jonny777 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Blue tit doing the same yesterday on the kitchen window sill - we occasionally have them hanging upside down on the wall at the top and sides - clearing the spiders off their webs, but this one was definitely after his reflection! Blue tits do the spider hunting in dark corners of our house as well. So much so, that if I leave the back door open on a warm day they will fly inside and then find it rather difficult to get back out again. I was chatting in the living room one afternoon and notice a movement near the ceiling by the living room door, and in flew a blue tit. We wished it a good afternoon, on which it turned around and departed the way it had come. Presumably it found its way out, as we never saw it again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) Our Robin, and his girlfriend/fiancée/wife vanished about 3 weeks ago and don't seem to have been replaced - which seems to happen each year - however one of the Dunnocks seems to have adopted his perch in the top of the Mountain Ash and spends early morning serenading the district loudly! Edited April 29, 2015 by shortliner 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Housemartins and Swifts now back here in Aberdeenshire. No Swifts yet. They usually appear in early May and often just after a storm. Could be that the muggy conditions gets the insects breeding. As others state numbers are well down on what was the norm 20 years ago. Red Kite has been around every day so far this week. much to the consternation of the resident pair of Crows. Bernard 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted April 29, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 29, 2015 I suppose that if there is plenty of food where they are then there isn't a rush to move away. However, is the need to breed a greater motivation for Martins? Personally I think the little mites know that we are going to get snow in the next couple of weeks (some have it already of course). P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
westie7 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Luckily I have a river at the back of the house and the old Buchan Railway line and the viaduct just upstream, out walking the dog again this morning getting dive bombed by the martins up there. One of the martins looked suspiciously "Sandy" !! They are usually looking for missing bricks in the structure to nest. Its a bit of a mix around the river, we still have the winter ducks, Goosanders and Goldeneyes but the spring birds are definitely on the up. In the Garden dozens of sparrows bullying the tits off the feeders and trying to get into the boxes with Blue/Coal tits only holes Most of which is a bit "off" Garden topic but it all feeds down to the gardens which back onto the river 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 No signs of any swifty/swallow/martiny type birds in the sky here yet. They are usually around us when here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Not in the garden but a couple of miles away. Heard and saw a Skylark today. Not noticed any for several years locally. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren01 Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Saw my first pair of swift/swallows this morning flying over my school this morning, down here in Devon, always great to see them back!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightengine Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 (edited) Saw a s-hag on the beach today Edited April 30, 2015 by lightengine 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted May 3, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 3, 2015 Hoorah! Two Housemartins at 36E at 13.00 today.......................... Phil 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 Heard the first Cuckoo today. In Germany they have a superstition that when you hear the Cuckoo you shake any coins in your pocket to bring you luck. Any one else come across that? The Wren is singing his head off at the moment. An amazing decibel level for such a small bird. Bernard 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted May 3, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 3, 2015 Almost in our garden this afternoon....Lesser Whitethroat. Thank you RSPB bird song section for helping identify that, despite it being in full view and only a few metres away! P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted May 3, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 3, 2015 I'd just got in from a day out today when I looked out onto part of my front garden where I had laid an old carpet as a weed suppressor prior to graveling the said piece of garden. A magpie was pecking at the edge of the carpet removing a few short fibres with a few tufts attached for its nest. The only birds with a fully carpeted nest perhaps? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 As I write, Siskins and Goldfinches are squabbling over niger seeds. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted May 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 4, 2015 'We' have a Cuckoo locally, however it isn't 'our' Cuckoo as that always goes to the same tree next to the Idle. How do they do that? Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted May 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) Heard the first Cuckoo today. In Germany they have a superstition that when you hear the Cuckoo you shake any coins in your pocket to bring you luck. Any one else come across that? In the UK we reach for a shotgun to despatch the parasitic pests! Pretty sure I saw a swift in the countryside, none here so far. Keith Edited May 4, 2015 by melmerby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I noticed yesterday that the Maltese have voted to keep their spring slaughter of migrants. No doubt that is continuing to play its part in reducing our bird population. I read this in the latest issue of British Wildlife - http://britishwildlife.com/ "The numbers of trapped songbirds illegally killed on a British military base in Cyprus last Autumn reached 900,000 individuals - the highest level recorded in 12 years, according to the latest RSPB funded research on trapping activity on the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, close to the tourist hotspot of Aya Napa. This is equivalent to almost 15000 songbirds a day during the September - October period." Words fail me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted May 4, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 4, 2015 I read this in the latest issue of British Wildlife - http://britishwildlife.com/ "The numbers of trapped songbirds illegally killed on a British military base in Cyprus last Autumn reached 900,000 individuals - the highest level recorded in 12 years, according to the latest RSPB funded research on trapping activity on the Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area, close to the tourist hotspot of Aya Napa. This is equivalent to almost 15000 songbirds a day during the September - October period." Words fail me. As Malta is part of the EU maybe they could do something about this unjustified decimation of European songbirds. No doubt the Maltese will claim it's part of their "Cultural Heritage", just like Bear Baiting, Cock Fighting and other such activities which are now illegal. Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 What annoys me, is this is said to be a British military base. If the CO of the base cannot exert any power to prevent the locals acting illegally on his own station then what is he doing there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren01 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Now have swift rebuilding there nest outside my house, they have been back three years running now 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I mowed the lawn at the weekend. The magpie was back collecting the clippings. The blackbirds are patrolling the lawn - two males this morning which I suspect will lead to face offs. A starling investigated the small pile of builders' rubble. The robins dart in and out of the bushes at the edge of the lawn and a Goldfinch surveyed the scene from the fence. The sparrows were busy and the I spotted a small brown bird that I didn't recognise that was on the fence at the same time. I had distinct skip/waddle gait as it walked along the fence and then dived down in to the bushes. I have had wrens before and it wasn't one of those. I must have a look at my bird books to see if I can recognise it 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Little brown/grey bird hiding in the bushes sounds like a dunnock to me. I saw a juvenile robin on the feeder tray yesterday, so mr & mrs robin were very quick off the mark in this area. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted May 5, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 5, 2015 Little brown/grey bird hiding in the bushes sounds like a dunnock to me. I saw a juvenile robin on the feeder tray yesterday, so mr & mrs robin were very quick off the mark in this area. Plenty of Dunnock activity here in Worcestershire (as always) All the birds seem to be a little early this year. We already have a juvenile Wood Pigeon, it doesn't look well enough developed for one of last years offspring (still got some down). Keith 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold teaky Posted May 5, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 5, 2015 One less house sparrow to breed after today but probably one more sparrow hawk. (I do wish ours would get bolder and realise there's more meat on a wood pigeon. There's loads of 'em!) Sad for the sparrow but the sparrow hawk looked in magnificent condition as it scattered feathers on the lawn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny777 Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Hooray. Just seen a swift, despite the very windy day. It was no more than a 2 second view as it turned into the tail wind and vanished rapidly over the rooftops. On the subject of dunnocks, they have some very interesting habits. Males can peck at the rear of females and then extract sper-m deposited by another male. One article I read said that DNA tests on chicks from a single nest showed they all had the same mother, but three of them had different fathers. Apparently they are still unclear about which males take responsibility (if any) for feeding their offspring. Edited: because nanny-watch didn't like a certain word Edited May 6, 2015 by jonny777 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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