Found List

Seawatching has been a bit frustrating at Whitburn recently, at least in comparison with previous years. Seemingly permanent Westerlies finally started to have a hint of Northerly in them in the last three days.

Today looked like it had some promise early on - Kittiwakes seemed to be coming past with much more speed and purpose and large numbers of very distant Manx Shearwaters were bombing through.

Bird of the morning was a juvenile Sabines Gull - poor distant views as it was only picked up having almost passed us to the north. It was a landmark for me though seeing as it was a "find tick". Sabine's Gull is a species I have always wanted to find - ever since I started reading Heinzel, Fitter and Parslow 25 years ago!

So, my "found list" is the number of species I have found in the UK, for myself (or at east as part of a group having made a contribution to the finding) using punkbirder rules – and it is now at 263.

To be honest it is the only birding "list" I really care about - I get a thrill from discovering a bird for myself or discovering a bird with friend(s).

263 is not a great total but it's not terrible either. Here are the "easiest" species I have never found in the UK.

• Common Crane
• Scarlet Rosefinch
• Rough-legged Buzzard
• Subalpine Warbler
• Pectoral Sandpiper
• Red-footed Falcon
• Dusky Warbler
• Rustic Bunting
• Alpine Swift
• Marsh Warbler
• Ortolan
• Woodchat Shrike
• Short-toed Lark
• Hoopoe
• White Stork
• Desert Wheatear
• Bee-eater
• Green-winged Teal
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper
• Red-rumped Swallow
• American Wigeon
• Ring-necked Duck
• Great White Egret
• Corncrake
• Golden Oriole
• Kentish Plover
• Hume's Warbler
• Olive-backed Pipit
• Lesser Scaup
• Ring-billed Gull
• Tawny Pipit
• White-billed Diver
• Serin
• Red-necked Phalarope
• Booted Warbler

Seems like I need to do some more Spring birding on the Scillies to increase my chances of Hoopoe, Serin, Ortolan, Woodchat Shrike, Short-toed lark etc. But even if I managed to find all on this first list I still wouldn't be at the magic 300. So I will need some of these more difficult species too:

• Blyth's Reed Warbler
• American Golden Plover
• Arctic Redpoll
• Thrush Nightingale
• White-winged Black Tern
• Spotted Sandpiper
• Lesser Grey Shrike
• Marsh Sandpiper
• Pied Wheatear
• Blue-winged Teal
• Night Heron
• Cattle Egret
• Wilson's Phalarope
• Glossy Ibis
• Stone Curlew
• Ferruginous Duck
• Great Spotted Cuckoo
• Squacco Heron
• Lesser Yellowlegs
• Snow Goose
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Desert Warbler
• Isabelline Wheatear
• Ruddy Shelduck
• Bonelli's Warbler
• Ross's Gull
• Red-flanked Bluetail
• Isabelline Shrike
• Sardinian Warbler
• Great Reed Warbler
• Boneparte's Gull
• Lanceolated Warbler
• Spotted Crake
• Pallid Harrier
• Citrine Wagtail
• Black Stork
• King Eider

Plenty of birding to do - I'd better get back out in the field!