The garden list......

.....stands at the grand total of......5.

I can hear lots and lots of birds - usually at the crack of dawn when I am trying to have a lie-in, but they are not very obvious. And they certainly don't appear to actually be in my garden.

The first bird for the list was Australian Pelican - flying over obviously. This was a pretty cool moment - I would never have dreamt that one day I would have a pelican on my garden list, nor that I would be living so close to a beach as to make that possible.

The second bird was a Welcome Swallow, also flying over, and the third a Silver Gull, also airborn.

There have been just two species that have felt the need to actually drop in. The first of these was one of my favourite birds, the Willie Wagtail. A lovely little black and white bird with white eyebrows, it wags its tail from side to side rather than up and down like the uk wagtails do. This reminds me everytime of the Renault Megan advert, and makes me want to start singing 'I see you baby, shaking that ass'. Of course I don't, that would be a bit embarassing....

But they are fiesty little things and full of character. They think nothing of seeing off other birds far bigger than them, and having a go at just about anything if they decide they don't like it.

The second bird to appear in the garden itself appeared this morning. I peeped through the blinds to see if there was anything left of the street after last night's storm, and there was a little Laughing Turtle Dove, scurrying away from the window in a very sheepish manner.

So, bird number 5. I think it is going to take me a long time to reach double figures at this rate!

Cheryl xx

An ornamental pond

On the edge of my estate is an ornamental pond. Of a reasonable size, it has walls which proudly declare the name of the estate, and at one end it has a fountain.

It is the sort of pond that in the UK would have an array of Mallards, Coots, Moorhens, and a couple of domestic escapees.

In Australia, the pond has plenty of Pacific Black Ducks, which are really the sort of equivilent of the Mallard - they turn up everywhere there is a patch of water and a toddler holding a slice of bread.

This pond is also home to several Eurasion Coots, something we Brits brought over with us many, many years ago, to make the place feel more like home.

There are then Wood Ducks (which also turn up everywhere, and not necessarily where there is water), a good number of Australasian Grebes (quite similar to our Little Grebe), and of course, a couple of domestic escapees - in this case a pair of rather large white ducks.

The pond has a path around it, and a couple of benches. The sort of bench suitable for a person having a gentle stroll or bike ride to have a sit down and a rest on.

The sort of bench suitable for almost falling off when you realise that there is something else out there on that ornamental pond that isn't a Pacific Black Duck, or even, indeed, a duck at all.

There are six black and white birds, with long beaks, and even longer legs. Very, very long legs.

Yep, on the ornamental pond (complete with fountain) on the edge of the estate, are six Black-winged Stilts.

And sat on the bench by the ornamental pond, is a very happy girl whose only other sighting of Black-winged Stilt was the long-staying and sadly very lost individual that turned up at Titchwell year in, year out :-)

Cheryl xx

A local patch - at last

I've never had a proper local patch. There have been places I have visited frequently over the years (e.g. Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire), and others more infrequently (e.g. Venus Pool, Shropshire, Blacktoft Sands, and Old Moor, Yorkshire). But either due to distance, time, or the fact that they are all visited by birders with a much better claim than me, nowhere has really ever been 'mine'.

Until now.

My new house is just a stone's throw from the beach. It is on the edge of the estate, so you can walk out, and onto the long road which takes you down, past a golf course, and on to that beach. Next to this road is a cycle/walking path, which you can follow down to the beach, and then around to the right, where it follows the line of the dune system. A little way along that is a fabulous viewpoint, just perfect for sea watching.

On the one side of the road you have a 'scientific park', still to be explored, but the bushes, trees and shrubs are filled with small, never still little birds - mostly still to be identified. On the other side of the road you pass an ornamental pond on the edge of the estate (more about that in another post), and then the golf course. The habitat near to the road is again thick shrub and scrubland, with glimpses of water on the golf course.

When you reach the beach you have, well, beach and sea. Follow the cycle path round, and you have golf course and reserve on one side, and dune system on the other.

A real mix of habitats which in just 3 days have contributed to an interesting patch list.

So, finally I have a local patch. I haven't seen any other birders there, so I am staking a claim here and now.

Pity I had to come all the way to Australia to find it!

Cheryl