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Zim Girl's 3rd Big Year 2020


Zim Girl

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Congratulations on #150 Angie, well done! Don´t know what you are talking about, most shots are excellent, and I posted some way more ebcy birds than you did! The Verreaux´w Owl shot in particular is really awesome, and you got great ones of the Half-Collared and Great Kingfishers among many others. Also the Racket-Tailed Roller turned out really nice, we had such difficult conditions on that one. The Wood Owl is super as well, your love for Owls shines through. Looking forward to another (birding?) trip with you and Adrian.:)

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despite your "little camera" you had great shots of the birds and congrats on hitting the 150th. I know the feeling when you are on the same safari as @michael-ibk and miss all those birds that he sees and shoots, and then wonder if you can just borrow his photos and just say "ditto for me"! LOL.

forgot to say too - i really love that shot in the combined TR of the verreaux owl's back with his head turned back. brilliant shot. 

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On 12/6/2020 at 2:14 AM, Kitsafari said:

despite your "little camera" you had great shots of the birds and congrats on hitting the 150th. I know the feeling when you are on the same safari as @michael-ibk and miss all those birds that he sees and shoots, and then wonder if you can just borrow his photos and just say "ditto for me"! LOL.

forgot to say too - i really love that shot in the combined TR of the verreaux owl's back with his head turned back. brilliant shot. 

Thank you for your comments on the Verreaux's owl - I was really pleased with those pictures.

And yes, you have just described it perfectly re Michael :)

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On 12/5/2020 at 8:53 AM, michael-ibk said:

Congratulations on #150 Angie, well done! Don´t know what you are talking about, most shots are excellent, and I posted some way more ebcy birds than you did! The Verreaux´w Owl shot in particular is really awesome, and you got great ones of the Half-Collared and Great Kingfishers among many others. Also the Racket-Tailed Roller turned out really nice, we had such difficult conditions on that one. The Wood Owl is super as well, your love for Owls shines through. Looking forward to another (birding?) trip with you and Adrian.:)

Thank you Michael.  Yes, I do love the Owls, and I was surprised at the Roller given how tricky it was.  Absolutely, but must try harder next time!

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Back to the UK and last week we came across sightings of Crossbills on one of the local bird forums.  They had been seen in trees in an area that we often walk.  This is the place that is also good for Green Woodpecker but we have still yet to see one of those.  We drove up for a walk on Saturday.  After a bit of searching we found a small group high up in one of the trees.  This is the first time we have seen Crossbill in the UK so we were pleased to find them.  We stayed a while trying to get a good shot but eventually my neck hurt, my hands were freezing and the dog was whining so we had to go.

 

153.  (UK 88)  Common Crossbill

P1310682c.jpg.4915a9690694782dadde970b4f164fae.jpg

 

P1310707c.jpg.b9181efbdc7aa19fec859cdd9809d469.jpg

 

P1310713c.jpg.5182acaaadf10fbf88b2f797294bf770.jpg

Helsington Barrows  -  05/12/20

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A bonus bird from earlier on in the walk.

 

154.  (UK 89)  Common Kestrel

P1310645c.jpg.a1b0f8fd8a74f6a159957aabb821b0ae.jpg

Near Scout Scar  -  05/12/20

 

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Great you found some Crossbills at home. Just last weekend we walked by the spot where you saw your first one IIRC. :)

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17 hours ago, michael-ibk said:

Great you found some Crossbills at home. Just last weekend we walked by the spot where you saw your first one IIRC. :)

Thank you, and yes I remember us finding them - nice walk!

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That was a good find, those Crossbills! And yes, they do tend to stay high up in the trees unfortunately, so any photo is a bonus.

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Towlersonsafari

Hurrah  crossbill! We saw some in Northamptonshire  last month the noise they make is a good guide. Also the cause of one of my father in laws finest jokes.We were near Inverness  and I was droning on about how they sometimes  drop cones when extracting the seeds. Seconds later, a cone fell where were they? It took about 4 cones for me to realise it was the said father in law lobbing them!

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12 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

Hurrah  crossbill! We saw some in Northamptonshire  last month the noise they make is a good guide. Also the cause of one of my father in laws finest jokes.We were near Inverness  and I was droning on about how they sometimes  drop cones when extracting the seeds. Seconds later, a cone fell where were they? It took about 4 cones for me to realise it was the said father in law lobbing them!

Funny!

They were indeed dropping the cones from the tree and it did actually take me a minute to realise it was them doing it:)

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Congrats on 150 and I´m glad you posted your pictures from Zambia, not only because you have some very nice ones but also because if quality was an issue here I´m pretty sure I wouldn´t take part of this game, I think there´s place for everybody and for all kind of pictures.

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  • 2 weeks later...

No count for BY, but this just caused a mass exodus of birds from our garden!

 

Eurasian Sparrowhawk

P1320014c.jpg.a9109db54dab694a62726fa33f5790b1.jpg

 

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Lovely!

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Great to see a Sparrowhawk in your garden! Well not every visitor would agree, I suppose...;)

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@Zim Girlgreat! And our sparrowhawk is the American Kestrel.  I hear them first...wee wee wee.

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@Zim Girl, you are selling yourself short, great Zambian photos. The Owls are fantastic, but the Hooded Vulture in front of the Lion tells a story. If you showed that to someone who's not so interested in Africa, they'd probably say "beautiful Lion, pity there's such an ugly bird in front of it". Pity the poor little birds in your home garden...

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An impressive bird to have in your garden, even if it scared the others away. Happy new year 

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Anything else from this year Angie? Anyway, it was such a pleasure to share part of your Big Year with you, hopefully we‘ll do that again! Lots of really beautiful pictures this year, and I am very jealous about the Sparrowhawk!

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So it has been a hard year for numbers with the various lockdowns.  The hides in the local RSPB reserve have remained closed for most of the year which hasn't helped.  I really wanted to get to at least 100 UK birds so it is now time to wheel out the final ebc's.  The good news is I managed to end on a new bird (although it took a bit of finding) :).

 

In the order they were taken, the last of my BY2020 birds.

 

155.  (UK 90)  Red-legged Partridge

P1230749c.jpg.13a31e4e9c1256313c031831874823e4.jpg

Eagland Hill  -  20/01/20

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156.  (UK 91)  Common Sandpiper

P1240428c.jpg.51478576e07739da726f8dd59854613c.jpg

Glasson Dock  - 17/02/20

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157.  (UK 92)  Common Ringed Plover

P1240671c.jpg.06fb930a4edbb42aa96049b18fee6982.jpg

Rossall Point  -  02/03/20

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158.  (UK 93)  Sanderling

P1240676c.jpg.de8c7efb9f8380b57f9aa75222f347ea.jpg

 

P1240693c.jpg.2ab6e765476132952aa1a156a99ab90c.jpg

Rossall Point  -  02/03/20

 

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You will have to trust me on this one.  This bird, for a long time, has been sighted roosting in this old burnt out barn.

 

159.  (UK 94)  Little Owl

P1240853c.jpg.46174f6cd44f8c3110a18344c8a7bcf0.jpg

Newton-with-Scales  -  06/03/20

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