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

[Dave2002]

... if you were struck by the curvature of the wings I'd venture to suggest swift - at a distance they can look like just a pair of long curved wings stuck together, as befits a bird that spends its life on the wing. House martins' wings look short and stubby in flight by comparison. Useful comparison images here - scroll down rh column.

OK - so my original guess of swift looks to have been the most likely one after all. Thanks. It was solitary, as far as I could see, very fast, and darted back and forth without landing anywhere near me. I wasn't sure if they frequent riversides.

[Pabmusic]

I'm surprised that a hummingbird is perching. I used to work in an office with a bottle brush tree/bush outside, and there were very frequently hummingbirds outside - very small they were - but I can't remember ever seeing one settle.

No - Richad T. might have it (above). They might be a separate species convergent upon hummingbirds. Mrs Pabs calls them hummingbirds, though. They may be yellow-bellied flowerpeckers (there seem to be a lots of types of flowerpecker here).

[Richard Tarleton]

OK - so my original guess of swift looks to have been the most likely one after all. Thanks. It was solitary, as far as I could see, very fast, and darted back and forth without landing anywhere near me. I wasn't sure if they frequent riversides.

They never land - ever - except at their nests during the nesting season - and feed on aerial plankton. Very much like an aerial version of a fish.

[Richard Tarleton]

No - Richad T. might have it (above). They might be a separate species convergent upon hummingbirds. Mrs Pabs calls them hummingbirds, though. They may be yellow-bellied flowerpeckers (there seem to be a lots of types of flowerpecker here).

Yes, sunbirds rather than hummingbirds....but very similar....

[Pabmusic]

Yes, sunbirds rather than hummingbirds....but very similar....

Yes they are, aren't they? The convergence is in their behaviour. I shall call them sunbirds from now on.

They seem to be Cinnyris jugularis, a passerine!

[Dave2002]

They never land - ever - except at their nests during the nesting season - and feed on aerial plankton. Very much like an aerial version of a fish.

Must have special brains then, to allow them to sleep. Other animals which have special brains are some (all?) varieties of dolphin, which can turn each half off their brain off independently, so one half goes to sleep, while the other keeps everything else running.

"aerial plankton"= flies, midges, gnats, mosquitos?

[Richard Tarleton]

Here's a factsheet. And for a lovely book, try Swifts in a Tower, by David Lack.

[jayne lee wilson]

They never land - ever - except at their nests during the nesting season - and feed on aerial plankton. Very much like an aerial version of a fish.

What a lovely, unexpected comparison RT... very heartened to see so many Swifts overhead this year... seed dispensers currently dominated by those young tits, often more than 15 at a time. But - back to the sunny garden! Only came in to sound off about the Great August Gramophone...! Which is probably half way across the orchard by now, pages spreadeagled..

[HighlandDougie]

Back in France where fledgling swifts have discovered that the big chestnut beams under the eaves are a good place to build up strength before the next flying lesson. A row of little heads peeking out while the parents swoop agitatedly around one's head. The swifts were also in action yesterday harrying one of the local pair of short-toed eagles which was spiralling effortlessly upwards with a sizeable snake in its talons.

[Richard Tarleton]

harrying one of the local pair of short-toed eagles which was spiralling effortlessly upwards with a sizeable snake in its talons.

Wonderful birds. The last time I saw that (short-toed eagle with snake) was over a fighting bull breeding ranch near Salamanca......

[Anna]

Just to return briefly to Swifts, the RSPB say they are on the Amber list and need people to help in sighting surveys, which is here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/

[Padraig]

Wonderful birds.

Today I watched some wonderful birdies, particularly a swoop of eagleswhich stayed around all afternoon. At one stage an albatross passed close by, but did not linger.

[Richard Tarleton]

Today I watched some wonderful birdies, particularly a swoop of eagleswhich stayed around all afternoon. At one stage an albatross passed close by, but did not linger.

And the boy Rory won! Great stuff, Padraig

[jayne lee wilson]

Just to return briefly to Swifts, the RSPB say they are on the Amber list and need people to help in sighting surveys, which is here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/

Yes, that's a good idea... but I can't report mine as they're all sky-high...

Garden - very settled now. Just Corby the Crow (with a few local, unnamed & unwelcome competitors) the friendly Feral and Wood Pigeons, and those endless wild parties of young tits, who are getting through dispensers-full of seeds and fatballs at an alarming rate. Bloody teenagers. Suet lasting a bit longer now though so the GS Woodpeckers are happy. Always that same threesome at daybreak - the Wren, his Echo and the distant, quieter, Chiffchaff.

That Buzzard from a few weeks ago remains the only sighting this year... still we have Red & Grey Squirrels, and the Bats and Hedgepigs out each night.

[Bryn]

Just to return briefly to Swifts, the RSPB say they are on the Amber list and need people to help in sighting surveys, which is here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/

Not helped by the fact that when Eton College engaged in a clean-up of their 1908 School Hall and Library, they destroyed a whole host of historic swift nests. The area around those buildings used to be filled with the sound of swifts through the summer. Now there appear to more in and around Datchet, where householders have not followed Eton Colleges despicable actions.