This is a good thread. I've not really birded much up at Pomona so can't claim the Big 5 up there.
My patch is the Mersey at Cheadle Bridge, so my Big 5 are as follows:
Sand Martin Goosander Kingfisher Dipper Grey Wagtail
I kept it to birds that are all about the river.
By the way, what would we say were the GM Big 5? Or the North West's Big 5? We could have some fun with this...
Joel Tragen said
Mon Apr 18 4:17 PM, 2016
I share the same patch as you shannon but would have a different big 5, ring-necked parakeet grey heron willow tit kingfisher grey wagtail usually get them most visits. still haven't seen kingfisher or lapwing on the docks so will need to pay Pomona a visit.
Shannon Llewellyn said
Mon Apr 18 11:27 AM, 2016
I have indeed seen the Docklands Big 5. :) Kingfshers on only a few occasions, though.
My local patch is Chorlton Ees / Mersey Valley (including Sale & Chorlton Water Parks), so I would say the Big 5 for there would be:
Obviously, with two of those, the would 'big' is used very much in its figurative sense. :D
James Walsh said
Sat Apr 16 12:55 PM, 2016
Having experienced searching for The Big Five in Africa in 2008 (saw Lion, Leopard, Elephant and Buffalo) and having plenty of time to dream up marketing schemes for my main local patch, Salfords' docklands, whilst wandering around the site, one day I thought it would be fun to select a Salford Docklands Big Five, five species to represent the site, for tourists to look for when visiting and for birders to look for, especially on the Birdwatching Cruises and the various nature walks on-site
The species chosen were Kingfisher, Lapwing, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Cormorant, chosen for a variety of reasons such as colours, size and likelihood of visitors being able to see them!
The Big Five were featured on BBC1 Urban Jungle (see YouTube: The Salford Docklands Project) when I took the Urban Birder around the patch on a boat and I managed to locate all five for the camera crew (after nabbing a cameraman for an additional hour to find and film a Kingfisher)
My questions are:
1. Who has seen the Salford Docklands Big Five ?
2. If you were to choose a Big Five for your local patch, what would the species be ?
My patch is the Mersey at Cheadle Bridge, so my Big 5 are as follows:
Sand Martin
Goosander
Kingfisher
Dipper
Grey Wagtail
I kept it to birds that are all about the river.
By the way, what would we say were the GM Big 5? Or the North West's Big 5? We could have some fun with this...
ring-necked parakeet
grey heron
willow tit
kingfisher
grey wagtail
usually get them most visits.
still haven't seen kingfisher or lapwing on the docks so will need to pay Pomona a visit.
My local patch is Chorlton Ees / Mersey Valley (including Sale & Chorlton Water Parks), so I would say the Big 5 for there would be:
Buzzard
Goosander
Whitethroat
Willow tit
Grey heron
Obviously, with two of those, the would 'big' is used very much in its figurative sense. :D
The species chosen were Kingfisher, Lapwing, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Cormorant, chosen for a variety of reasons such as colours, size and likelihood of visitors being able to see them!
The Big Five were featured on BBC1 Urban Jungle (see YouTube: The Salford Docklands Project) when I took the Urban Birder around the patch on a boat and I managed to locate all five for the camera crew (after nabbing a cameraman for an additional hour to find and film a Kingfisher)
My questions are:
1. Who has seen the Salford Docklands Big Five ?
2. If you were to choose a Big Five for your local patch, what would the species be ?