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

[Vox Humana]

The first Swifts have just arrived in our valley. Excellent.

[vinteuil]

... yes, swifts here in Shepherd's Bush this lunchtime, swirling and shrieking overhead as we sat in the garden. Lovely!

[Richard Tarleton]

Usually little egrets in he UK? I gather cattle egrets have been spotted a few times.

Nice Guardian article. Estuaries, marshes - it's probably a little egret. Whereas

[The cattle egret] is one of those birds whose name really does do what it says on the tin. Having evolved to feed alongside elephants and buffaloes on the African savannah, the cattle egret has been quick to transfer its loyalties to domestic breeds, and will happily root around for insects among herds of Friesians and Red Devons.

I regularly see little egrets in the field behind my house, with the farmer's Simmentals, but always check in case there's a cattle egret there too. Haven't seen one there yet.

[doversoul1]

What birds is Radio3 watching?

BBC Radio 3's latest lark: birdsong blended with classical music

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/may/04/bbc-radio-3-birdsong-classical-music-slow-radio

[Padraig]

Today I had a first.
I spotted a little bird creeping around the bottom of a big sycamore picking at the moss growing there, I knew I had not seen one before so I chanced 'tree creeper', looked it up and there it was! I did not spot the curved beak, but all other features tallied - the mottled brown back, the longish pointed tail and the clean white body.
I feel pheasantly choughed.

[DracoM]

How long can a blackbird sing without more or less repeating itself?
Was involved in local elections today and outside on a cherry tree about to blossom was a blackbird giving it beautiful stick. Seemed to go on for well over 25 minutes.

[ardcarp]

I regularly see little egrets in the field behind my house, with the farmer's Simmentals, but always check in case there's a cattle egret there too. Haven't seen one there yet.

Yes, they're everywhere. They nest regularly in the wooded banks of our local estuary, and are to be seen feeding at the water's edge along with grey herons. They don't seem to mind each other. About 30 years ago we saw our first egret in South Brittany and were very excited because it was north of its usual range. In the same place we now often see spoonbills (les spatules) and I guess it won't be long before they are common here. I know they are occasionally seen, eg on Brownsea Island.

BTW, is it true that the little egret's spectacular yellow feet help to attract small fish as it paddles in the shallows?

[Richard Tarleton]

BTW, is it true that the little egret's spectacular yellow feet help to attract small fish as it paddles in the shallows?

Yes - you sent me to my copy of James Hancock's The Herons Handbook, he mentions this in respect of the little egret and the very similar Snowy Egret (S America) and Swinhoe's Egret (SE Asia) which also have yellow feet, clearly an evolutionary advantage - tho' the feet colour varies in immature birds, and in and out of the breeding season - not alsways useful as the feet are often covered in mud See also Clare Voisin's The Herons of Europe - their diet by no means limited to fish - also frogs in inundated grassland, insects, etc.....

[Vox Humana]

In the same place we now often see spoonbills (les spatules) and I guess it won't be long before they are common here. I know they are occasionally seen, eg on Brownsea Island.

There's an estuary near me where Spoonbills have wintered intermittently since the 1950s. For many years now they have been present every winter and there have been up to five of them. Elsewhere the record flock number has been broken two or three times in recent years so they do seem to be getting more common - and they have bred in Britain, although I'm not sure whether they do so annually.

Great White Egrets are also becoming more regular, to the extent that they were taken off the official "rarity" list a few years ago. At a very rough estimate I'd say there could be about 20 in the southern counties currently. But any egret you see is still overwhelmingly likely to be a Little Egret.

[Lento]

First starling fledgling I've seen (and heard) this year! Depressing story in Times about goldfinch trafficking based in Marseilles. Apparently some folk keep them for "singing contests" and "beauty pageants", especially popular in Belgium. Reminds me of the story of times past when some people poked the birds' eyes out in the belief that it improved their song. (Sorry if that's TMI).

[greenilex]

Magpies very much in evidence at the moment, sidling up and down shady branches and hoping nesting songbirds won't notice their approach...

[Serial_Apologist]

I saw an amusing sight the other day while out on a local walk. A small tortoishell cat was quietly lolling on a warm pavement. As I approached in my usual persuasive manner to make a fuss of her, a shiny carrion crow descended right in front of me to have a peck at discarded remains of a dropped beefburger, bringing me to a startled halt. The eyes of the cat, who was about 3 metres away from the bird, widened, but I guess she judged herself no match for the crow, and as the bird nonchalantly picked at the burger apparently oblivious to her or myself, I could feel the tension easing away. "Wise girl!" I told her as I passed, and she rolled over on her back, yawned and stretched ostentatiously.

With parks and woodlands so plentiful, crows of all sorts are common around here, as are all three woodpecker species, said to have only been found 25 miles out from the centre of London 30 years ago. I seem to remember Caliban reported hearing or seeing one in Hyde Park awhile back.

[Richard Tarleton]

crows of all sorts are common around here

Not quite all - you have to come here for these!

Lesser spotted woodpeckers are not doing well at all - declining, with poor breeding success. Certainly not common. Great spotted expanding everywhere, Green doing well in the east, falling back in the west.

[ardcarp]

Depressing story in Times about goldfinch trafficking based in Marseilles.

The mind boggles. Do they cross the Med in leaky rubber boats? Our resident goldfinches are at the stage where they eye up our fruit trees ready to peck away at the flowers at the crucial moment. Yes, I know they are supposed to be seed-eaters and we hang out seeds by the ton to distract them. But there is something about flowering fruit trees they find irresistable.

[Serial_Apologist]

The mind boggles. Do they cross the Med in leaky rubber boats? Our resident goldfinches are at the stage where they eye up our fruit trees ready to peck away at the flowers at the crucial moment. Yes, I know they are supposed to be seed-eaters and we hang out seeds by the ton to distract them. But there is something about flowering fruit trees they find irresistable.

The traffickers use them to test air quality for pollution. When the birds keel over the traffickers jump ship.