator lethal and fast.

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