The Lincolnshire Bird Club

no not shots taken with yourself and Lincs rarities in the background -- just out of interest and to promote a bit of a finding challenge thought I would keep track of how many species I could find myself in Lincs this year without going out of the way for range limited stuff; finding something yourself is always a contentious how do you define it area but for instance going to Frampton and locating a bird that was there the day before and you knew about is not a find! but if a bird like a stork is seen somewhere else in Britain and you find it in Lincs the next day or same day then that is clearly a find; anyways to date my total is 181 so with seabird season around the corner hoping for 200 -- presumably people on the coast can do better but it would be interesting to see how people fare; it does mean you don't have to talk to people very often as you don't want news of something you might be just about to find!

As an avid list keeper who rarely birds out of Lincs I always keep a self found year list and think this is a great idea to fire people up for getting out and finding their own birds. I am on 186 at the mo but I do live on the coast!

It never ceases to amaze me how few birders I see on the Lincs coast (unless of course there has been a rare bird reported). Most days will see me either somewhere in the Saltfleetby/Theddlethorpe NNR area or at Gib and I can count on 2 hands how many times I have bumped into another Lincs birder. It will be interesting to see how many Lincs birders take up the challenge.

Regards

Nige

I think you are fighting a bit of a losing battle, Graham and Nige. I am not a lister but from what I have gathered since subscribing to the Forum you can count on two hands the number of people like yourselves who actually go out to increase their knowledge rather than wait for their pager/alert/mobile to tell them. I think we should make the likes of Stephen Lorand the role model for totally committed patch working.

I think in Lincs you have to be a self found lister as very little news gets out and it appears to be getting more so.
I only check what I've found at the end of the year but it will usually be around 170 species.

It's always the same dedicated few who are willing to put in the hard work of trying to find good birds in Lincs.
How many of those ticking the Broad-billed Sand actually go out checking waders regularly for something like a Broad-billed themselves? Only a few I'm sure.
It's the end of July - birders should be out checking waders, terns and keeping an eye on those swifts passing through but many will just wait for the pager/phone to spring into action.
I know the habitat in Lincs can be hard work to cover but it's obvious if more people regularly put in the effort then more will be found.
Anyone that knows me will testify of the hours I put in the field and I'll be out again later today checking the beaches - I'll probably not find anything but birding is in my blood and I'll keep at it until something does appear.
For me, the "buzz" and satisfaction of finding your own good bird far outweighs that of twitching one.

Geoff mentions about the lack of info getting out - the grapevine continues to be the most productive source in that respect.
In days long gone the forum played a pivotal role in local bird news but I'm afraid only a few experienced birders continue to post their sightings on here.
The forum is of course for birdwatchers of any level to report their sightings but standard reports of common birds largely dominate these days - reports which are of little interest to the more discerning birders out there and thus less of them now continue to post.

Oh and by the way, I'm on 160 for my 2016 self-found list, with the vast majority being seen along the coastal strip of Cleethorpes to Mablethorpe. I know - I should be doing better!

Regards

Chris

Ah but I understand your PokemonGo find list is getting quite large Chris!!

Particularly at this time of year, there are probably plenty of out-of-county birders scanning Lincolnshire habitats, seeing good stuff and eager to post their sightings on this site.

As long as there a firewall on the site, they are going to be frustrated.

Because of the club's restrictive policy on non-member postings,the Rare Birds section is diminished in content, so we all miss out - club members and non-members alike.

If a birder from, say, York or Peterborough comes up with a bluethroat or a wallcreeper in the county, I would like it if she/he could post it direct on this site so we can all read it here first.

Apologies for returning to a gripe of yesteryear, but it is surely self-evident that the club's restrictive policy is mean-spirited and self-defeating.

Time for a re-think?

A firm No, Jim. Like me you come from a bygone era. The York or Peterborough birder would no more think of this Forum as a means to provide/receive rare bird data than fly over the moon! He/she would use their mobile phone/pager and spread the word in seconds rather than hours!

I get the impression that Stuart would be happy for the forum to shut down completely and it probably will if nobody uses it.

Not much of a lister (patch aside!) but realized have a nice little list going, largely thanks to my good friend Dave Roberts who is doing a Lincs year-list, inviting me to tag along once a week or so, looking for stuff…

With regards true self-finds; Willow Tit is an elusive resident breeder at Whisby NR, took me nearly the whole month of Jan to connect with one, I knew they were here but certainly didn’t twitch one, self-find?

I ‘believe’ I am on 182 (BOU) out of 198 seen in Lincs this year, more importantly 135 out of 141 for Whisby NR/NH Pits, so far…

Though if Willow Tit is not a self-find then the numbers are up for review!

Regards,

Ben

I think you've missed my point, Geoff. I was one of the first to join the Forum in 2004 and still read it almost daily and contribute occasionally - just look at those listed as members from the outset who haven't used it for years. I do not want to see the end of the Forum but communication has moved on. I bet if you find a rarity you will alert your friends/fellow birders by tweet or text - certainly not by this Forum. I do not want to see its' demise but I feel it is inevitable.

An interesting concept fraught with difficulties. On January 1st I got up, looked out of the curtains and saw about 15 species before I had a cup of coffee. Yes I found them but I knew that they would be there. Can I count them. Same goes for the first visit of the year to the coast. Many I knew I would be seeing but can I really say I discovered them. Obviously when you set off to see a rarity you are not sure it is going to be there so did you really find it .... doubtful but you could presumably claim it. So of the 200 I have seen this year only a few were a genuine surprise

Discernible birdwatcher - Discern: transitive verb to see or notice something that is not very clear or obvious.


That wonderful split.


The scarce and rare. Hot news, exclusivity, a mega.

A mega bird, found by a mega birdwatcher. Stuff of Marvel Comics.

Turtle dove. Once common but now talked about with apprehensive enquiry.

Buzzards. Pesky things now.

To get back to the start of this post,
with a good seawatch on Saturday and a Honey Buzzard over home on Sunday my selfy list is now 190
but I doubt I will be able to reach 200 (unless a major fall occurs in the next few weeks).

regards John

Presume you passed 200 in October John! I have managed 205 so a happy bunny but missed some obvious birds that I. Like still look for in December : interesting will be the difference between Dave Roberts many 1000's ? Of miles collecting his list and the best selfy totals