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

[Dave2002]

Yesterday - a grouse - out for a walk, and then a short flap up to a fence.

[ardcarp]

There used to be a massive flock of lapwings in the field next to my back garden but I have not seen any for many years. I wonder what happened to them.

They have indeed diminished in number drastically on a national scale. We are lucky to have flocks of them here from time to time, on damp grassy meadows near an estuary in the West Country. They really are quite exotic-looking creatures if seen close-up through binoculars or a telescope, with shimmering iridescent colours in their plumage.

[doversoul1]

On Friday, I phoned my butcher and ordered a brace of pheasants. On Saturday, eleven pheasants, three cocks and eight hens, appeared in the garden. The news must have spread fast and wide.

Ardcarp
You are lucky to be still able to see and hear ‘Peewit’.

[amateur51]

Suddenly, two great tits and one blue tit arrive in my small inner-city, next-to-the-railways garden. They seem to have found something on my hibernating hebes.

Then just as suddenly, they're off.

Always in in a hurry, it seems to me

[Richard Tarleton]

Still thinking about dover's pheasants - did they have a threatening demeanour, were they armed? Or were they innocently seeking refuge from a nearby pheasant shoot?

[Serial_Apologist]

Still thinking about dover's pheasants - did they have a threatening demeanour, were they armed? Or were they innocently seeking refuge from a nearby pheasant shoot?

Each one wore a brace. Funny, I didn't know grouse had teeth.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Each one wore a brace. Funny, I didn't know grouse had teeth.

I am back in Wales for a week pre Christmas and at the weekend, sitting by the river, I saw a flash of red and then a Kite hurtling upwards holding a fieldmouse in his claws.

Amazing and frightning! Worse than the Tory Party! Well almost.

BN.

[Serial_Apologist]

I am back in Wales for a week pre Christmas and at the weekend, sitting by the river, I saw a flash of red and then a Kite hurtling upwards holding a fieldmouse in his claws.

Amazing and frightning! Worse than the Tory Party! Well almost.

BN.

That would have been a flash of blue. Or blue flasher.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

No fooling. I heard that mouse scream when he was lifted! Horrible.

Nature red in tooth and claw.

Vote No! To neo-lib Kites!

BN.

[Dave2002]

One parakeet has returned at least, after the terrible weather in recent days. I thought they'd deserted us.

Today there was a spotted woodpecker once again - the one with a red rear end.

To ams - we also have tits etc. - never saw any of these things before we put up bird feeders. Most of the birds seem to prefer
peanuts to anything else. If you put stuff out in appropriate bird feeders (maybe you are doing that already) you may get more than you expected, even in an urban environment. I suspect that small birds prefer the feeders with the outer cage which deters other things, such as squirrels.

We hardly ever see blackbirds, thrushes, startling, jackdaws, sparrows, though we have lots of pigeons, and there are crows in the trees.
I think the other birds lurk out there somewhere. A robin comes by from time to time.

[Stanfordian]

As you can guess I am no expert on bird life. This morning on the sandbanks of the Ribble estuary with a extremely strong southerly wind about three hours before high tide there was a variety of feeding waders out in force together with flying formations overhead some of which looked like Canada Geese.

[Richard Tarleton]

together with flying formations overhead some of which looked like Canada Geese.

You have plenty of goose species to choose from there - binoculars essential! My money would be on pinkfeet (Pink-footed goose) - numbers well in excess of 20,000 on the Ribble by the look of it. One of the great estuaries for birds. Pinkfeet are genuinely migrant (breeding in Iceland and Greenland) as opposed to Canadas which in the UK are feral (descended from captive birds).

[Stanfordian]

You have plenty of goose species to choose from there - binoculars essential! My money would be on pinkfeet (Pink-footed goose) - numbers well in excess of 20,000 on the Ribble by the look of it. One of the great estuaries for birds. Pinkfeet are genuinely migrant (breeding in Iceland and Greenland) as opposed to Canadas which in the UK are feral (descended from captive birds).

Hiya RT,

Yes, Pink-Footed Goose flying high up makes sense. There were also defintely Canada geese because I saw them land at a lake that is full of them. Yes there is all sorts of birdlife around here on the Ribble. A couple of years ago around 5 or 6 miles up the Ribble estuary (opposite side of river to Tarleton coincidentely) I saw a Glossy Ibis. It was a young one I was told and stayed there around a week.

[Richard Tarleton]

Ah yes - there was an influx of glossy ibis a couple of years ago, from Spain - there being drought in their normal haunts. A number (>30) spent time in Pembrokeshire. One youngster hung around for about 18 months. Spectacular birds.

[arancie33]

Procrastination pays! We have a blackberry bush which has gone everywhere and, after picking masses, I thought I should cut it back before it strangles someone. Naturally I didn't, and this morning we were rewarded with two male and one female bullfinches eating the seed heads. Then to cap it, a wren appeared flitting in the jungle.