The wood pigeons have been making a racket in the garden trees beating wings whacking branches as they conduct their courtships in the short-lived sunshine.
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One solitary blackbird singing in the neighbouring wood this evening - very haunting, notwithstanding foreground traffic sounds. I imagine our spring song birds must be nearing the end of their song for another eight or nine months, apart from the robin.Comment
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Talking of Magpies recently? Yesterday I saw two magpies mugging a starling. There are more magpies than usual locally, and I blame them for the increased number of broken birds' eggs in the gardens. I have not counted the magpies, but as many as 5 or 6 have fled when disturbed at the feeding table.The number can be important!
Magpie - The Unthanks - LYRICS - YouTubeComment
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I do like magpies, even tho' I know many see them as unnecessarily brutal. And I love jays. But in fact I admire all corvids...
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... that corvid I thought was an unfortunate unnecessary digression in party historyOriginally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
...Apart from Jeremy, I would presume!
(but today is a day of sweetness and light, - 'a new dawn has broken, has it not?'
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.Last edited by vinteuil; 05-07-24, 16:03.Comment
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Jackdaws kicking up a hell of a fuss around various chimneys before disappearing into presumably unused ones, perhaps the noisiest of our birds.Comment
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The royal pigeons might shortly be looking for a new home (today's Guradian reports):
The king has upset the pigeon racing community after dropping the monarchy’s official support amid opposition from animal rights activists.
King Charles has ended royal patronage for pigeon racing, a sport his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, grandfather George VI, great-grandfather George V, and great-great-grandfather Edward VII all took part in enthusiastically.
The monarch has declined to take on two patronages held by the late queen: the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, the sport’s governing body in the UK, and the country’s premier club, the National Flying Club.
Some in the sport now fear there is worse to come, and that King Charles may ultimately end his family’s participation in the sport entirely and shut the royal pigeon loft at his Sandringham estate.
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I doubt that PETA was entirely responsible - KC3 is probably just not that interested in pigeons - has he ever been seen in that world as his mother was? He's a horse man and if it were to be suggested by the likes of PETA that in view of the unpleasant aspects of horse-racing he should remove himself from the sport I think it unlikely he would oblige.Originally posted by Pulcinella View Post
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I haven't posted here for a while since I don't go out much these days due to my inexorably failing lungs, but the garden has been holding its own this year. The Goldfinches have inexplicably declined, but their decrease has been countered by a welcome increase in Greenfinches, which almost died out locally several years ago due to trichomoniasis. It's a welcome sign of recovery that we are now hosting up to six at a time (although one sadly became a window casualty last week).
Excitingly for me, last April saw a new garden 'tick' in the form of a Stock Dove, normally a fairly shy woodland and farmland bird. Even better, a pair must have taken up residence somewhere in the woods nearby because they have taken to visiting the garden—only irregularly, but they are very welcome. I'm sure that's due to the Greenfinches who drop more fragments of sunflower hearts on the ground than they actually eat. The droppings certainly arract the Woodpigeons as well. Better still, yesterday I had my first ever garden record of a Nuthatch—the first in 31 years! That's the second a garden tick this year that I never thought I'd see. The list of species actually seen in (or aerially using) our small back garden now stands at 46.
Off topic, but on the non-avian front I'm very worried about a catastrophic crash in insect numbers in our front and back gardens in the last three years, especially hoverflies, wasps, butterflies and moths. I always used to record one or two Jersey Tiger moths every year. Last year I didn't get one and I haven't seen any this year so far either. Hoverflies seem to be almost non-existent.Comment
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Forgive me if I've missed any comments upthread, but here on the edge of the Cotswolds I've not heard a single cuckoo all spring -- a marked contrast to previous years. However, a friend who lives near Helsinki has practically been driven mad by the things, prompting a suspicion that maybe they've all migrated further north for some reason. More here:
Apropos of Vox Humana's observations, we've actually seen an increase in goldfinches and wrens in the garden, and a stable population of blackbirds, dunnocks, robins, tits & wood pigeons. Fewer butterflies this year, though large whites, small tortoiseshells, & meadow browns have all visited in the recent hot weather. The general decline in moths has been calamitous. Bees and wasps seem to do OK in the garden's wild area.Comment
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....I can leave a window open with light on at night and all that comes in are a few small flies....bong chingComment
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Seagulls and other stories.
All-Ireland: Croke Park seagull recuperating after pitch invasion - BBC NewsComment
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Interesting comment about cuckoos in Scotland as there seemed to me to be at least as many this summer as there were, say, ten years ago. Still common in the Alpes- Maritimes. I’ve just been watching (in France) the local golden eagles soaring majestically heavenward on abundant thermals (mum and dad and the still not fully grown junior).Originally posted by Maclintick View PostForgive me if I've missed any comments upthread, but here on the edge of the Cotswolds I've not heard a single cuckoo all spring -- a marked contrast to previous years. However, a friend who lives near Helsinki has practically been driven mad by the things, prompting a suspicion that maybe they've all migrated further north for some reason. More here:
Apropos of Vox Humana's observations, we've actually seen an increase in goldfinches and wrens in the garden, and a stable population of blackbirds, dunnocks, robins, tits & wood pigeons. Fewer butterflies this year, though large whites, small tortoiseshells, & meadow browns have all visited in the recent hot weather. The general decline in moths has been calamitous. Bees and wasps seem to do OK in the garden's wild area.Comment
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