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

[Richard Tarleton]

No - in spite of trying.

More on "mini-Hollywood" here

I've travelled all over Spain, mostly off the beaten track walking and birding, and have quite an impressive Spanish list, but have spent time in my share of Spanish cities many of which are very special. And I must confess to having been to a bullfight during my Hemingway phase back in 1972 (in a spirit of research ). I've been to Pamplona, but not during San Fermin!

[Vox Humana]

More on "mini-Hollywood" here

Thanks - but oh dear! The first couple of paragraphs almost encouraged me to go back. Then I read on...!

[arancie33]

Just had a lovely experience. Went to the real wildlife end of the garden and saw, and was seen by, a family of wrens. Youngsters flying, wren fashion, and still with yellow lips, then frozen on damson tree branches. Mother came over all of a bother so I left as stealthily as possible. Lovely to see them, and some of the birdie noises in the garden explained. Very distinctive, yer wren!

[Bryn]

... Lovely to see them, and some of the birdie noises in the garden explained. Very distinctive, yer wren!

And very nearly as noisy as Ring Necked Parakeets. Indeed, more so when their diminutive size is taken into considerations. Glad to have them (wrens, that is) nesting in my garden too.

[Lat-Literal]

Very much enjoyed the short feature on the capercaillie bird on BBC Springwatch tonight.

What a curious creature. So sad that its numbers have fallen from 20,000 to 1,000-2,000.

The presenters stayed in a tent so that they could listen to it's call in the early morning.

Have any forum members camped overnight specifically to see/hear early morning wildlife?

[HighlandDougie]

The local male osprey, out for a look at the small loch next to my house to see what might be available for tea, being seen off in very aggressive fashion by a male oystercatcher. With a cuckoo calling in the background (only the second one I've hear this year in Scotland, unlike in the Alpes Maritimes, where they are still quite common).

[Vox Humana]

Very much enjoyed the short feature on the capercaillie bird on BBC Springwatch tonight.

What a curious creature. So sad that its numbers have fallen from 20,000 to 1,000-2,000.

I have only ever seen a Capercaillie once, many years ago. It was a male, and was standing on the lower branches of a pine tree near the footpath we were on, nonchalantly munching the needles while eyeing us malevolently. My friends (but not I) went back for a second look the following morning. This time it was on the ground and it chased them off the site. The bird gained a reputation for attacking humans and was eventually moved by the RSPB to a different site for its own safety.

Have any forum members camped overnight specifically to see/hear early morning wildlife?

It wasn't exactly camping, but I once went to Norfolk in a carload with three other birders in the hope of seeing a pair of Slender-billed Gulls at Cley-next-the-Sea. We slept in the car overnight somewhere in the brecks just off a country road. I didn't get too much sleep because in the early hours a Nightingale started singing from the bush next to the car. Nice song and all that, but... We failed to see the gulls, despite getting to Cley for dawn.

I spent last weekend in Oxfordshire. Lovely to see lots of Red Kites there. I always enjoy those since we don't get them locally.

[Bryn]

... I spent last weekend in Oxfordshire. Lovely to see lots of Red Kites there. I always enjoy those since we don't get them locally.

Give it time. They are spreading further and further afield from their original area of re-introduction.

[Vox Humana]

Give it time. They are spreading further and further afield from their original area of re-introduction.

I have noticed that every spring, regularly as clockwork around the beginning of June, about a couple of hundred Red Kites go on holiday to the Land's End area for a couple of weeks before (presumaby) returning home again. These birds are thought to come from Chilterns population - one or two have been traced there I think. They must go through Devon to get to Cornwall, but they don't seem to stay to breed in either county. What's that all about then?

[Bryn]

Red Kites on Spring Watch right now.

[gradus]

Pied wagtails in the garden here, haven't seen them before. Sparrows chasing around on the garden wall this afternoon.

[Lat-Literal]

I have only ever seen a Capercaillie once, many years ago. It was a male, and was standing on the lower branches of a pine tree near the footpath we were on, nonchalantly munching the needles while eyeing us malevolently. My friends (but not I) went back for a second look the following morning. This time it was on the ground and it chased them off the site. The bird gained a reputation for attacking humans and was eventually moved by the RSPB to a different site for its own safety.



It wasn't exactly camping, but I once went to Norfolk in a carload with three other birders in the hope of seeing a pair of Slender-billed Gulls at Cley-next-the-Sea. We slept in the car overnight somewhere in the brecks just off a country road. I didn't get too much sleep because in the early hours a Nightingale started singing from the bush next to the car. Nice song and all that, but... We failed to see the gulls, despite getting to Cley for dawn.

I spent last weekend in Oxfordshire. Lovely to see lots of Red Kites there. I always enjoy those since we don't get them locally.

Very interesting comments for which many thanks.

I hadn't realised that the capercaillie has a reputation. Maybe its character accounts for its distinctive sound. I'd say that your visit to Norfolk was in the spirit of camping along the lines of my question. It is a pity that the gulls did not appear. There was quite a lot about bird song on "Springwatch" yesterday including a basic but fascinating contraption which replicated one bird sound. It's broadly recommended - although my assumption is that serious birders would not necessarily regard the information in the programme as being new.

[cloughie]

I have noticed that every spring, regularly as clockwork around the beginning of June, about a couple of hundred Red Kites go on holiday to the Land's End area for a couple of weeks before (presumaby) returning home again. These birds are thought to come from Chilterns population - one or two have been traced there I think. They must go through Devon to get to Cornwall, but they don't seem to stay to breed in either county. What's that all about then?

A mystery. I don't know of any Kite flying contest at this time of year.

[Richard Tarleton]

I have noticed that every spring, regularly as clockwork around the beginning of June, about a couple of hundred Red Kites go on holiday to the Land's End area for a couple of weeks before (presumaby) returning home again. These birds are thought to come from Chilterns population - one or two have been traced there I think. They must go through Devon to get to Cornwall, but they don't seem to stay to breed in either county. What's that all about then?

Fascinating, Vox, I hadn't heard of this. There doesn't seem to be much about it on the net, but a bit here

http://cornishringing.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/wandering-red-kite.html

http://www.swopticsphoto.com/2011/06/red-kite-influx-in-west-cornwall.html

They're on my garden list - a couple of sightings overhead, several more within a mile or so, but well established in the county.

[HighlandDougie]

Very much enjoyed the short feature on the capercaillie bird on BBC Springwatch tonight.

What a curious creature. So sad that its numbers have fallen from 20,000 to 1,000-2,000.

The hill immediately behind my Scottish house (Drummond Hill) is where the-then Marquis of Breadalbane re-introduced capercaillies brought from Sweden in 1837. I used to go running up and on the hill and one particular area of original woodland was where they were often to be heard (among Scots pine and other native species, rather than the Norway Spruce otherwise blanketing it) and, if fortunate, to be seen. I suspect, though, that the hill's little colony, which had survived much, is now extinct.