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

[Richard Tarleton]

Excellent photos, Richard. The 'crest' video is excellent, although I would prefer to call the chest sides and upper mantle of the Firecrest 'bronze' rather than 'chestnut' because that's how they look in the field. Either way, it's an excellent mark to look for. I voice doing the commentary sounds familiar. If it's who I think it is, she is awesomely talented.

Thanks Vox, and yes bronze is the word I'd choose.

[cloughie]

This morning I noticed a number of small birds, over 30 of them, in a tall sycamore two gardens away. On inspection with the binocs they were goldfinches, which are common around here, but an interesting number at one time!

[ardcarp]

I'm sure Richard T will correct me if I'm wrong, but they do seem to go in for flocking in the winter. Mrs A and I saw a whole lot yesterday taking off as a car went past.

PS A 'charm' is surely another word for a flock?

[Richard Tarleton]

I'm sure Richard T will correct me if I'm wrong, but they do seem to go in for flocking in the winter. Mrs A and I saw a whole lot yesterday taking off as a car went past.

PS A 'charm' is surely another word for a flock?

specific to goldfinches though. Various books of collective nouns for wildlife e.g. Matt Sewell's A Charm of Goldfinches, Chloe Rhodes's An Unkindness of Ravens....medieval in origin, many of them, apparently.

Yes, flocks in winter, as do many seed-eating birds where it pays to be in a group to identify food sources - linnet, chaffinch, skylark....

[Serial_Apologist]

[QUOTE =Richard Tarleton;777617]An Unkindness of Ravens....medieval in origin, many of them, apparently. [/QUOTE]

A loan companies' coven of rooks?

[Richard Tarleton]

A loan companies' coven of rooks?

I once answered "parliament" in a pub quiz when asked for a collective noun for rooks - to my indignation the question master had something else on his card and wouldn't accept it.....

[Serial_Apologist]

I once answered "parliament" in a pub quiz when asked for a collective noun for rooks - to my indignation the question master had something else on his card and wouldn't accept it.....

[ardcarp]

There's also an exultation of larks. I heard somewhere that these some of these avian collective nouns were back-invented by a 19th century Oxford don. But I can't vouch for that. Quite fun to invent some more though....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9y4qjNVIMo

WARNING: A bit rude!


(There - thatshould ensure everyone watches.)

[Richard Tarleton]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9y4qjNVIMo

WARNING: A bit rude!


(There - thatshould ensure everyone watches.)

I can't think of who would use the collective nouns, or when, or why....."flock" seems to cover most eventualities......

[ardcarp]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9y4qjNVIMo

WARNING: A bit rude!


(There - thatshould ensure everyone watches.)

[Bryn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9y4qjNVIMo

WARNING: A bit rude!


(There - thatshould ensure everyone watches.)

Sure but let us not forget a flange of gorillas.

[Vox Humana]

On Saturday Mrs Humana and I decided to go and see the Starling murmuration on the Somerset levels. This is always a bit of a gamble since the area is very large and the birds can change their roost site without notice. I did try once before, many years ago, and failed due to being given duff information. On Saturday I made sure I called at the information hut, found out where they had been roosting for the last few nights and made sure I was there in good time. I was told that the roost had split into two halves, but still, 250,000 birds would still be worth seeing. And they probably would have been if they hadn't chosen that evening to move their site half a mile further down the track. Given the twilight and the geography it was a while before we cottoned on, but we did manage to get there in time to enjoy the tail end of the spectacle. It was definitely worth seeing, but I'll still have to go back sometime for the full monty. We didn't see a great deal else, but we did note a few Great White Egrets and a couple of Little Egrets. There were a few Great Crested Grebes, some already in breeding plumage and we heard, but did not see, Little Grebes trilling and Water Rails squealing. There was a reasonable number of Lapwing, but not as many as I would have expected. Similarly with the ducks. I guess there is no shortage of soggy land for them elsewhere. The ducks seemed to be mainly Gadwalls, with a lesser number of Shoveler and small numbers of Tufted Ducks, Wigeon and Mallards. Our count of Marsh Harriers eventually reached five and I managed to spot a Bittern just as it dropped into invisibility among the reeds. Interesting to see some Ravens there as well: I have come to associate them with moorland, although we have a pair that nests in the wood above our house on the edge of a southern suburbia. A pretty good day really.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Sure but let us not forget a flange of gorillas.

Thank you, Gerald.

[Padraig]

Walking along the river today I saw a flock of seagulls in the water about half way across - (Richard, I mean the stretch of the Foyle between the Odeon Cinema on the City side and St.Columb's Park on the other side). They were in three distinct groups, a large group with a smaller group on either side. If I had been fishing I would have thought they were feeding and would have made for that area; but they seemed to be just drifting. The whiteness of the gulls in the water made the appearance of a pair of black heads twenty yards apart instantly noticeable. They disappeared as soon as I saw them, and I waited until they popped up again. They were the first I have seen this year, and I have been spotting cormorants in this area for many a year. Nice to see them right in the City centre, but being cold and windy there were not too many people about.