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

[oddoneout]

…but egg-nicking is pretty nasty!

Doesn't stop humans doing it. At least magpies have a reason...
I was puzzled a couple of weeks ago to see a magpie attacking a corvid; not just flying close to try and move it on but actually making determined contact. Not sure what the outcome would have been if the target hadn't eventually moved well away.

[jayne lee wilson]

One does see some strange conflicts....

Out near the woods today the wonderful Fieldfare flock -, over 100, was still there after a week, less than 50m from the hedgerow path. Wonderful views of the gorgeous creatures whose cries filled the air as they flew and resettled. Mixed in are around 50 Starlings, and smaller numbers of Redwing and Mistle Thrush. As I can't walk as far as once, I feel blessed they are at the edge of the open country here.

Conflicts? The other day a Black-Headed Gull feeding at a pool on the same large field took off to pursue a Fieldfare, quite persistently, dogfight or skua style....... I wonder what it thought it was doing....

[cloughie]

One does see some strange conflicts....

Out near the woods today the wonderful Fieldfare flock -, over 100, was still there after a week, less than 50m from the hedgerow path. Wonderful views of the gorgeous creatures whose cries filled the air as they flew and resettled. Mixed in are around 50 Starlings, and smaller numbers of Redwing and Mistle Thrush. As I can't walk as far as once, I feel blessed they are at the edge of the open country here.

Conflicts? The other day a Black-Headed Gull feeding at a pool on the same large field took off to pursue a Fieldfare, quite persistently, dogfight or skua style....... I wonder what it though it was doing....

Territorial? Are there many black-headed gulls around as they do like to colonise grassy areas where worms are around for their winter feeding! Just a thought!

[Padraig]

Conflict and resolution.

Last week I threw out a fat ball on the grass where I could see it from the kitchen window. First up was a robin who had a few pecks, until he was displaced by a blackbird. He had a go and was going strong when my two magpies chased him off. They made a poor enough job of trying to break up the fat and were soon roughly scattered by the arrival of a large rook. He seemed to have the necessary technique, but was in turn edged out by an even larger grey crow who picked up the fat ball in its beak and flew off to the roof of the garage, where he tore chunks off the ball which rolled down into the yard providing shares for all comers.

All these birds have a clear view of our back garden from high trees, bushes, rooftops etc, and all are regular visitors. We have many more visitors than that, including an ever growing flock of goldfinches, who were not involved in the above scrabble. I salute them all.

[Bryn]

"limpkevto"? Would that be "like to"? It's a new one on me.

[cloughie]

"limpkevto"? Would that be "like to"? It's a new one on me.

No he’s a one-legged Russian conductor specialising in creating the hippety hop brass sound of Soviet orchestras in the 50s!

[oddoneout]

Conflict and resolution.

Last week I threw out a fat ball on the grass where I could see it from the kitchen window. First up was a robin who had a few pecks, until he was displaced by a blackbird. He had a go and was going strong when my two magpies chased him off. They made a

poor enough job of trying to break up the fat

and were soon roughly scattered by the arrival of a large rook. He seemed to have the necessary technique, but was in turn edged out by an even larger grey crow who picked up the fat ball in its beak and flew off to the roof of the garage, where he tore chunks off the ball which rolled down into the yard providing shares for all comers.

All these birds have a clear view of our back garden from high trees, bushes, rooftops etc, and all are regular visitors. We have many more visitors than that, including an ever growing flock of goldfinches, who were not involved in the above scrabble. I salute them all.

A few years ago next door neighbour got a slab of cheap cheese and cut chunks off to put on his bird table in the winter. I had seen the magpie grab a chunk a couple of times but not what it did with them - until well on into spring when I was doing some weeding and unearthed them buried some feet apart in my flower bed.
There is a very territorial blackbird in the garden at the moment, I think a young male. It not only drives off smaller birds from any food put out(not much nor regularly since the rat problem), and also tries the pigeons( they just ignore) but also gets very uppity with me if I'm in his vicinity. I think he's responsible for the recent major excavation of tubs and pots, including a pot of fritillary seedlings which I had to painstakingly try and find where they'd been scattered, so I've had words and a glaring session with him

[johncorrigan]

A few years ago next door neighbour got a slab of cheap cheese and cut chunks off to put on his bird table in the winter. I had seen the magpie grab a chunk a couple of times but not what it did with them - until well on into spring when I was doing some weeding and unearthed them buried some feet apart in my flower bed.
There is a very territorial blackbird in the garden at the moment, I think a young male. It not only drives off smaller birds from any food put out(not much nor regularly since the rat problem), and also tries the pigeons( they just ignore) but also gets very uppity with me if I'm in his vicinity. I think he's responsible for the recent major excavation of tubs and pots, including a pot of fritillary seedlings which I had to painstakingly try and find where they'd been scattered, so I've had words and a glaring session with him

I used to work in one of those old prefab horsa huts that they built in wartime - there was a similar building next to it. One Friday afternoon, I was watching these two crows on the opposite roof - I should say that the roof was covered in moss. One crow, clearly the parent, had a huge hotdog roll in its beak. The other younger crow stood watching. The older crow took the roll down onto the eaves and proceeded to bury the roll under the moss. It then hopped away. A few minutes later it returned with the young crow, searched for and found the roll. It did this twice and then invited the younger crow to do the same. The younger crow made a half-hearted attempt at burying...even I could see it, but when it came back it couldn't find it. I was entranced for about an hour. The young one kept looking in the wrong place - I assumed at some point it learned the lesson, but not that day.

By the way, on the subject of fatballs, for me jackdaws are the king, and Peter Mullan covered this brilliantly in an early lockdown single-hander from the National Theatre of Scotland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OzSmjplkMM

[ardcarp]

I had seen the magpie grab a chunk a couple of times but not what it did with them - until well on into spring when I was doing some weeding and unearthed them buried some feet apart in my flower bed.

Talking of burying things, the jay is not only the most exotic of the corvidae but an indefatigable burier of acorns. A question about the jay came up on University Challenge a short while ago...one of the very few in that particular programme to which we knew the answer.

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

Love the Latin name!

[Maclintick]

Yesterday a close view of a solitary great northern diver (juv) -- feeding on crayfish near the reservoir causeway, and capable of travelling an impressive distance underwater in a single dive ! Also, 90+ snow geese have arrived bang on schedule, almost to the day as in 2020 & 2021, this year accompanied by half-a-dozen or so barnacle geese.

[ardcarp]

Wonderful! 3 Glossy Ibis spotted at nearby wetlands. They'll possibly be winter residents, as a solitary one was a couple of years ago.

[ardcarp]

Disappointed murmurings. About a well-known wetland nature reserve in the southwest, there have many online posts about the excellence this year of the starling murmuration near sun-down. Yesterday Mrs A went with another family to witness it. The place (and the car-park) was absolutely packed, with many eagerly waiting...including kids. Sadly it didn't happen as it should with massed starling swirling in huge patterns in the sky. Mrs A, who had taken my powerful binos, saw smallish groups (maybe 50-100) approaching from all directions. But each group arrived separately and immediately dropped into the reedbeds. So no spectacle. We wondered if the sheer number of human watchers and their cars had freaked them a bit.

[Joseph K]

It's raining, but I saw a male blackbird having a bath in the birdbath in our garden.

[ardcarp]

Loads of widgeon on our local marshes. In smallish groups of a dozen or so dabbling about in and out of the water. Lovely birds, especially when the sunlight catches the colours in their feathers.
(No pic because Imgur seems to have gone bonkers. I'm stumped.)

https://imgur.com/BpDGDkZ

OMG I've done it...sort of. Took me about 2 hours though.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

The ones not clever enough to take cover today are mostly flying sideways.