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| Twite |
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| King Eider |
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| Raven |
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| Waxwing |
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| Snow Bunting |
With less than 50 days gone of the year so far, my 2014 yearlist is already shaping up quite nicely, with a total of 121 reached already (and a couple of prospective additions this coming weekend on an ADBC outing to Scone Palace and Argaty Farm). At the same point last year, my total was only 109.
Having to work during the week, and lack of transport has meant that I've already missed a few really good birds locally including Red Necked Grebe and Great Northern Diver at Monikie, Cranes near Meigle and Kirriemuir, Iceland Gull and Jack Snipe at my patch of Riverside Nature Park, Little Auks and Little Gulls off Tentsmuir, Firecrest and Siberian Chiffchaff at Dalgety Bay, Slavonian Grebes at Clatto and Piper Dam and Smews at various locations.
However I have been lucky enough to see some very good birds already as well, the best being the female King Eider at Ruddon's Point which I wasn't expecting to be able to pick out from other Eiders, but which when the time came was very easy to tell apart from its more common cousins. Finding my first Waxwings of the winter in Dundee City Centre was a surprise. Good views of Water Rail last weekend at Balgavies Loch was a bonus too, as were Monday's flyover Crossbills at Tentsmuir.
Knowing where to look for certain species has played its part as has a bit of luck and hopefully this pace will continue for a while yet. Hopefully soon I will get up the glens and see both Black and Red Grouse. There isn't a huge amount of easier species left to get at this time of the year, but the summer visitors will start to trickle in at the end of March and beginning of April. That is when the second phase of the birding year kicks in and there are a slew of 'new' ticks to be had. Hopefully including some off-course rarities on days when I can get to them, and at locations that makes it less of an expedition to reach.
The list at present consists of -
Having to work during the week, and lack of transport has meant that I've already missed a few really good birds locally including Red Necked Grebe and Great Northern Diver at Monikie, Cranes near Meigle and Kirriemuir, Iceland Gull and Jack Snipe at my patch of Riverside Nature Park, Little Auks and Little Gulls off Tentsmuir, Firecrest and Siberian Chiffchaff at Dalgety Bay, Slavonian Grebes at Clatto and Piper Dam and Smews at various locations.
However I have been lucky enough to see some very good birds already as well, the best being the female King Eider at Ruddon's Point which I wasn't expecting to be able to pick out from other Eiders, but which when the time came was very easy to tell apart from its more common cousins. Finding my first Waxwings of the winter in Dundee City Centre was a surprise. Good views of Water Rail last weekend at Balgavies Loch was a bonus too, as were Monday's flyover Crossbills at Tentsmuir.
Knowing where to look for certain species has played its part as has a bit of luck and hopefully this pace will continue for a while yet. Hopefully soon I will get up the glens and see both Black and Red Grouse. There isn't a huge amount of easier species left to get at this time of the year, but the summer visitors will start to trickle in at the end of March and beginning of April. That is when the second phase of the birding year kicks in and there are a slew of 'new' ticks to be had. Hopefully including some off-course rarities on days when I can get to them, and at locations that makes it less of an expedition to reach.
The list at present consists of -
Red Throated Diver, Black Throated Diver, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Fulmar, Gannet, Cormorant, Shag, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Pink Footed Goose, White Fronted Goose, Greylag Goose, Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose, Brent Goose, Shelduck, Wigeon, Gadwall, Teal, Mallard, Pintail, Pochard, Tufted Duck, Scaup, Eider, King Eider, Long Tailed Duck, Common Scoter, Velvet Scoter, Goldeneye, Red Breasted Merganser, Goosander
Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine, Red Legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Sanderling, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Snipe, Woodcock, Black Tailed Godwit, Bar Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank, Greenshank, Turnstone, Mediterranean Gull, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill
Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Barn Owl, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Waxwing, Dipper, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Stonechat, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Treecreeper
Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Twite, Crossbill, Bullfinch, Snow Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting.
Not bad. :-)
Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine, Red Legged Partridge, Grey Partridge, Pheasant, Water Rail, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Golden Plover, Grey Plover, Lapwing, Knot, Sanderling, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Snipe, Woodcock, Black Tailed Godwit, Bar Tailed Godwit, Curlew, Redshank, Greenshank, Turnstone, Mediterranean Gull, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black Backed Gull, Kittiwake, Guillemot, Razorbill
Feral Pigeon, Stock Dove, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Barn Owl, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipit, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Waxwing, Dipper, Wren, Dunnock, Robin, Stonechat, Blackbird, Fieldfare, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Goldcrest, Long Tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Treecreeper
Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Chaffinch, Brambling, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Siskin, Linnet, Twite, Crossbill, Bullfinch, Snow Bunting, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting, Corn Bunting.
Not bad. :-)