P&B Bird Watch

[The_Kincardine]

15 minutes ago, Bigmouth Strikes Again said:

Robins will fight to the death over territory.

Last spring I kept the window-feeder topped up with dried grubs and we had lots of tits at the same time but never more than one robin.  Do you reckon it was the same one?

[pittsburgh phil]

Almost certainly the same bird, although from one year to the next it's likely to be a different robin. They have pretty short lifespans, a couple of years only I think.

[Hillonearth]

Our garden backs onto woodland which contains a few ponds, so in addition to the usual suspects we get some weird stuff occasionally like woodcock, grey heron and mallard which aren't really garden birds. Loads of bullfinches which seem to be making a comeback numbers-wise, and some scarcer types you only see now and again like goldcrests and waxwings.

[RedRob72]

The RSPB Big Bird Watch 2017 is next week. Link here for those interested in registering/obtaining a pack. Away unfortunately but it would be good to see lists or unusual sightings from around the country posted up on here![emoji6]
https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch?gclid=Cj0KEQiAzZHEBRD0ivi9_pDzgYMBEiQAtvxt-Nr0hbO-vjcAbFX0A370CjsFO0TqcrP5ILNY8NIhISQaAuB88P8HAQ

[Ya Bezzer!]

I don't have a garden but for some reason we have a lot of Pied Wagtails in this urban concrete hellhole.  Also bats (not strictly speaking birds but they do fly about).

Was out walking along the Avon River recently and saw a Kingfisher which I'd never seen before.

[WaffenThinMint]

Watch out for the Waxwings - coming to a garden near you this weekend:-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/27/birdwatchers-told-look-irruption-waxwings/

An "irruption of waxwings"! To go along with a murder of crows, a parliament of owls, a gaggle of geese, a raffle of turkeys I suppose.

http://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/collective-nouns-for-birds

There doesn't appear to be one for Great Tits. Any suggestions? A Sun of?

[jamamafegan]

Watch out for the Waxwings - coming to a garden near you this weekend:-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/27/birdwatchers-told-look-irruption-waxwings/

An "irruption of waxwings"! To go along with a murder of crows, a parliament of owls, a gaggle of geese, a raffle of turkeys I suppose.

http://www.britishbirdlovers.co.uk/articles/collective-nouns-for-birds

There doesn't appear to be one for Great Tits. Any suggestions? A Sun of?

The Waxwings arrived a while ago. I had them in my garden but annoyingly my camera was out of battery and they haven't been back since. Gutted. Also get fieldfares every winter in the garden and recently a magpie has moved into the area.

Edit: didn't read the article - that's great we are going to get even more waxwings here

[jamamafegan]

This is isn't from my garden but I couldn't resist sharing it because I filmed it yesterday and I'm very proud of it. It's my first attempt at wildlife film. Bit of a slow video but the end is a good watch as he takes off.

[Hillonearth]

Waxwings are basically the lemmings of the bird world - they breed in Russia and the north of the Scandy countries, and there'd normally be just a few hundred coming over to the east coast of the UK each winter. Every now and again their population peaks and they pitch up here in huge numbers...during the bad winter of 2010-11 they were everywhere.

They're quite tame, as where they come from there's hardly any humans to get frightened of. Unfortunately this means they don't have the ingrained sense to avoid cars, flying into windows and so on that our homegrown birds have mostly evolved, and a lot of them don't last long once they arrive.

They just keep heading west until they find food - that year a flock of hundreds even pitched up in Stornoway, and kept heading west, which is quite grim when you think about it.

[D.A.F.C]

Noticed a large amount of geese, I think, over my house yesterday. Right noisy buggers. Do they always make that noise when they fly? 

[pittsburgh phil]

Noticed a large amount of geese, I think, over my house yesterday. Right noisy buggers. Do they always make that noise when they fly? 

Yes

[Zetterlund]

We don't get anything too interesting in our garden. The cat stalks everything but is also scared of anything that moves, and usually runs back in when the blackbirds start dive bombing her if they have chicks nearby. Lots of wood pigeons about and we see them poking about on the ground for twigs.

I work on Tiree a lot and the place I usually stay has a resident corncrake in the summer months,. They're tricky to spot and are usually only heard, but I've seen a few sneaking about in the grass. Cool wee things but they make the most annoying sound which tends to continue all night.

[The DA]

Good video, jamamfegan.  Are those the cliffs at Kinnoull?

ETA: I forgot to post the main reason for checking this thread.  Yesterday afternoon, we had a couple of buzzards and a red kite flying over the field behind our garden.  At first I thought they were all buzzards (quite a common view from my back door) but then I noticed there was a bit of a squabble going on and I looked more closely. 

And there were a good few bullfinches at the feeders.

Edited January 28, 2017 by The DA

[Dee Man]

Nice video @jamamafegan, but I much preferred the video it linked me to immediately after yours had finished. Don't know what it had to do with Peregrines or Perth but quite frankly, I wasn't giving a monkeys.

Edited January 28, 2017 by Dee Man

[jamamafegan]

Good video, jamamfegan.  Are those the cliffs at Kinnoull?

Cheers. They are yes. I would highly recommend trying to see them, they glide and stoop close along the cliff at cliff edge height - offering fantastic views of the birds. They are quite used to people being around.

Nice video [mention=19616]jamamafegan[/mention], but I much preferred the video it linked me to immediately after yours had finished. Don't know what it had to do with Peregrines or Perth but quite frankly, I wasn't giving a monkeys.

Cheers m9.

That's very odd. If you could send me a link for that so I can, erm, report it to youtube - that would be great.

[FlyerTon]

13 hours ago, D.A.F.C said:

Noticed a large amount of geese, I think, over my house yesterday. Right noisy buggers. Do they always make that noise when they fly? 

I think it's like they're coordinating the flying of the v formation.

[Dee Man]

1 hour ago, jamamafegan said:

Cheers m9.

That's very odd. If you could send me a link for that so I can, erm, report it to youtube - that would be great.

 

I can't find it again; it was sensational. That very attractive lady in the picture with a low cut blouse basically role playing being a secretary and talking to the camera. I didn't realise such things existed.

I thought the bird watch thread was going to be strictly the feathered variety.

[WaffenThinMint]

13 hours ago, D.A.F.C said:

Noticed a large amount of geese, I think, over my house yesterday. Right noisy buggers. Do they always make that noise when they fly? 

 

11 minutes ago, FlyerTon said:

I think it's like they're coordinating the flying of the v formation.

Yep, they're making sure they're all fine, if any are tiring they rejig their formation so the ones tiring fall to the rear end where it is easier to fly in the slipstream created by the wings of the other geese in front and just above them. It also maximises their vision to look out for predators.

If any tire too much or become ill, they will drop out & three others will fly down with it, catching up with the formation later on (who will make a prolonged stop off at some regular migration spot such as a large lake where there is plenty of food & shelter).

[sureiknow]

Was visiting my daughter in Belfast today.

Took part in the birdwatching. 

Blackbirds. Plenty of them.

 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Not from my garden, as a first floor flat doesn't have one, but this is a Ptarmigan from last weekend being completely trolled by Scottish winter near the top of Cona'Mheall near Ullapool.