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

[Bryn]

Watch out for local reports of a multicoloured robin.

Hmm.

[ardcarp]

Watch out for local reports of a multicoloured robin.

[kernelbogey]

Watch out for local reports of a multicoloured robin.

Too late.

my feathered fried

[Maclintick]

Slightly off-topic if the thread title is to be taken literally, in the sense that we weren't actually eyeballing the bird, and had no means of telling whether it was watching us or not, but we certainly heard our first cuckoo of 2020 yesterday afternoon. Sightings on our local birding blog for the last week or so..

[gradus]

No cuckoos here yet but the once common pleasure of seeing a young blackbird bouncing around the garden happened again today after what seems like an age since I saw the last one.
A question for keen birders: Do buzzards flush out skylarks? I've noticed on a couple of occasions skylarks over the garden and looking above them seen buzzards circling at quite some height. We live about 20 yds from a field and there are always skylarks when we walk through at this time of year but I've never noticed them above the garden before.
Our local 'wild' peacock has been making a racket, I've never noticed him before but a neighbour tells me he's been around for 2 or 3 seasons and keeps out of trouble by perching on roofs overnight.

[kernelbogey]

I heard the sound of Swifts yesterday (Saturday) for the first time this year - but no sightings yet.

[ardcarp]

No swifts here yet. Swallows, yes, but has anyone else noticed that they seem fewer in number? We wonder if they have suffered adverse migration conditions. One neighbour reckons that the decline in dairy cows (think, pats, flies) is the problem. Could be, but we are in a mainly livestock farming area.

[vinteuil]

.

Three swifts overhead here Monday 27 April, then nothing until yesterday 2 May - when five swifts circling.

.

[Bryn]

Anyone else up and out for Dawn Chorus Day? I rose ar 03:50 and set up the Zoom H3-VR in the back garden. However, I then went back to bed and let the birds get on with it. Before going out to shop for fat-balls and other supplies, I converted the 4 hours plus from ambisonic to 5.1 surround and binaural. I had to trim the peak level back at five very brief points where some creature (probably one or more of next door's cats) knocked against the microphone stand. Now to find the time (and peace and quiet) to listen to the surround option. A fair variety of woodland and urban birds round here, plus, of course, the ubiquitous ringed parakeets.

[Dave2002]

Anyone else up and out for Dawn Chorus Day? I rose at 03:50 and set up the Zoom H3-VR in the back garden. However, I then went back to bed and let the birds get on with it. Before going out to shop for fat-balls and other supplies, I converted the 4 hours plus from ambisonic to 5.1 surround and binaural. I had to trim the peak level back at five very brief points where some creature (probably one or more of next door's cats) knocked against the microphone stand. Now to find the time (and peace and quiet) to listen to the surround option. A fair variety of woodland and urban birds round here, plus, of course, the ubiquitous ringed parakeets.

I have some recordings from the garden which I've not reviewed yet. Is that Zoom H3-VR the only Zoom model with direct (in-built?) ambisonic capability? I have the H2n model, and I suppose that if I wanted to generate an ambisonic stream from that (if it's even possible) I'd have to use a conversion program. Not a big deal really - so far. I haven't listened to or processed the several hours of recordings I made last week in our garden. In any case one issue might be the recording levels, which I think do have to be boosted considerably if anything interesting is detected. Maybe the H3-VR model is more sensitive, so effectively records at a higher level - or at least with the potential to get a higher level recording as an output.

[oddoneout]

Apparently it's 'A Nightingale sang in Berlin' rather than Berkeley Square according to Petroc on Breakfast this morning.
Here's a bit more about it from last year

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/13/nightingales-snubbing-london-for-berlin-tiegarten-germany

[LMcD]

Apparently it's 'A Nightingale sang in Berlin' rather than Berkeley Square according to Petroc on Breakfast this morning.
Here's a bit more about it from last year
https://www.theguardian.com/environm...garten-germany

Conclusive proof that birds can read only the first 3 letters of any given place name. Keep a lookout for reports from Bermuda and Bere Regis.

[DracoM]

..and Beersheba?

[Pulcinella]

I heard yesterday that our local heron had been spotted devouring one of the newly hatched ducklings.
That's just Nature, I guess.

[teamsaint]

I heard yesterday that our local heron had been spotted devouring one of the newly hatched ducklings.
That's just Nature, I guess.

Our housemartins have returned. I think there may be a bit of a turf war going on.

What a joy they are.