Killybegs Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Here's one reason we have fewer birds in our garden this year. He has a mate as well! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted March 4, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 4, 2014 Back to the OP they appear to be living in our loft space thousands of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Went for a walk which took me along the River Glen this morning and, unintentionally, disturbed a kingfisher which arrowed along just above the surface. Wonderful sight in iridescent blue. We've often seen Herons along the Glen, and Vernatt's Drain (more like a river than it sounds!), in fact there are at least 4 nesting sites for them, but it's the first time I've seen a Kingfisher! Kingfishers are a regular sight along the Itchen - I saw one last week. It must have thought it was Christmas with all the water meadows flooded. Not the garden but Sue and I want to Farlington Marshes (in Langstone Harbour with the remains of the Hayling Island branch causeway visible in the distance). saw a spoonbill, and a huge number of dunlin, grey plovers, redshanks and knot. Also some bar-tailed godwits, curlews, ringed plovers, mergansers, pintails, shovelers, teal, wigeon. An excellent day (except that my b***dy Nikon has gone wrong AGAIN - so no snaps). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Here's one reason we have fewer birds in our garden this year. He has a mate as well! Sparrow Hawk 02w.jpg Excellent picture! Don't feel too bad about your hawks, I doubt they kill as many birds as the local cats. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) Prompted by a (MUCH) earlier post about "murmurations" you may enjoy this This is a short video of the bird species Starlings and their "murmurations" Quite amazing and beautiful to watch. http://www.youtube.com/embed/88UVJpQGi88 Edited March 4, 2014 by shortliner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Aft'noon all, ...the recent warm sunshine seems to have coincided with more avian visitors to the garden...redpolls, goldfinches, siskin, blue tits, great tits, dunnocks, blackbirds (English & European), jackdaw, collared dove, wren, chaffinch are the daily routine, with a few less common ones sprinkled amongst them. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Aft'noon all, ...the recent warm sunshine seems to have coincided with more avian visitors to the garden...redpolls, goldfinches, siskin, blue tits, great tits, dunnocks, blackbirds (English & European), jackdaw, collared dove, wren, chaffinch are the daily routine, with a few less common ones sprinkled amongst them. Dave Our siskins and redpolls haven't arrived in Ireland yet, they're late!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 ...I'll have a word....what should I tell them are the highlights of County Donegal? Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted March 4, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 4, 2014 OK this is a little OT but.........I have noticed just recently that the local Great Tits (male) that have started calling recently have different speeds of call. The typical 'squeaky bike wheel' call varies from a gentle tick tock rate to a completely manic Keith Moon drum break speed.....great stuff. I also wonder, do European Blackbirds have an 'accent'? Heard my first Green Finches today. P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
10800 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 blackbirds (English & European), What's the difference? Good to see greenfinches back in numbers after they had a bad time with disease in recent years. Also a female blackcap on the table today. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 ....I understood that the yellow beaked blackbirds were defined as English, whilst the dark beaked examples were European, Rod. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 ....I understood that the yellow beaked blackbirds were defined as English, whilst the dark beaked examples were European, Rod. Dave I do believe that the dark beaked examples are last years juvenile males. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 ...I'll have a word....what should I tell them are the highlights of County Donegal? Dave Lovely scenery, glorious weather ........ John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Strange behaviour in our garden... A pair of long-tailed tits have become regulars in the garden. Their behaviour is remarkable. They fly repeatedly towards the kitchen windows, perching as close as they can get, even on the window frames. They have been doing this for a week or two. I think they must be seeing their reflection and thinking that it is a rival to be seen off. Long-tailed tits often fly around in parties - I have seen a couple of dozen pass through in a straggling group. So I think that this pair must be planning to nest nearby, hence their intolerance of rivals. I have seen similar behaviour before. When we were staying at a cottage in Suffolk last year we parked our car next to a hedge in which a pair of chaffinches were nesting. The male spent so much time attacking the car's wing mirrors we thought he might be neglecting his other duties and we gave him respite by covering the mirrors with socks slipped over. Chaz 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Our resident robin is very aggressive, not only to any other robin that may stray into the garden, but also to dunnocks and blackcaps. I am not quite sure why they are seen as threatening, because house sparrows and chaffinches are ignored, as are all the tit family. Once the male has found his mate, he will escort her to our bird table and feed her tasty morsels from it. Presumably this is the robin equivalent of a Valentine's Day meal at the local wine bar? Although, judging by the state of the bird table this time of year, it is more like treating your betrothed to a visit to the local burger van. Obviously in the robin world, love is blind. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Our resident robin is very aggressive, not only to any other robin that may stray into the garden, but also to dunnocks and blackcaps. I am not quite sure why they are seen as threatening, because house sparrows and chaffinches are ignored, as are all the tit family. I've seen this behaviour towards dunnocks (we don't have blackcaps in our garden) although they are usually tolerated. Robins will attack anything orange - it doesn't have to be particularly bird shaped - but dunnocks don't have any of this colour. Could it be because dunnocks look a bit like young robins? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I think it must be something like that, chaz. Certainly, it seems to be birds of a similar size and habit, although blackcaps are more grey than brown - but they do tend to feed on similar items as a robin. On the subject of aggression, there was a loud commotion of cheeping in the garden about 30 minutes ago. I thought it must be a group of long tailed tits that do appear from time to time, but it turned out to be 4 great tits that were chasing each other around the shrubbery in a very aggressive way. Presumably a non local pair had come a-looking for a suitable potential nesting territory and had accidentally strayed into one already occupied by a couple of birds that were not going to give up their patch with free daily food ? I have never seen great tits behave quite so angrily, but I suppose all birds will defend their area when they have to. Watching the antics of garden birds is fast becoming a very rewarding pastime since I retired. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted March 5, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 5, 2014 It was the fascinating behaviour/routines of a large flock of Sparrows (that live in our hedge) about 5 or 6 years ago that got me into birding on a 'casual' basis. How I wish I'd been introduced to this great hobby many years ago. P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted March 5, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 5, 2014 Ah yes - we have a similar group of spuggies living in the hedge across the road. Great little characters Thought it was them silhouetted against the sky in the bare trees this evening - except that they were goldfinches, a dozen or so of them. Charming! Phil 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted March 6, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 6, 2014 Could have sworn I saw a Puffin at the bottom end of the Arun Valley the other morning. Blown off course by the recent storms I guess. My new camera is now getting stretched towards the wildlife, this little fellow being the first to be snapped: 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 My 'friend' the sparrow hawk was back again yesterday. To my mind he always seems to appear around morning coffee time but it could be that's when I'm looking out of the window! Very wet here today so perhaps he decided not to venture out. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 My 'friend' the sparrow hawk was back again yesterday. To my mind he always seems to appear around morning coffee time but it could be that's when I'm looking out of the window! Very wet here today so perhaps he decided not to venture out. Sparrow Hawk 03w.jpg Very envious of your sparrowhawk. We have only seen one in our garden (a few weeks ago) when it killed something. We saw it mantling on top of one of our shrubs until an aircraft flew over and spooked it. Our almost daily star visitor at the moment is a female great spotted woodpecker. Chaz 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 This is a question I've had for some time that someone here might be able to answer. How high do gulls normally fly and what the heck would a flock of them be up to at 2000 ft above Hampshire? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 This is a question I've had for some time that someone here might be able to answer. How high do gulls normally fly and what the heck would a flock of them be up to at 2000 ft above Hampshire? Late afternoon, early evening I usually see large numbers of gulls heading south down the Itchen valley. They fly quite high, but are unmistakeably gulls.. I assume they are returning to roosting sites on the coast. As to why they fly high - it's probably safer - fewer predators and you can see them coming..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Late afternoon, early evening I usually see large numbers of gulls heading south down the Itchen valley. They fly quite high, but are unmistakeably gulls.. I assume they are returning to roosting sites on the coast. As to why they fly high - it's probably safer - fewer predators and you can see them coming..... Thanks. This lot weren't on any particular course but were wheeling around as a flock about half way between Alresford and Bishops Waltham. It is very unusual to see any birds more than 500 ft above the ground, apparently it makes them more vulnerable to predators (not that gulls have too many of those) and it requires a lot of energy. Migrating birds do fly much higher - between 5 and 20 000 ft - so I wonder if this flock was about to fly some distance and had taken advantage of a thermal. I rather like gulls as they are superb flyers and seem often to fly for the sheer joy of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now