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

[oddoneout]

I saw a songthrush a couple of mornings ago when I was up far too early. It took me a little while to realise that's what it was (thought at first it was a fledgling blackbird - didn't have my glasses on is my excuse) as I too haven't seen one for so long, although I have suspected there might be one around from occasional calls and snail bashing noises.
Today's pleasure was a small group of goldcrests - I think 4 so perhaps a family? There are so many highpitched bird calls and fast moving small birds around at present that it didn't register what this particular set was until I suddenly saw two heads and face markings.
Actually having written the above I started to have doubts and went to check my book and I think they were firecrests. The flashes on the face around the eye were very noticeable, so not goldcrest, and the song was much louder and more articulated.

[gradus]

Just a pied wagtail hopping around the garden but unusual hereabouts.

[ardcarp]

Cuckoos heard on Dartmoor on Tuesday (Yarner Wood) by Mrs A. Lucky thing. None heard hereabouts for several years. We are in nightjar territory though. Fascinating and rather mysterious birds.

[Joseph K]

We noticed that roundabout the time the temperature dropped we've been getting far fewer birds in the garden; my mum thinks just before, as though they knew it was coming.

Anyone else get this?

[jayne lee wilson]

Its very location sensitive.... here now, I'm so pleased to see young tits (Cole, Great & Blue, and I've seen L-Ts too though they hold themselves a little aloof..but all this years birds) gathering around the fat & seed dispensers, as they do each year....like a crèche of independents, or adolescents who've just discovered they can actually fend for themselves....(as long as the food-god keeps supplying...).... so the garden now seems noisier and busier (all in a good way!)....finch numbers are down, but I've seen young Goldies today feeding for themselves on the Nygers..........

Keeping a wild garden (long, eared grasses, berries, seeds)...makes a big difference too... the back lawn is a meadow, the front a biological study of moss, pine-needles turned brown in the sun, beech nut shells... and much else...

But the Jackdaws are oddly quiet, June is usually a cacophony of demanding young and much-put-upon parents.... wait-and-see on that one....
The only Cuckoo I've heard this year is the one in Bruckner's E Minor Mass... (go on, try to find it...)

[oddoneout]

This is a lovely read, and some wonderful photos

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/16/my-lockdown-spring-watch-a-photo-essay

There is a long-tailed tit family in the gardens here, and I often see them in the fruit trees, where greenfly are providing easy pickings for the youngsters.

[ardcarp]

Long-tailed tits are one of our favourite birds. Love them. They featured in Springwatch recently, where a garden nesting site was successful (all the chicks fledged) but a nest in nearby woodlands was wrecked, either by high wind or a predator.

[Joseph K]

Not watching but hearing - I just had to switch off some music because I kept hearing a rather disquieting noise from a bird, a call that has something human about it, like it was a human mimicking a bird or a bird with a similar throat to a human - a bit unsettling!

[gradus]

Magpie voices greet the mornings here - wish they didn't.

[Dave2002]

Magpie voices greet the mornings here - wish they didn't.

Maybe. Would you rather have pigeons?

JK - what did your bird sound like? Was it in anyway tuneful, or did it sound more like a rattle? Pheasants make odd noises, and so do peacocks, I recall.

[Joseph K]

Maybe. Would you rather have pigeons?

JK - what did your bird sound like? Was it in anyway tuneful, or did it sound more like a rattle? Pheasants make odd noises, and so do peacocks, I recall.

Not melodic, like a caw or call. Possibly something like a magpie or crow, not entirely sure.

[Serial_Apologist]

Magpie voices greet the mornings here - wish they didn't.

Oh I don't know....... "Chaka chaka chaka Chaka Khan"!

The wood pigeons do a sort of tango, don't they?

"Coo.coo..coocoo..coo.coo..coocoo.." etc (single coo and single full stop indicating single beats - therefore two full stops equal two beats. I'm working on my own forum notation!)

[gurnemanz]

Oh I don't know....... "Chaka chaka chaka Chaka Khan"!

The wood pigeons do a sort of tango, don't they?

"Coo.coo..coocoo..coo.coo..coocoo.." etc (single coo and single full stop indicating single beats - therefore two full stops equal two beats. I'm working on my own forum notation!)

I'm happy to watch any bird that crosses my path - rarely any interesting specimens. I was sitting in my living room yesterday when a pigeon sauntered in through the open door to the garden. It waddled to the middle of the room and before I could react in any way it saw the folly of its action, turned round and hurriedly flew out through the door.

[jayne lee wilson]

Oh I don't know....... "Chaka chaka chaka Chaka Khan"!

The wood pigeons do a sort of tango, don't they?

"Coo.coo..coocoo..coo.coo..coocoo.." etc (single coo and single full stop indicating single beats - therefore two full stops equal two beats. I'm working on my own forum notation!)

Tricky to get it down right....Wood pigeons have a kind of dotted rhythm based on a five note call, emphasis on the longer "cooo":

coo cooo-coo, coo-coo; coo cooo-coo, coo-coo... often finishing with a single "coo".

Try it here - though the first note is cut off...(the birds do that themselves sometimes...)
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wi...-z/woodpigeon/.

Magpie calls are remarkably varied, with single and multiple gutturals, plus a juvenile feed-me "keeyick" through the Spring. Often the first bird at first light with a single harsh note....here's the most frequent run....

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/magpie/

A lifelong insomniac, those first calls before Dawn, of any Bird, offer relief, warmth and contemplation...
You're not alone now, they seem to say ...

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, I think notationally you're probably a bit more accurate than me, jayne.