The Mantis Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 12 hours ago, tamthebam said: I hadn't even heard one until I took a walk up past Rullion Green a few years ago and there was a right noisy one in some woods. Penicuik takes its name from the Welsh for "hill of the cuckoo" so it was nice to have the name confirmed. Usually get them up the Pentlands Tam. I saw two at once near Loganlea a couple of years back, but you hear them calling a fair bit. The Highlands and Islands is hoaching wi Cuckoos calling from mid May onwards but hardly ever seen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamamafegan Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Lovely shot, Mantis.As for seeing cuckoos, heathlands are your best bet IMO. Head out to the hills where there’s some trees growing like rowan and birch. I’ve seen them in the Sma’ Glen near Crieff and Glen Clova before. I’d recommend simply going for a drive and pulling over for a listen every so often. I’ve heard lots of cuckoos this year, all of them in the upland habitats. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamthebam Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Reed bunting Little egret. Both at Aberlady Bay last night 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Jean King Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Gorgeous night walking along the dunes between Barassie and Irvine. Nice wee Sand Martin colony and just managed to catch one on the wing by chance in the picture which was more of the nests. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Shite quality but the heron at Swannie Ponds was on the go again today. Flew off squawking like a pterodactyl. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Posted June 25, 2020 Share Posted June 25, 2020 Nice wee bit of luck yesterday morning. Went back to where I saw the Cuckoo and got this pair 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamamafegan Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 My first ever photo of a barn owl on Wednesday night 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanburn Dave Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 So I'm reading a book and having a coffee in the garden when a sparrowhawk shoots over the hedge grabs a young starling in flight10 feet in front of me and takes it to the ground. The hawk looks up, sees me, and flies off. The stunned starling flies off in the opposite direction. Three seconds of absolute drama. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 On 24/06/2020 at 21:19, Melanius Mullarkey said: Shite quality but the heron at Swannie Ponds was on the go again today. Flew off squawking like a pterodactyl. I saw three of these flying together down the Don beside Dyce the other day before they disappeared into a forest, taking cover in the Jurassic Park jungle. Before that I’d only ever seen one at a time, usually looking shifty by the riverside. Also saw a Mallard with an identity issue floating down the river between three swans whilst all the other ducks were 100m downstream. Swans seemed pretty cool with it. Great bunch of lads. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 16 minutes ago, Deanburn Dave said: So I'm reading a book and having a coffee in the garden when a sparrowhawk shoots over the hedge grabs a young starling in flight10 feet in front of me and takes it to the ground. The hawk looks up, sees me, and flies off. The stunned starling flies off in the opposite direction. Three seconds of absolute drama. It's amazing seeing episodes like that - more often than not they're over by the time you realise what's actually happening. Loved this one that made the papers a couple of years back - sparrowhawk chasing a wheatear at a wind farm managed to knock itself unconscious, and the intended quarry did a GIRUY pose on the prone body of its attacker before flying off. Hawk was fine, BTW. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herman Hessian Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 grand start to the day s'morning watching this beauty quartering the field out the front of the house... and in other news - i'm not sure what a dog's dinner might consist of, but I know what a cat's breakfast is... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herman Hessian Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 On 05/07/2020 at 14:04, Hillonearth said: a wheatear i'd always thought their name came from the golden wheat colour on their throat - very impressed to find out not that long ago that it's actually a PC version of the original name which was 'white arse' they were also considered an edible delicacy in Victorian times, and shepherds on the south downs would trap them in their thousands as they reached the very end of a 3000 mile northward migration from Africa: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 3 hours ago, Herman Hessian said: i'd always thought their name came from the golden wheat colour on their throat - very impressed to find out not that long ago that it's actually a PC version of the original name which was 'white arse' they were also considered an edible delicacy in Victorian times, and shepherds on the south downs would trap them in their thousands as they reached the very end of a 3000 mile northward migration from Africa: There are a few birds like that where the original meaning of their name has been corrupted....a yellowhammer was originally a yellow ammer, which is a Germanic name for bunting, so nothing whatsoever to do with hammering, and the name redstart is from the old English "read steort" which just means "red tail". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E Coyote Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 On 05/07/2020 at 14:04, Hillonearth said: It's amazing seeing episodes like that - more often than not they're over by the time you realise what's actually happening. Loved this one that made the papers a couple of years back - sparrowhawk chasing a wheatear at a wind farm managed to knock itself unconscious, and the intended quarry did a GIRUY pose on the prone body of its attacker before flying off. Hawk was fine, BTW. A wildlife group I am a member of had a post the other day about a female sparrowhawk who tried to prey on a jay. The jay fought back and actually killed the sparrowhawk. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the pictures 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 7 minutes ago, Wile E Coyote said: A wildlife group I am a member of had a post the other day about a female sparrowhawk who tried to prey on a jay. The jay fought back and actually killed the sparrowhawk. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen the pictures COVID is deadly, but corvids have their moments too I had quite the urban wildlife encounter with a sparrowhawk last autumn. I was walking down Queen Margaret Drive after picking up the programmes for my club's game that weekend from the printer when I saw two birds in close aerial combat at the edge of the Botanics...a feral pigeon being chased by a sparrowhawk. The pigeon suddenly turned 90 degress low across the road to escape, followed by the hawk. The inevitable happened - big cloud of feathers up in the air as a car hit both of them. I looked out between the parked cars, expecting carnage. I was only half right - the pigeon was KIA and splattered across the road, but the hawk was still alive although it was sitting stunned in the road with its wings spread. Part of me was thinking I was nuts to consider picking up a wild bird of prey with bare hands, but it clearly wasn't going to recover in time before another car did a number on it so I nipped out onto the road and did just that, internally going "f**k...f**k...f**k..." . There was nothing immediately wrong with it I could see apart from shock and the fact it had managed to lose most of its tail feathers, so i just sat on a wall with it in my hands until it perked up and began to make a bit of a fuss, upon which I let it sit on my palm before it flew vertically up into a nearby tree. The weirdest thing was I ended up completely unscathed - no bites or clawings at all - I was expecting to lose at least one chunk of flesh. As this was in the seen-it-all west end, folk were passing by the whole time and not batting an eyelid at the spectacle of the Game of Thrones-looking motherfucker sitting there with what must have looked like his pet hawk...only person who commented was an African guy who told me that that was a nice bird I had there! I ended up picking up a couple of these as a memento as it wasn't going to be using them anymore! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWL Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Welcome visitor to the garden today. Been absent for a few years here but this one has been spotted a couple of times this week. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Jean King Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Welcome visitor to the garden today. Been absent for a few years here but this one has been spotted a couple of times this week. We had one that came out the blue a few years ago, was around for a few weeks and vanished again never to be seen again. My dad has them in abundance in Argyll. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fife Saint Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 I've joined a new fishing club a couple miles from my house and was treated to the company of an Osprey for a few hours as it hunted the loch and neighbouring fishery back and forward. Still amazed me when they go for the kill. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanius Mullarkey Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Not that this photo does them any justice but there are 3 baby coots now on the Swannie Ponds. Mental looking wee things with orange heids. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamthebam Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Melanius Mullarkey said: Not that this photo does them any justice but there are 3 baby coots now on the Swannie Ponds. Mental looking wee things with orange heids. If they've got orange heids are you sure they're not DAB chicks.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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