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

[Serial_Apologist]

Extraordinary!

Half an hour ago there was a sudden crash against my sitting room window pane, which I immediately went outside to remonstrate, thinking it must have been upstairs tenants carelessly flinging out some large unwanted bag full of rubbish. Instead, under the adjacent tree was a sparrowhawk, picking at a wood pigeon it must have been trying to transport somewhere, presumably the nest, and made an error of judgement about the size and weight of its prey.

The hawk flew away, and I was cursing myself for disturbing it, but just now I returned to my vantage point to witness the raptor apparently feeding on it, surrounded by a circle of feathers about a metre across. Presumably if there is any meat left, our foxes will dispose of it.

This is the first time I have seen a sparrowhawk, or for that matter any bird of prey, in this vicinity.

[ardcarp]

A possible prelude to breeding, it seems. It makes sense to go north if they're searching for wetter conditions, coupled with our increasingly mild winters.

I could understand them [glossy ibises] coming North to breed in the Spring/Summer, but cannot understand why they would want to be here in Winter.

I had a similar experience to you with Little Egrets. We saw them first in France...ditto 30 years ago..... and thought it a rare sighting. Now they are everywhere. On our favourite Cornish river, I think they outnumber grey herons, and sometimes they roost thickly in the waterside branches giving the impression of Christmas trees. I think spoonbills must be on the way north too. We see them in France quite often now.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I could understand them [glossy ibises] coming North to breed in the Spring/Summer, but cannot understand why they would want to be here in Winter.

Must be for the Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music!

[ardcarp]

Arf Arf

[Vox Humana]

I could understand them [glossy ibises] coming North to breed in the Spring/Summer, but cannot understand why they would want to be here in Winter.

They manage to survive here well when they arrive though. Back in the 70s/80s there was a very well-twitched pair that were resident for many years in Kent: the first bird turned up in 1975 and the last disappeared in 1992. There was also long-staying bird in Devon a few years ago. There seem to be rather a lot in Ireland at the moment, including a flock of 14 in Co. Cork. I am told that there is currently a drought in Spain. If so, this might have some bearing on the movements.

Spoonbill flocks have increased quite dramatically in recent years with remarkable numbers being seen in Poole Harbour at Arne. The largest count recently was 40+ on 2 Jan. We have a couple locally that I failed to see the other day when I went looking. I did see a couple of Great Northern Divers though.

[Serial_Apologist]

Must be for the Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music!

[Richard Tarleton]

I could understand them [glossy ibises] coming North to breed in the Spring/Summer, but cannot understand why they would want to be here in Winter.

Well - south too dry, north still nicely wet, and milder than it used to be?? I'm trying to put myself into the mind of a glossy ibis here

Yes, the odd spoonbill turns up here (seen them in Pembs and over at Minsmere). We had a great encounter with a spoonbill breeding colony here, in Croatia SE of Zagreb.

[Dave2002]

Recently we have been visited by game birds - since the end of December. There may be several. One is a sort of light brownish colour, while I did see one which I thought was similar, but was dark, with a white ring around its neck. I thought that might be one of them's mate. At first I thought they were grouse, but now I'm not at all sure.

[Richard Tarleton]

That's a hen pheasant Dave. The one with the white ring would have been a cock pheasant. They can be quite variable. Grouse confined to upland heather moorland.

[Dave2002]

That's a hen pheasant Dave. The one with the white ring would have been a cock pheasant. They can be quite variable. Grouse confined to upland heather moorland.

Richard

Thanks. I suspected you'd be able to tell me.

I'm not sure how or why they are round here - but the female has been back several times - and I wonder if there is another slightly darker female lurking too. I've only seen the cock once.

[Richard Tarleton]

Dave, not sure where you live but could they be taking refuge from a pheasant shoot in the vicinity?

[gradus]

There haven't been as many pheasants as usual around here and they're normally reasonably common. Zero score for partridges too.

[ardcarp]

Flippin' pheasants everywhere round here.

[Dave2002]

Dave, not sure where you live but could they be taking refuge from a pheasant shoot in the vicinity?

Semi rural area outside M25 between London and Guildford. Now you've pointed out to me what the birds are it seems obvious, but I really wouldn't expect to see any in this particular area. I don't know if anyone keeps them as pets - indeed if that's possible, otherwise they might be escapees as you have suggested, and they've managed to settle here. There are a variety of animals around - horses, goats, donkeys, and of course foxes. The birds do seem to be surviving though. I mentioned that there may be more than one brown one - though I'm uncertain of that. Apparently for the Chinese ones in Asia the males (cocks) can build up a harem of females. Does that apply to the ones over here too - or are they very different?

[Richard Tarleton]

Yes, harems of 2 or more hens common. They're in pretty much every tetrad in England, except for urban centres. A lot are of course captive-reared and then released.

A couple of stats for you, courtesy of the BTO Atlas: releases for shooting have increased 5-fold since the 1960s. Around 35 million are released each year for shooting, and around 15 million are actually shot. Obviously huge numbers are hit by cars, taken by foxes, etc.