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

[ardcarp]

Ah. So maybe we have Veryan Primary School to blame! Presumably only frost-free areas of the country will support survival in the wild.

(Interesting derivation of 'Veryam'. The local church bears the dedication of one of those enigmatic Celtic 'saints', St Symphorian. Try saying his name in a thick Cornish accent.)

[Richard Tarleton]

The pet trade would have been the main origin I think, and escapees could have been deliberate(not wanted anymore) or accidental. Having had charge of these critturs many years ago on several occasions(mostly school related) I know from experience that the newly hatched ones are tiny and can(and do) escape.

The list goes on - red-eared terrapins became popular pets here (blame ninja turtles) which people then released not realising that they grew large, and bit. They are voracious predators with no enemies in the wild here.

[gradus]

A barn owl caught in the car headlights sweeping across open countryside last night.

[Serial_Apologist]

The list goes on - red-eared terrapins became popular pets here (blame ninja turtles) which people then released not realising that they grew large, and bit. They are voracious predators with no enemies in the wild here.

There seems to be some controversy over yesterday's Live Blue Planet over an opportunist seagull nabbing one of a number of baby terrapins being released into the sea, recalling the penguin ramp issue last year: one argument being that said terrapins would normally not make the seaward journey in daytime, in full view of aerial predators.

[ardcarp]

A barn owl caught in the car headlights sweeping across open countryside last night.

A lovely sight!

[cloughie]

Ah. So maybe we have Veryan Primary School to blame! Presumably only frost-free areas of the country will support survival in the wild.

(Interesting derivation of 'Veryam'. The local church bears the dedication of one of those enigmatic Celtic 'saints', St Symphorian. Try saying his name in a thick Cornish accent.)

But at least they keep the Devil out of there!

[johncorrigan]

Two curlews in the field yesterday - what a cry...we don't see them quite so much these days.

[vinteuil]

Two curlews in the field yesterday - what a cry...we don't see them quite so much these days.

"O CURLEW, cry no more in the air,
Or only to the water in the West;
Because your crying brings to my mind
Passion-dimmed eyes and long heavy hair
That was shaken out over my breast:
There is enough evil in the crying of wind. "




Hanrahan Reproves The Curlew WB Yeats [1865-1939]

[Serial_Apologist]

"O CURLEW, cry no more in the air,
Or only to the water in the West;
Because your crying brings to my mind
Passion-dimmed eyes and long heavy hair
That was shaken out over my breast:
There is enough evil in the crying of wind. "




Hanrahan Reproves The Curlew WB Yeats [1865-1939]

Stunningly set to music of course by one Philip Heseltine (aka Peter Warlock) in his 1921 song cycle of that name.

[HighlandDougie]

A barn owl caught in the car headlights sweeping across open countryside last night.

Wonderful! There used to be a pair of Barn Owls which roosted in - appropriately - one of the barns in the farm next to my house in Scotland and I have a vivid memory of seeing one quartering the field next to the house in fairly bright moonlight, which emphasised their ghostly pallor. Now it's only Tawnies, alas.

[jayne lee wilson]

Stunningly set to music of course by one Philip Heseltine (aka Peter Warlock) in his 1921 song cycle of that name.

A coupla miles inland, I still sometimes hear them overhead at night, as with Oystercatchers - time and tides directing.......

(I prefer Messiaen's seascaped realisation...)

[Vox Humana]

Saw my first Sand Martins of the year today - always a joy to see. Quite a few Chiffchaffs singing too. I was rather excited when I saw a field of cattle with a flock of egrets in attendance, but after screeching the car to a halt and getting the bins out, I was disappointed to see that they were all Little Egrets - except for just one Cattle Egret. As they say, you only need one for the year tick.

[ardcarp]

Two curlews in the field yesterday - what a cry...we don't see them quite so much these days.

We're lucky here...still tons of them. Also in favourite creek in Cornwall. There seem to be two different calls, one a slightly peewitty whistle and the other that lovely bubbling cry, often when they take off startled. And talking of music, there's Britten's Curlew River, the first (I think) of the Church Parables.

Saw my first Sand Martins of the year today

Haven't seen those yet. A local nature reserve which has been hugely 'developed' in recent years built a special sand-martin wall....a series of wooden planks with holes drilled in, backing on to a sandy bank. As yet (5 years on) not a single sand martin has availed itself of the accommodation! They still go up the river as they always did.

[Richard Tarleton]

There seems to be some controversy over yesterday's Live Blue Planet over an opportunist seagull nabbing one of a number of baby terrapins being released into the sea, recalling the penguin ramp issue last year: one argument being that said terrapins would normally not make the seaward journey in daytime, in full view of aerial predators.

I think those were turtles, not terrapins (a pedant writes)....but yes.....I seem to remember those were turtles disoriented by the lights of the nearby town, which had set off in the wrong direction, and were thus being saved from another sort of death....

[Richard Tarleton]

A barn owl caught in the car headlights sweeping across open countryside last night.

I love barn owls - well, all owls....

I met this beauty on one of my regular beats last autumn