If you hang around me long enough, you realise pretty quickly that I like birds. In fact, I would be willing to call myself a birderwatcher, or birder.
At this point this is your only chance to back away from the mad bird woman and escape back into the wilds of the internet before I start boring the pants off you.
So I watch birds, and I need a place to keep my lifelist (a lifelist is a list of birds a birder has positively identified – true story!). The internet seems as good a place as any to put it.
So here’s how it works – everytime I see a new bird, I shall add it to my lifelist. I’ll even stick a date next to it so you know when I saw it. RIVETING STUFF! (All undated entries are birds I’d spotted prior to 7th August 2007).
At least this will be testament to what a crappy birdwatcher I am. Come with me and watch as the gulfs between new bird spottings grow ever wider!
Australia
Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata)
Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)
Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)
Little Penguin (Eudyptula minor)
Cape Gannet (Morus capensis)
Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator)
Darter (Anhinga melanogaster)
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris)
Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius)
Little Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax melanoleucos)
Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)
White-Faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus)
Straw-Necked Ibis (Threskiornis spinicollis)
Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)
White-Bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)
Wedge-Tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)
Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa)
Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio)
Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)
Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)
Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus)
Silver Gull (Larus novaehollandiae)
Spotted Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia chinensis)
Feral Pigeon/Rock Dove (Columba livia)
Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)
Yellow-Tailed Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funerus)
Gang-Gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum)
Galah (Cacatua roseicapilla)
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)
Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans)
Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius)
Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides)
Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae)
Superb Fairy-Wren (Malurus cyaneus)
Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)
Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)
New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae)
Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys)
Magpie-Lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)
Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)
Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides)
Little Raven (Corvus mellori)
European Greenfinch (Carduelis carduelis)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
Common Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)
Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus) 2/10/2007
White-Plumed Honeyeater (Lichenostomus penicillatus) 3/10/2007
Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis) 11/2/2009
Canada
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Canada Goose (Branta Canadensis)
Mallard (Anas Platyrhynchos)
Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)
Black-Billed Magpie (Pica pica)
Common Raven (Corvus corax)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
United Kingdom
Robin (Erithacus rubecula) 28/4/2009
Great Tit (oh lol, birdfolk, I see what you did there) (Parus major) 29/4/2009
Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) 29/4/2009
Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) 29/4/2009
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) 29/4/2009
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) 29/4/2009
Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) 29/4/2009
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 29/4/2009
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 29/4/2009
Scaup (Aythya marila) 29/4/2009
Greyleg Goose (Anser anser) 29/4/2009
Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) 29/4/2009
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 29/4/2009
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 1/5/2009
Jackdaw (Corvus monedula) 7/5/2009
Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) 7/5/2009
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) 9/5/2009
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) 15/5/2009
Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) 20/5/2009
Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus) 21/5/2009
Skylark (Alauda arvensis) 24/5/2009
Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus) 24/5/2009
Eider (Somateria mallissima) 24/5/2009
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) 25/5/2009
Hooded Crow (Corvus cornix) 29/5/2009
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 31/5/2009
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos) 3/6/2009
Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 3/6/2009
Pied Wagtail (Motaulla alba) 4/6/2009
Oh, birds! When I clicked on this, I momentarily thought (and feared) it was some strange The Secret/Oprahesque list of life-affirming things that make your life AMAZING.
ps, I didn’t really think that, I believed in you Hayley
My good goodness Jen, you surely know that I’m far too cynical and glass-half-empty to listen to anything Oprah-endorsed (not so much glass-half-empty, more “the glass is empty and no one’s coming to refill it, WE’RE ALL DOOMED!”).
You could have added 2 dead doves if I hadn’t have stopped for them this morning. They just sat there and would have been smooshed but guess who likes aminals and has a conscience!
Love the scientific names: “Turdus migratorius” and “Anas Platyrhynchos”. YEAH!