Backyard birding

Here's our pond, one year on and coming along great...dragonflies and other insects are attracting the bats in the summer evenings and we are hoping for some good birds this year as its well established now. We have a resident heron and other birds starting to take an interest. We have already had Green Sandpiper (and other migrating waders) flying over the house before the pond was put in". Contact Bill on 01852-300310 for great local accommodation options.

otter

Jim & Susan Hengeveld--Unionville, Indiana, USA

Susan and I have a relatively small parcel of land (~1/4 acre or ~1/10 ha.), but as is the case with the quality of both real estate in general, and birding sites in particular, location is everything. We live at the shallow end of a dammed lake (i.e., opposite the dam) and from our property, can see not only waterfowl that land in the bay at our end of the lake, but also shorebirds that move through in moderate numbers (especially in late summer and fall) when water levels are down, exposing mudflats.

big sit! We have lived at this location for 6+ years (since December of '95) and have recorded at least 187 species from our yard each of the first six years. Our three most impressive groups are probably the warblers (33 species), shorebirds (30 species), and waterfowl (28 species). The two most likely waterfowl species that would bump our list up to 30 would be White-winged Scoter and Ross's Goose.

On our list, we have a number of species that are quite unusual away from the lakefront (Lk. Michigan), such as Red-throated Loon, Black and Surf Scoters, and Long-tailed Duck; several species that are quite local or seldom seen in the state, such as Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Least Bittern, and Least Tern; and a number of species that are very uncommon to rare throughout the state (a couple of which many in-state birders have not yet seen in the state), such as Eared and Red-necked Grebes, American White Pelican, Cattle and Snowy Egrets, Golden Eagle, Marbled Godwit, Buff-breasted and Upland Sandpipers, Red-necked Phalarope, Laughing and California Gulls, and Yellow-headed Blackbird.

We have participated in the Big Sit! each of the last 6 years, using our deck as the center of our 17-foot diameter circle. We have placed in the top 10 several times and, with 69 species this past year, placed 17 out of 115 teams, the highest total for a circle located away from the Atlantic, Pacific, or Gulf coasts. Our highest one-day total from our yard is 83 species. If water levels were appropriate for shorebirds, we COULD hit 100 species on a good day during fall migration.

the lake

jim and susan

Mark and Jane Turner's yard - Hoylake, Merseyside, UK

The Turner's backyard is literally the Dee estuary and Liverpool Bay with sand and mudflats stretching from Red Rocks to Meols and seaviews from the Point of Ayr to Seaforth. Is it any surprise that their backyard list is already an amazing 168 species after less than three years. The numbers of species seen from the Turners "yard" is almost a match for many counties - so is it any wonder that Jane has even produced her own bird report - now what about that for dedication!

They have had 10 warblers and both crests, Grasshopper, Reed, Sedge, Garden, Blackcap, Whitethroat, Lesser White, Willow, Chiff, & Yellow-browed bad views of a prob Barred and frustrating views of a Marmoras/Dartford type. One morning last May there were three Groppers and 4 Sedgies singing in the grounds! Other highlights include: All 4 skuas within 10 yards of the garden wall Bonxie and Pom over the roof! A max count of 167 Leach's Petrel and 3 in the garden -Ring-billed, Sabines (4) and American Hering Gull (latter subject to BBRC acceptance) but still no Glauc/Iceland!!!! Highest single day count is 75 species. The Turners have also had some pretty special escapes too - Green singing finch, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Cinnamon Teal and what appeared to be a House Finch!

Of course it's the wader records that make the most interesting reading so we've reproduced them here - how many of us can claim 2 or 3 White-rumped Sandpipers from the lounge ! If you'd like an e-mailed version of the whole report, just contact Jane.

Tom Reed's yard - Cape May, New Jersey, USA

My yard is located about 14 miles north-northwest of Cape May, New Jersey, on the Delaware Bayshore. It takes up about three acres. Salt marsh surrounds all sides of the property, and extends for several miles to the north of the yard. The garden is located about 0.3 miles from the Delaware Bay. Birding can be excellent at all seasons, but migrations are best.

Spring passerines peak in the last two weeks of May; spring movements in the area are more widespread, and birds come and go during the day with no consistent pattern. Incredible numbers of shorebirds can be viewed at dusk in late-May, flying back to their roosting sites near the Atlantic Ocean. These birds stage on the Delaware Bay before the final leg of their journey to their Arctic breeding grounds.

Summer provides the slowest birding- breeders include Common Yellowthroat, Seaside Sparrow, and Orchard Oriole. By the beginning of July, the first wave of shorebirds has arrived, and the autumn migration begins. By late-July, the shorebird migration is near its peak, and more than a dozen species can be observed in a day. Passerine migration also begins, with the first Yellow Warblers and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers passing through.

Throughout August, shorebirds, passerines, and the first migrant raptors pass through, setting the stage for September and October. In September, morning flights of thousands of warblers can occur, "seeps" and "zeeps" filling the early morning sky. Hawk flights can be impressive as well. Sharp-shinned Hawks dominate flights, and on days of NW winds following cold fronts, hundreds of "Sharpies" can be seen streaming by. By October, neotropical passerine migration fades away, and the hardier migrants begin moving through. Flights of tens of thousands of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Flickers, Eastern Bluebirds, American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, and many others can occur. Robins can be exceptionally impressive, with flights of hundreds of thousands birds occurring every few years. Numbers of birds gradually taper off after the third week of October, but true autumn migration continues through mid-December. The biggest rarity ever seen from the yard (and one of the most outrageous rarities ever seen in New Jersey) was the famous east coast Yellow-nosed Albatross of 2000. Seen several miles inland of the garden the Sunday before, the bird was re-located about a mile from the yard by local birders on the following Tuesday. While I was in school, the bird circled low over the marsh just north of the yard, flew OVER the yard, landed on the Reed's Beach jetty, and sat in the Delaware Bay off Cook's Beach for about half an hour. I got distant views of the bird as it circled two miles away, making the Great Black-backed Gulls it was soaring with seem tiny. It was an amazing experience.

The world's top backyard birders are all ranked in the surfbirds rankings - have you added yours ?

Backyard Birding