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TonyQ's Year (A beginner's tale)


TonyQ

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@@TonyQ failing to catch up with all your birds but the 2nd pix in post #399 of the fieldfare will do very nicely for a Christmas card! although the next post of the partridge would have been perfect if they were on a pear tree. :rolleyes:

 

I did enjoy the little grebe in winter plumage very much. such a fluffy cute grebe.

Edited by Kitsafari
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I'm going backwards but if there is heart instead of like for the tree sparrow in #372, I would use it. beautiful capture of the bird.

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@@Peter Connan

Thank you

@@Geoff

Thank you. The Snipe is Gallinago gallinago - International name Common Snipe. We were in a hide when two of them came to eat just to the side of it. It was the closest we have seen them!

@@michael-ibk

Thank you

@@Kitsafari

Thank you - I am glad you enjoyed them.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

@@TonyQ, you had some nice sightings. The photo of the Great Crested Grebe with the water droplets is outstanding!

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@@TonyQ, the Kestrel is a great little raptor isn"t he,Ive seen Kestrel in quite a few different countries/continents now, in my ignorance I don't know if they are all different, but always great to see. Im interested in your Nov waders, do they "move on" somewhere warmer as it gets colder or stay over winter? Some of yours are the same as we have here now, but we are going into summer of course.

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@@Atdahl

Thank you

@@elefromoz

Thank you. With the waders, we get a mixture. Some of them come from further north and think that we are warm in the winter. Some of them think we are cold and so head further south. For some species, both things happen- for example the Black-tailed Godwit; some come from Iceland to spend the winter here while some that spend the summer here head south.

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A duplicate

post-45513-0-36978100-1483281067_thumb.jpg

Goldcrest, Earlswood, 30.11.2016

 

No more new birds, so the total for the Year is 240. In Kenya we saw 106, in the UK we saw 138 (a few birds we saw in both). The UK total was much higher than we expected (I thought we might get about 60!). A very high proportion of the UK birds were seen within 20 miles of home, and that was a particular pleasure.

 

The Big Year has been a wonderful idea for us - we now really enjoy birding, watching their behaviour and their development through the year. Seeing so many babies - what a treat. So many things we were never aware of - moulting, migration, times of year when birds sing - and times when they don't. (We knew about these in theory but not the reality of it). It has really enriched our lives. At the start of the year we were not birders, at the end of the year we will happily admit that we are birders (very bad ones and still beginners). We are learning a lot and it has enriched our lives.

 

There have been so many highlights for us , but I have picked just a few

 

From Kenya

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Jackson's Widow Bird - we just loved watching the diplay

From the UK

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Avocet - I never imagined we would see this so close to Birmingham - and it was a real pleasure to see them produce chicks later in the year

And the cutest from my favourite

post-45513-0-44236900-1483281552_thumb.jpg

Seeing Grebe Chicks on their parent's back was a delight.

 

It has also been a real pleasure following all the other threads in the Big Year

Edited by TonyQ
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Congratulations on becoming a birder, Tony - I loved following your thread and share the fondness for Great Crested Grebes. You have a very special eye and talent, your pictures always seem to have that certain little something. I was also surprised how many birds can be found in Good Old Europe though I do feel that photographing them is so much easier in Africa.

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I do feel that photographing them is so much easier in Africa.

 

especially when the weather is like it has been today :( @@michael-ibk

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Peter Connan

Wonderful effort Tony!

 

Birds are indeed both fascinating and beautiful.

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It's been a pleasure seeing your pictures and I'm glad you now consider yourselves birders @@TonyQ! I would have been surprised had it ended differently :). Love your Widowbirds set and, of course also your UK picks. Another year is waiting!

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A great achievement.

 

Quite an eye-opener for me that you've seen so many UK birds.

 

That bearded tit is a very striking looking bird. Do the shorelarks come from more northern parts of Europe?

Edited by Caracal
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@@michael-ibk

@@PeterHG

@@Peter Connan

@@xelas

@@Tdgraves

Thank you for following the thread!
@@Caracal

Thank you. The Shore Larks breed in the Arctic and fly down through Sweden, Denmark and Germany. A small number cross the North Sea and visit Norfolk on the East Coast of the UK (according to my bird book!)

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240. impressive.

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