Hedgecutter Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 I've read that they will happily eat standard mixed bird seed? Like the stuff you put in your feeders. Ducks are birds? Fair enough, but I was thinking more of stuff you can throw out to them in the water. Asking for 'the kids'. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mantis Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 18 hours ago, jamamafegan said: Was climbing a munro behind Blair Atholl today. Wasn't expecting to see anything special in terms of wildlife but it turned out to be a very fruitful day. First I saw a male hen harrier and then minutes later a group of about 5 black grouse flew past us. Later on I saw a merlin as well. We didn't make it up the munro due to a white out but the rare wildlife that made an appearance had already made my day. Spent the weekend up Aviemore way. Very disappointing apart from a few red squirrels. Coming home today, stopped in roadworks north of Dunkeld and saw a pair of goldies spiralling above. Got the binos on them as the missus was driving. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 (edited) I feel quite bad for admitting this but I do tend to make terrible girly noises when the local flock of long-tailed tits visit my feeders. We seem to have a nice variety of birds, off the top of my head we have: Blue tits Great tits Coal tits Long-tailed tits Siskins Goldfinch Bullfinch Greenfinch Chaffinch Dunnocks House sparrows Wrens Starlings Greater spotted woodpeckers (a pair) Edited March 13, 2017 by Rizzo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 30 minutes ago, Rizzo said: I feel quite bad for admitting this but I do tend to make terrible girly noises when the local flock of long-tailed tits visit my feeders. We seem to have a nice variety of birds, off the top of my head we have: Blue tits Great tits Coal tits Long-tailed tits Siskins Goldfinch Bullfinch Greenfinch Chaffinch Dunnocks House sparrows Wrens Starlings Greater spotted woodpeckers (a pair) During the cold weather there were a big group of longtailed tits using a nestbox in our garden for shelter at night - saw them coming out one morning and it was like one of those stunts where you try to get hunners of people crammed into a VW Beetle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 1 minute ago, Hillonearth said: During the cold weather there were a big group of longtailed tits using a nestbox in our garden for shelter at night - saw them coming out one morning and it was like one of those stunts where you try to get hunners of people crammed into a VW Beetle. Aye we've certainly got a large flock that visit us though they never stay long for some reason. Seem to have a lot of goldfinch as well if the rate the niger seed feeder gets empty is anything to go by. Not complaining too much as they are bonny wee things. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 10 minutes ago, Rizzo said: Aye we've certainly got a large flock that visit us though they never stay long for some reason. Seem to have a lot of goldfinch as well if the rate the niger seed feeder gets empty is anything to go by. Not complaining too much as they are bonny wee things. We've got pretty much the same as you in terms of finches - occasionally siskins or redpolls in the winter too. Apparently now and again there are hawfinches in the local park in the winter as well, but I've never lucked out and saw one there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Hillonearth said: We've got pretty much the same as you in terms of finches - occasionally siskins or redpolls in the winter too. Apparently now and again there are hawfinches in the local park in the winter as well, but I've never lucked out and saw one there. I'd love to see a hawfinch, they're one of my all-time must-sees. I've not seen redpolls before in our garden but we seem to have gained some siskins in the last month or two which I hadn't seen in the garden before. Think we're quite lucky with what we see considering we live in the middle of Falkirk albeit we're near the forth and clyde canal. Seem to have a lone pink-footed goose on the canal just up the road is well and I was always sure they hung about in flocks. Edited March 13, 2017 by Rizzo 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamamafegan Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 You guys get a great selection of birds in your gardens. Sadly it's not the case for me. The most exciting is a pair of Bullfinches. Used to have lots of Greenfinches but haven't seen any this year worryingly. A group of jackdaws/rooks keep dominating the feeders as well and they scare everything away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 2 minutes ago, jamamafegan said: You guys get a great selection of birds in your gardens. Sadly it's not the case for me. The most exciting is a pair of Bullfinches. Used to have lots of Greenfinches but haven't seen any this year worryingly. A group of jackdaws/rooks keep dominating the feeders as well and they scare everything away. Funnily enough, greenfinches are a lot scarcer here as well now than when we first moved here about six years ago. They might be having a bit of a population crash just now - same thing happened with bullfinches from the 70s right through till maybe the last 10-15 years...you hardly ever saw one, and now they're everywhere - goldfinches seem to be on the up at the moment as well 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanburn Dave Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 1 minute ago, Hillonearth said: Funnily enough, greenfinches are a lot scarcer here as well now than when we first moved here about six years ago. They might be having a bit of a population crash just now - same thing happened with bullfinches from the 70s right through till maybe the last 10-15 years...you hardly ever saw one, and now they're everywhere - goldfinches seem to be on the up at the moment as well From the RSPB website "Greenfinches :- A recent decline in numbers has been linked to an outbreak of trichomonosis, a parasite-induced disease which prevents the birds from feeding properly " 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Deanburn Dave said: From the RSPB website "Greenfinches :- A recent decline in numbers has been linked to an outbreak of trichomonosis, a parasite-induced disease which prevents the birds from feeding properly " It's weird how populations fluctuate - for example, when I was a kid song thrushes were way commoner than mistle thrushes, but the song thrush numbers crashed catastrophically. Just by holding its low numbers a bit better the mistle thrush feels like the commoner of the two now, certainly where I live. Edited March 13, 2017 by Hillonearth 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugna Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 10 hours ago, Deanburn Dave said: From the RSPB website "Greenfinches :- A recent decline in numbers has been linked to an outbreak of trichomonosis, a parasite-induced disease which prevents the birds from feeding properly " At the end of the day, you will pay the price if you're a fussy eater. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DI Bruce Robertson Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 More of a QQ than a comment, are any of the more knowledgeable chaps on here "twitchers" in the real sense of the word or just take an interest in the wildlife that surrounds us?I'd love to know how to identify birds properly but not sure the best way to do it- do you spot the bird, note it's markings & features then look it up, or read up on them & then hope to spot one you know? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pittsburgh phil Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 More of a QQ than a comment, are any of the more knowledgeable chaps on here "twitchers" in the real sense of the word or just take an interest in the wildlife that surrounds us?I'd love to know how to identify birds properly but not sure the best way to do it- do you spot the bird, note it's markings & features then look it up, or read up on them & then hope to spot one you know? I'd say just a keen interest.The RSPB book of birds is a handy thing to have for reference.I saw nuthatches at the weekend, cheesing about that! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillonearth Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 29 minutes ago, DI Bruce Robertson said: More of a QQ than a comment, are any of the more knowledgeable chaps on here "twitchers" in the real sense of the word or just take an interest in the wildlife that surrounds us? I'd love to know how to identify birds properly but not sure the best way to do it- do you spot the bird, note it's markings & features then look it up, or read up on them & then hope to spot one you know? Twitchers - the ones that will drop everything and pile into the car upon hearing of a transatlantic vagrant at the other end of the country - are a real minority. From what I can gather, most of the punters who go down that path don't really have much interest in the birds other than getting the "tick" in much the same manner some hardcore groundhoppers tick off football grounds. Personally I've always just had an interest in nature, and birds are some of the most readily visible species. I've always leant more towards letting the nature come to me rather than scouring about looking for it - I'm lucky that we've got a fairly big garden backing onto woods so there's a hell of lot on our doorstep, but I still keep my eyes open when I'm out and about...you see a lot of stuff you're not necessarily expecting, like the time I was looking out a train window on my way to Falkirk a couple of months ago and saw a flock of gadwall in a flooded field. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E Coyote Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 5 hours ago, DI Bruce Robertson said: More of a QQ than a comment, are any of the more knowledgeable chaps on here "twitchers" in the real sense of the word or just take an interest in the wildlife that surrounds us? I'd love to know how to identify birds properly but not sure the best way to do it- do you spot the bird, note it's markings & features then look it up, or read up on them & then hope to spot one you know? I would say I am a keen amateur. The way to learn is to get out there and see things, learn to identify the common species and you will notice if something is different and if you don't recognise anything take notes or remember any distinguishing features and look them up when you get home. Things to note would be leg colour, bill size and shape, any eye markings, any wing bars etc. The more you see the more you will improve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 9 hours ago, G_Man1985 said: My advice would be start off looking at tits. Plenty kinds of different tits. Easily identified Here's a pair of nice tits 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmouth Strikes Again Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 (edited) Probably had about 15 or 16 different types of birds* in the garden in Carnoustie, most memorable was a sparrowhawk with a kill, and a curlew. *I had a list, but I've lost it now. Edited March 14, 2017 by Bigmouth Strikes Again 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Finally got a photo of mrs woodpecker. Her man is off as soon as he sees me reach for the camera. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugna Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Pair of bullfinches in the garden when I was in the kitchen making breakfast this morning. I moved round a bit to get a better view and saw something moving in the bay bush right outside the window. It was a very active Goldcrest. Delighted, set me up nicely for the day. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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