Andrew Self
From Londonbirders
A London Birder since 1984. My local patch is Brent Reservoir and I’m fortunate enough to live adjacent to it. My best finds at Brent include: Great White Egret (a joint find and a first for London), Lesser Scaup (2nd for London but also seen elsewhere), Blue-winged Teal (3rd for London), Ring-billed Gull (10th), White-winged Black Tern (28th), two Yellow-browed Warblers and a Spoonbill (seen from my flat). I also co-found a Black Stork at Cheshunt on a bird race which was a first for London (this proves how luck plays its part in finding rarities as we wouldn't even have been there if we didn't still need Lesser Whitethroat!).
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I’m also the London Bird Recorder and Editor of the London Bird Report. When I’m not at Brent I’m probably birding overseas. I have visited every continent and have seen 4316 species.
The best bird I've ever seen is Great Grey Owl - a female on a nest with three well grown young and a male nearby on lookout - stunning! Although an adult male Pied Harrier in Nepal comes a pretty close 2nd and the Yellow-headed-Picathartes in Ghana must be 3rd.
Apart from birds I'm also interested in butterflies (UK List 48 including Large Tortoiseshell & Monarch), moths (I run a trap) and mammals (Total 355; I saw 11 Tigers in 2005 and Mountain Gorilla, Wolf, Black Bear & Puma in 2006). And rock music (in the last few years I've been to see UFO (3 times), Rush, Magnum, Def Leppard & Whitesnake). My contact details are at #Email
Here's a photo of me in Australia, more photos and a trip report can be found on my website: [1]
Patchlist Competition 2008 - Species Lists
| Species | Brent Res | Westminster |
|---|---|---|
| Little Grebe | 1 | |
| Great Crested Grebe | 1 | |
| Black-necked Grebe | 1 | |
| Cormorant | 1 | 1 |
| Little Egret | 1 | |
| Grey Heron | 1 | 1 |
| Bittern | 1 | |
| Mute Swan | 1 | |
| Greylag Goose | 1 | 1 |
| Canada Goose | 1 | 1 |
| Egyptian Goose | 1 | |
| Shelduck | 1 | |
| Mandarin | ||
| Wigeon | 1 | |
| Gadwall | 1 | |
| Teal | 1 | |
| Mallard | 1 | 1 |
| Pintail | ||
| Garganey | 1 | |
| Shoveler | 1 | |
| Pochard | 1 | |
| Tufted Duck | 1 | |
| Scaup | ||
| Common Scoter | ||
| Goldeneye | 1 | |
| Goosander | 1 | |
| Ruddy Duck | 1 | |
| Osprey | ||
| Sparrowhawk | 1 | 1 |
| Marsh Harrier | 1 | |
| Common Buzzard | 1 | |
| Red Kite | ||
| Kestrel | 1 | |
| Hobby | 1 | |
| Peregrine | 1 | 1 |
| Pheasant | 1 | |
| Water Rail | 1 | |
| Moorhen | 1 | |
| Coot | 1 | 1 |
| Avocet | 1 | |
| Oystercatcher | 1 | |
| Lapwing | 1 | |
| Ringed Plover | 1 | |
| Little Ringed Plover | 1 | |
| Dunlin | 1 | |
| Sanderling | 1 | |
| Ruff | 1 | |
| Jack Snipe | 1 | |
| Snipe | 1 | |
| Woodcock | 1 | |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 1 | |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | ||
| Whimbrel | 1 | |
| Curlew | 1 | |
| Redshank | 1 | |
| Greenshank | 1 | |
| Wood Sandpiper | 1 | |
| Green Sandpiper | 1 | |
| Common Sandpiper | 1 | |
| Mediterranean Gull | ||
| Little Gull | 1 | |
| Black-headed Gull | 1 | 1 |
| Common Gull | 1 | 1 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 1 | 1 |
| Yellow-legged Gull | 1 | |
| Caspian Gull | ||
| Herring Gull | 1 | 1 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 1 | 1 |
| Kittiwake | ||
| Little Tern | ||
| Common Tern | 1 | 1 |
| Arctic Tern | 1 | |
| Black Tern | 1 | |
| Feral Dove | 1 | 1 |
| Stock Dove | 1 | |
| Woodpigeon | 1 | 1 |
| Collared Dove | 1 | |
| Turtle Dove | ||
| Ring-necked Parakeet | 1 | 1 |
| Cuckoo | ||
| Tawny Owl | 1 | |
| Little Owl | 1 | |
| Long-eared Owl | 1 | |
| Short-eared Owl | ||
| Swift | 1 | 1 |
| Kingfisher | 1 | |
| Green Woodpecker | 1 | |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | 1 | 1 |
| Lesser Spotted Woodpecker | ||
| Skylark | 1 | |
| Sand Martin | 1 | |
| Swallow | 1 | |
| House Martin | 1 | |
| Tree Pipit | 1 | |
| Meadow Pipit | 1 | |
| Rock Pipit | 1 | |
| Yellow Wagtail | 1 | |
| Grey Wagtail | 1 | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 | |
| Wren | 1 | 1 |
| Dunnock | 1 | |
| Robin | 1 | 1 |
| Nightingale | ||
| Redstart | 1 | |
| Black Redstart | ||
| Whinchat | ||
| Stonechat | ||
| Wheatear | 1 | |
| Ring Ouzel | ||
| Blackbird | 1 | 1 |
| Fieldfare | 1 | |
| Song Thrush | 1 | |
| Redwing | 1 | |
| Mistle Thrush | 1 | 1 |
| Grasshopper Warbler | 1 | |
| Sedge Warbler | 1 | |
| Reed Warbler | 1 | |
| Lesser Whitethroat | 1 | |
| Common Whitethroat | 1 | |
| Garden Warbler | 1 | |
| Blackcap | 1 | |
| Chiffchaff | 1 | |
| Willow Warbler | 1 | |
| Goldcrest | 1 | |
| Firecrest | 1 | |
| Spotted Flycatcher | 1 | |
| Pied Flycatcher | ||
| Long-tailed Tit | 1 | |
| Coal Tit | 1 | |
| Blue Tit | 1 | 1 |
| Great Tit | 1 | 1 |
| Nuthatch | 1 | |
| Treecreeper | ||
| Jay | 1 | |
| Magpie | 1 | 1 |
| Jackdaw | 1 | |
| Rook | ||
| Carrion Crow | 1 | 1 |
| Starling | 1 | 1 |
| House Sparrow | 1 | |
| Chaffinch | 1 | |
| Brambling | ||
| Greenfinch | 1 | 1 |
| Goldfinch | 1 | 1 |
| Siskin | 1 | |
| Linnet | 1 | |
| Lesser Redpoll | 1 | |
| Crossbill | 1 | |
| Bullfinch | 1 | |
| Yellowhammer | ||
| Reed Bunting | 1 | |
| TOTALS: | 125 | 32 |
I can be contacted at: a-self [AT] sky.com
