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

[kernelbogey]

Swifts heard in Winchester today.

And now here, too.

[DracoM]

Swallows seen / heard - western edge of Pennines

[Padraig]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65624834

Sorry for this.

On a brighter note 'my' Goldfinches have begun to return to the garden after they went on strike for two months. I inadvertently purchased 'peanut granules' instead of sunflower hearts and they flatly refused them. I got Starlings in their place but only while the granules lasted. Gradually the starlings departed and the Goldfinches returned when they forgave me.

[johncorrigan]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65624834

Sad news indeed - they are wonderful birds to see, Padraig. A few years ago on arrival on Iona we were standing outside the cottage with the crofter when some spooked geese flew noisily over us, and behind them the Sea Eagle which circled over us before soaring off.

and the Goldfinches returned when they forgave me.

They're a picky wee bunch, taking only the best of the hearts, as they see it, and tossing the rest on the ground for the other less choosy finches to gobble down. Glad they're back with you...I better go get some bird food today, now that you mention it.

[HighlandDougie]

I’ve returned to the Scottish abode to discover two new - if temporary - residents. The walls in the house (built c.1835 in the Gothick style as the home farm for Taymouth Castle) are about 2.5 feet thick, with the occasional slit window, glazed at the inside end, allowing easy access from the outside. Ideal for a tawny owl. So two chicks growing apace, with maw and paw hooting and hollering during the night. Fortunately the room into which the window intrudes is a spare bedroom so they are not being disturbed. It is a bit like having ‘Springwatch’ on 24/7.

My two owlets have now fledged and left the nest, even at a relatively tender stage (a characteristic of tawny owls, it seems). I feel privileged, somehow, to have provided shelter/board and lodging for them. No shortage of field mice hereabouts for their supper.

[johncorrigan]

My two owlets have now fledged and left the nest, even at a relatively tender stage (a characteristic of tawny owls, it seems). I feel privileged, somehow, to have provided shelter/board and lodging for them. No shortage of field mice hereabouts for their supper.

Fantastic news, Dougie.

[Joseph K]

Not one but two birds of prey (Sparrowhawks?) spotting circling together above Arrow Valley North.

Incidentally, we now think the dearth of birds visiting our garden might simply have been neighbours putting stuff in their garden to entice birds. Whatever it was, we now have a steady appearance of several types, like we did before...

[kernelbogey]

Swifts screaming over the village in the sunshine.

[oddoneout]

Swifts screaming over the village in the sunshine.

Fewer returned this year, either to their roosts at the site where I work, or around my house, and the cold dry windy weather has not been helpful to them. A rare day recently when not only was it warm, but the wind had dropped, had them out making the most of the insect life.

[johncorrigan]

Mrs C and I have been thoroughly enjoying using the Cornell Merlin app on our phones. For those unfamiliar with it one of its tools is like a bird Shazam...you point the phone in the direction of the bird sound and up pops the bird. One great bit is if you are listening and hearing four or five or more birds calling, the app lights up the relevant bird from your list so it helps distinguish which bird is calling when. I was lying awake a couple of nights ago and counted the birds that I had heard over the previous week within a mile of the house. The total came to almost forty; from the various finches; tits; corvids; and warblers. In the process I heard birds that I had no knowledge of in the area...goldcrest, whitethroat, blackcap, willow warbler - indeed this morning I saw my first ever goldcrest just 400 yards from the house. We also heard a cuckoo but it was too far away for the app to register it. My favourite app. One of my favourite moments was hearing a call in a tree...the app put up a picture of a long-tailed tit, I looked in the tree and there on the branch was the long-tailed tit staring back at me....

[Bryn]

Mrs C and I have been thoroughly enjoying using the Cornell Merlin app on our phones. For those unfamiliar with it one of its tools is like a bird Shazam...you point the phone in the direction of the bird sound and up pops the bird. One great bit is if you are listening and hearing four or five or more birds calling, the app lights up the relevant bird from your list so it helps distinguish which bird is calling when. I was lying awake a couple of nights ago and counted the birds that I had heard over the previous week within a mile of the house. The total came to almost forty; from the various finches; tits; corvids; and warblers. In the process I heard birds that I had no knowledge of in the area...goldcrest, whitethroat, blackcap, willow warbler - indeed this morning I saw my first ever goldcrest just 400 yards from the house. We also heard a cuckoo but it was too far away for the app to register it. My favourite app. One of my favourite moments was hearing a call in a tree...the app put up a picture of a long-tailed tit, I looked in the tree and there on the branch was the long-tailed tit staring back at me....

Thanks for that. While I am pretty good with the more common species, there are many times such an app would be very useful. I will investigate, especially as it seems it is free. I wonder how it would react to a spring dawn chorus.

[smittims]

I don't know if there is, or ought to be , a thread for moths we have seen. This heat wave has brought a chalk carpet and a grey birch into our house, the first of these, I am told found normally only in Southern England. I wondered if this is an effect of climate change. We may see more fauna moving north.

[Dave2002]

Mrs C and I have been thoroughly enjoying using the Cornell Merlin app on our phones. For those unfamiliar with it one of its tools is like a bird Shazam...you point the phone in the direction of the bird sound and up pops the bird. One great bit is if you are listening and hearing four or five or more birds calling, the app lights up the relevant bird from your list so it helps distinguish which bird is calling when. I was lying awake a couple of nights ago and counted the birds that I had heard over the previous week within a mile of the house. The total came to almost forty; from the various finches; tits; corvids; and warblers. In the process I heard birds that I had no knowledge of in the area...goldcrest, whitethroat, blackcap, willow warbler - indeed this morning I saw my first ever goldcrest just 400 yards from the house. We also heard a cuckoo but it was too far away for the app to register it. My favourite app. One of my favourite moments was hearing a call in a tree...the app put up a picture of a long-tailed tit, I looked in the tree and there on the branch was the long-tailed tit staring back at me....

That sounds like a very useful/interesting app. I heard cuckoos round here recently, and tried to record them, but it's really quite difficult. I have some recordings, from recent attempts, but hope I can get something better before they fly away.

Is the app iOS only?

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/merlin-bird-id-by-cornell-lab/id773457673

Looks like it is available for Androids too ...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.labs.merlinbirdid.app&hl=en&gl=US

[Dave2002]

Also looks as though the Cornell Bird App works with a pretty sizeable download file. I have had phones in the past which wouldn't take such a big file.
Currently trying to download the 633 Mbytes bird file - I hope this goes via our Internet connection, and not via the phone network - as that might bust my monthly usage.

Also I need to check whether it will all work - enough memory etc. Does seem to be OK, though a slow feed.

[oddoneout]

I don't know if there is, or ought to be , a thread for moths we have seen. This heat wave has brought a chalk carpet and a grey birch into our house, the first of these, I am told found normally only in Southern England. I wondered if this is an effect of climate change. We may see more fauna moving north.

Presence of ermine moth very evident near me. A sizable chunk of hedgerow(about 10ft x 10ft) is thickly covered in a communal web, which has brought back memories of I think a Dr Who episode where the baddy element sported a similar covering. I wish I could take a picture, as it is striking and bizarre, but the road doesn't offer suitable stopping places.