Bird sightings

[paddy_36]

Hello again to all the birdwatchers! I'm so excited - there was a yellowhammer in the garden today! Anyone else had any good sightings over winter?

[spudqueen]

Wow - so jealous. Haven't had anything out of the ordinary in my garden, though a neighbour did have not only a male bullfinch in his garden but an owl which roosted there for 3 days!

[Cetti]

Hi paddy, No wonder you're excited having a bird like that in your garden - you must live in or near the country. Yes, I would be leaping up and down as well..and then send my sighting to the Bird Recorder as he would also be pretty thrilled.

Nothing of interest in my garden, but I was privileged to see about 1,000 Lapwings during an outing last Sunday. Please keep posting paddy - we need or the birdy we can get!

[paddy_36]

Spudqueen - I think you can bask in the reflected glory of your neighbour's garden. After all, it could just as easily have been yours! I'm really jealous of the owl and bullfinch, I have to say!

Cetti - I was so happy when I spotted him (am pretty sure it's a male, he was bright yellow - gorgeous!). I only moved into this house a year ago, so was only just starting to identify birds when I thought I spotted a yellowhammer around this time last year. Didn't see one again though, and put it down to being a bit of a novice. A year later though, and am pretty convinced this time round. I'm in a large town, although quite near countryside too. Am still amazed at the variety of birds round here! Can you explain a bit more about the Bird Recorder business, please? Do you need to provide any kind of proof of your sighting? Your experience with the lapwings sounds pretty amazing.

Anyone doing the Big Garden Birdwatch on 28th and 29th January?

[Cetti]

Don't give me any personal details paddy, just let me know what county you live in, then I will attempt to locate your Recorder, although if you prefer to do it yourself that's ok.

They do a wonderful job of keeping track of the decline or increase of the country's birds, county by county through like minded folk like yourself who send in data by email or post. If I remember correctly all the Recorder's data is then forwarded to the BTO, so it's a really worthwhile project.

They will send you a huge list of birds that are relevant to your county...common, rarities etc and you just tick them off throughout the year and sent back the list. I find this extremely tedious and boring so whenever I go out and see something of interest I type it on my own list using excel or any old spreadsheet, then email the page about every 3 months. There is no set time and no pressure....just good fun.

[paddy_36]

Sounds great! Now that I know what to look for I really enjoy identifying all the birds in my area. I'm in Stirlingshire, Scotland.

Thanks for all the info, Cetti. Really appreciate it.

[Cetti]

I wasn't clear whether you wanted me to find this or not paddy - so apologies if it's already sorted. Fabulous area, so you're bound to have some great sightings. Lucky you!http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/europe/scotland_central.html

[paddy_36]

Thanks Cetti, I was hoping you would help me with the info. I was looking for. I'll get in touch with my local recorder asap. Looking forward to getting started. It's lovely having the opportunity to discuss things like this with everyone on Answerbank. Thanks again!