What birds (are you/have you been) watching? What birds have been watching you?

[ardcarp]

On our regular self-distancing evening woodland walk we've been serenaded by one or more blackcaps, singing from the same clump of trees -- rich and flutey warbling deserving of the sobriquet "Northern Nightingale". The spot of the day, though, a robin-sized grey-headed jobbie fixing beadily black eyes & pointing its sharp dark little bill directly at us from a hedgetop about 6 ft away perplexed us until we scoured field guides and birding websites. By a process of elimination we reckon a female black redstart -- never seen one before.

Lovely! More prosaically, one of our super-tame robins has astonished me again today. Mrs A is the brains behind gardening, and I being the brawn was called upon this morning to dig out a dense clump of irises. They have been there for at least 25 years and have a root system resembling...in size as well as complexity...the London Underground. But I digress. During operations Robin was so excited at the goodies being exposed he/she was dancing about less than two feet away from my spade. At one point he/she perched in the hole while I was excavating it.

Yes I know it's possible to tell the sexes apart, but my demeanour was not ornothological at the time.

[oddoneout]

For several years there was a succession of bold robins on the allotment site who would happily get underfoot to grab juicy morsels they'd spotted. I wondered if it was learned behaviour as there was little in the way of a building up confidence stage, but there was always a robin's nest at the back of a fellow plotholder's shed, and the young would be very much in evidence from the off. At that time the plotholders were longstanding renters so there was little change from year to year - no dogs, hardly ever any children, stable landscape in terms of cultivated and scrub areas.

[Bryn]

For several years there was a succession of bold robins on the allotment site who would happily get underfoot to grab juicy morsels they'd spotted. I wondered if it was learned behaviour as there was little in the way of a building up confidence stage, but there was always a robin's nest at the back of a fellow plotholder's shed, and the young would be very much in evidence from the off. At that time the plotholders were longstanding renters so there was little change from year to year - no dogs, hardly ever any children, stable landscape in terms of cultivated and scrub areas.

It's interesting the way robins react to humans in the U.K. as distinct to their relationship to humans in mainland Europe. They tend to be much bolder and far more tolerant of humans in the U.K.

[cloughie]

It's interesting the way robins react to humans in the U.K. as distinct to their relationship to humans in mainland Europe. They tend to be much bolder and far more tolerable of humans in the U.K.

Perhaps it is because we feed them rather than the opposite!

[ardcarp]

It's interesting the way robins react to humans in the U.K. as distinct to their relationship to humans in mainland Europe.

Yes, French robins are definitely more wary than ours. Is it because we are an island? Birds on the Isles of Scilly (blackbirds and especially thrushes) are so 'tame' they don't bother to get out of the way when you pass them on a footpath. And chaffinches and house sparrows will take food from your hand when you're sitting outside the bakery on St Martins.

Sadly, no spring visit to the Islands this year.

[Keraulophone]

the bakery on St Martins

Purveyor of the most expensive Cornish pasties, though the beauty of the locality renders one unable to resist.

Long-tailed tits are enjoying the suet balls in our garden. Excitable little fellows that keep returning for more.

[ardcarp]

The most expensive (and pretentious) shop in the world is on Tresco. Co-op on St Mary's is just fine. (And not lining nobs' pockets!)

[Maclintick]

Two swallows on a telephone wire this evening...

[jayne lee wilson]

On our regular self-distancing evening woodland walk we've been serenaded by one or more blackcaps, singing from the same clump of trees -- rich and flutey warbling deserving of the sobriquet "Northern Nightingale". The spot of the day, though, a robin-sized grey-headed jobbie fixing beadily black eyes & pointing its sharp dark little bill directly at us from a hedgetop about 6 ft away perplexed us until we scoured field guides and birding websites. By a process of elimination we reckon a female black redstart -- never seen one before.

Always felt this guy was more deserving of the Northern Singing Award....

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/song-thrush/

Preciously rare locally now - but I have heard one or two in the nearby woods, chiffchaffs in full flow here now too....

[ardcarp]

Two swallows on a telephone wire this evening...

Excellent. Spring must have sprung. I guess the warm SE winds are ideal for their journey. Only seen sand-martins so far.
Apparently an osprey was seen yesterday at our local (coastal) wetlands. On its way oop North.

[jayne lee wilson]

Always felt this guy was more deserving of the Northern Singing Award....

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/song-thrush/

Preciously rare locally now - but I have heard one or two in the nearby woods, chiffchaffs in full flow here now too....

Can it really be true..? A Song Thrush singing outside the house right now....(well-treed here, but the woods are a half-mile off)... serenading a much quieter world....it may even sing me back to sleep....

[ardcarp]

it may even sing me back to sleep....

...except they do sing rather loudly!

[Serial_Apologist]

...except they do sing rather loudly!

"Excuse me! I don't know that tune. Could you sing some Messiaen for me, please?"

A newspaper item was mentioned on a chat show this morning which stated that the most plentiful sightings of wildlife are now to be found in Peckham. Peckham!!! One understands that one reason might be the amount of undisturbed areas in that district. To be honest I'm not quite sure whereabouts - maybe odd corners of Peckham Rye; Burgess Park (but is it regarded as in Peckham?) or Nunhead Cemetary? (Again, not really Peckham).

There was also news of an albino robin being sighted in Devon - so they can presumably expect hoardes of twitchers to descend on the area.

[Bryn]

...except they do sing rather loudly!

How loudly depends, it seems, on the prevailing ambient noise level of the area.

[ardcarp]

the most plentiful sightings of wildlife are now to be found in Peckham

I'll state the obvious. Birds...Peckham?

I'll get me coat.