Bird list - How many have you seen????

Hi Sarum Bat,

thanks for the welcome. I hope the post offers some help to Nisus and others.

I'm sure we all know the main objective is to be able to identify what you are looking at or listening to.

Having a very good ear is as important as having very good eyesight. 

Regards Paul

I have absolutely no idea as I don't keep a list lol  The most I create is a list of species I see on holidays and when in Mexico only ID's a handful of the birds seen, the others went unidentified. 

I have started a very 'informal' wildlife journal! Just with date, location & species sighted!

I have also never kept a running total of sightings. But in the last nine months I have started to photograph and keep a record, like a stamp collection I guess, the total being 143 so far. 

John

Hi marJus

Recordings are down to personal preference.

What is the reason for keeping records / sightings!

I do year on year comparisons.

If you have no records then you can't make comparisons!

For example sightings of migratory birds this year are totally different to the last three years.

One example is: I saw ten Swallows still in this area at the end of last month. This is the latest that I have ever recorded them!

I recorded Blackbirds carrying food in Febuary and a Moorhen with chicks in March.

When you take in to account incubation and the dropping of eggs both species were very early.

The Moorhen only had four chicks, but could have taken upto ten days to drop the eggs a futher 19-22days to incubate them and with the  young fledging at 40-50 days you have to ask yourself when did she start nest building?

I personally record a number of things for my own studies and it makes very interesting reading.

You have started the right way with an informal journal.

You can add as much information to your journal as you want to.

As the seasons change, so does the birding.

As mentioned above when did you sight your first Swallow, when did you see your last?

In what month did you see birds gathering nest materials, male birds singing at the top of their voices.

Migrants coming and goings.

Your journal can be as informative as you want it to be.

Keep the journal going.

Regards Paul

Thank you again BTO_birdman! So many ideas there! You are right! Things that I hadn't thought about recording, but I'm sure my very new journal will evolve over time! Never been one for diaries, hence a basic format to start with!

The 'journal' started with a bittern, simply because I couldn't remember when it had turned up at the local reserve last winter! Funnily enough, I've recorded the arrivals & departures of swifts, house martins & swallows over the years on calendars. I saw my first swallow of 2009 on March 29th which is much earlier than previous years!

With migrants, I am still at a loss as to know which are 'just passing through', actually migrating or residential! So much to learn!

Hi Nisus and BTO_Birdman

A very warm welcome from me too, thanks for your tips they really are very interesting.

All I can is "wow" - I have only just really started - apart from the birds in my garden, I don't know that many.  I can however sit for hours just watching the birds so definitely not a "twitcher"

John that's a good idea about a photo journal as it would really help to be able to put a face to a name so to speak and be able to remember what you have seen!

Thank you all

Unknown said:

Hi Nisus and BTO_Birdman

A very warm welcome from me too, thanks for your tips they really are very interesting.

All I can is "wow" - I have only just really started - apart from the birds in my garden, I don't know that many.  I can however sit for hours just watching the birds so definitely not a "twitcher"

John that's a good idea about a photo journal as it would really help to be able to put a face to a name so to speak and be able to remember what you have seen!

Thank you all

 

Hi Kezmo

A warm welcome to this particular thread.

It doesn't seem like two minutes ago I started with my birding. They were all just little brown jobs flitting in trees and not getting a good sight of them.

I remember saving my pocket money and buying my first 78rpm album of garden and woodland birdcalls & songs. Over the months and years I learned to recognise the calls, as mentioned earlier you tended to hear the bird rather than see it.

Imagine walking through ten foot reed beds trying to sight a Reed Warbler or Sedge Warbler. The best alternative was just to stand and listen at different vantage points, and sure enough the birds would start calling.

All birders start somewhere, preferably were there are birds!

If you have birds coming into your garden what better  place to start.

If you have the time, try and listen to a particular species and listen and learn all of the different calls it makes!

Take the Great Tit for instance you maybe surprised at the wide range of calls this bird makes!

I don't know what websites you are aware of for identification or bird songs.

The following two links maybe of some interest.

www.birdguides.com/species/default.asp?menu=menu_species#T

www.virtual-bird.com/birdsounds.htm

Keep watching and enjoying your garden birds

Paul

Hi BTO_Birdman

Bless your heart! thanks for the threads I have saved them for future use.

Many thanks