Year & Life Lists

That was 2010, that was. And I couldn’t crack the 204 mark. Mind you, a couple of the sightings were hardly tickable – to whit, the probable hearing of golden pheasant on Brownsea and the local grey partridges. Compare them with the class entries on my 2004 list – red-breasted goose, king eider, golden eagle, spotted crake, Baird’s sandpiper, American robin, bluethroat and Kilrenny’s masked shrike.

But enough of year lists. I’ve posted my UK life list to Bubo and lost a couple of birds. One I know is bean goose because the BOU doesn’t split taiga and tundra, but the other… Even viewing the blockers doesn’t help me although that does let me predict the next ten species to enter the list – honey-buzzard, wryneck, Montagu’s harrier, dotterel (ha-ha!), mealy redpoll, green-winged teal, golden oriole, hoopoe, pomarine skua and little auk.

Six of these are lifers so all ten would be a good haul for the coming year, especially considering I only bagged three in 2010. Corey over at 10,000 Birds inspired this crystal-ball gazing.

Meanwhile, back on the patch an extended route round the local manor added tufted duck to the Port Marine list. That doesn’t often turn up at the Marina. Nor does goosander but the one, presumably, that has been hanging round the mouth of the pill recently was also at Parish Wharf this afternoon. 41 species in total; is this a record?

Related posts:

1. Local Patch Year List
2. Car-Free Year Listing
3. Portbury Wharf, Portishead