So my UK seen total for the year is 99, 102 for UK+France. My goal for the year was 150 in Europe so not looking too bad.
You CAN still see some birds even when looking after a baby, it turns out 😂
(still no little egret though)
First wheatear of the year on a walk around Priddy. 2 singing whitethroats. Lots of chaffinches singing. One calling even confused Merlin into thinking it was a redstart! #avonbirds
4 swallows over my house #avonbirds
No duolingo is just rubbish nowadays! I did french on it for years and it worked well but the other year tried to learn some Greek for Corfu and after a month it hadn't even taught me to say thank you 🤣
Probably time to admit I've never heard a grasshopper warbler reeling. I've seen lesser scaups and ring-necked ducks in England but never a gropper 😂
I would get involved to ensure minimal environmental impact for the temporarily homeless bugs, but I hate spiders and there's apparently some enormous ones knocking about in there
My partner is currently emptying the contents of an old wood store our previous owners should have emptied to turn it into a bug hotel, during the process discovering it is already a very functional bug hotel 😂
Yes! 😂
An incredibly annoying visit to severnside (I HATE this wind) at least produced my first sand martins, house martins, common whitethroat, sedge and reed warblers (heard only) of the year.
#avonbirds
Full lists here:
ebird.org/checklist/S3...
ebird.org/checklist/S3...
ebird.org/checklist/S3...
In Badock's Wood. Sick to the back teeth of dogs in this country. Everywhere you go, you're stampeded by 5000 dogs.
2 swallows just over my garden #avonbirds
Amazing views of the drake and fem lesser scaups in HGB this afternoon. Plus a fem grtr scaup. Year ✅s for me.
Other year ✅ s around CVL today:
GW and cattle egrets on Moreton bank of HGB. Egyptian goose in field. Trickle of swallows over. Male marsh harrier
Another fem grtr scaup from Stratford
Either the best starling impression I ever heard or there was a Skylark singing over West Broadway on my run just now! Greenfinch heard singing when running past Horfield Common @bristolbirding
Feel like you could bring in your baby to the GP bleeding from the eyes and they'd just ask "is she putting on weight?"
Goldcrest heard calling and singing opposite my house this morning
50 minutes into Manchester by the Sea like "this film is A BIT sad but no idea why everyone says it's really depressing", blissfully unaware of the gut punch I am about the receive.
Your count will go into the records, never fear.
Thank you! 😊
4 LRPs on Pilning Wetland and 8 common RPs at the back pond
OK well this is the last time I'm doing this as none of my numbers even made it into the Avon blog 😂
What a waste of time
Next time I won't bother reporting
New passage descending tide: 60+ turnstones with a few knot
Aust Warth: 3 stonechat, 1 kestrel
@bristolbirding.bsky.social
Pilning: chiffchaff singing, 3 cormorants, 50+ teal, 30+ shoveller, 4 lrp ✅, 10+snipe, 11 redshank, 1 Cetti's singing, 1 reed bunting singing✅, 2 gadwall✅, 20 curlew, 2 blackwits, 8 ringed plovers✅, 15+ lapwings, 1 stock dove, 2 tufties,
@bristolbirding.bsky.social
New pssge/Northwick high tide: 2 Linnet ✅, 25 wigeon, 70+oysterctchr, 40+shelduck, 45+curlew, 40+redshank, 2 teal, hundreds of knot ✅ & dunlin ✅, 2 greenfinch, 1 Cetti's singing ✅, 1 green woody heard, dozens Skylark ✅ & mipit (never water pipits!) & pied wag, 1 kestrel
@bristolbirding.bsky.social
Long trip to severnside still yielded no egrets for 2026! I decided to try to count any of the non-boring birds but inevitably lost the will to live halfway through. Here's my list:
Severn beach: 1 GCG, 10 wigeon, 16 shelduck, 1 singing greenfinch, 2 pied wag
@bristolbirding.bsky.social
Here is the mad list of birds I've yet to see this year with all my family responsibilities:
Bew/whoop swan
Barny/pf/brent goose
Gdwall
Pintail
Scaup
Avocet
Ring/gold/gry plover
Dunlin
Green/spotshank
Knot
Any egrets (!)
Any harriers
Peregrine
Kfisher
Skylark
Chiffchaff
Linnet
Any buntings
Buzzard from my kitchen window a first for the house list and had me running for my bins! @bristolbirding.bsky.social
I can't really express the power a blackbird's song has over me. Those first few times you hear them as winter draws to an end. Those balmy summer evenings listening to one singing in a beer garden... A magical quality to it
Might have an afternoon off to go birdwatching tomorrow, but honestly is there anything good around locally in Avon at the moment?
Glossy Ibis, today at Catcott Nature Reserve
It seemed too big. I'm not sure I'd have confused it with a small goose at first. Could have been a female goosander maybe?