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

[vinteuil]

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... stuck in a traffic jam on the North Circular near Wembley en route to IKEA this morning (I know, the glamour... ), for ten minutes a flock of white pigeons circling and circling over a building. An hour later, emerging triumphant (picture frames, ceramic knives, duvet covers... ) forty minutes later, back on the North Circular, the same (I presume) flock of white pigeons circling over the same building.

What are they doing?


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[Richard Tarleton]

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... stuck in a traffic jam on the North Circular near Wembley en route to IKEA this morning (I know, the glamour... ), for ten minutes a flock of white pigeons circling and circling over a building. An hour later, emerging triumphant (picture frames, ceramic knives, duvet covers... ) forty minutes later, back on the North Circular, the same (I presume) flock of white pigeons circling over the same building.
What are they doing?
.

Other forumites may know more - these will be one of the many varieties of domestic pigeon specially bred by pigeon fanciers both for colour and to do pointless things, like fly round in circles, or "tumble", or indeed become racing pigeons. They are all descended, like the feral pigeon, from the wild rock dove. The good news is that they provide a ready source of food for the increasing numbers of urban peregrine falcons.

Ardcarp - grey phalaropes (aka red phalaropes in N America, not to be confused with red-necked phalaropes) - very smart birds! Haven't seen one for ages.

[ardcarp]

very smart birds!

We obviously caught this one on a bad hair day. I understand they often arrive on SW British shores after being blown off course on their southward migration route to...somewhere!

[Richard Tarleton]

©New Yorker

[Vox Humana]

Ha! I reckon that must be the flycatcher at Flamborough Head today that was initially identified as a Red-breasted Flycatcher, then trapped as ringed as a Taiga Flycatcher (which will have had the twitchers running for their cars) before being re-identified again as a Pied Flycatcher. I can only assume it lost a lot of feathers in the mist net - or is something else entirely!

[ardcarp]

©New Yorker

[Nick Armstrong]

Lovely variety of birdlife seen this afternoon during a great cycle ride along the Serpentine in the October sunshine:



They're all regulars - presumably everyone can identify them from their silhouettes...?

[Vox Humana]

Caliban, I'm seeing a number of Black-headed Gulls, a couple of Herring Gulls, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Coot and Mute Swan.

We had a Buzzard hanging in the air above our house this afternoon. Not that unusual here, but always welcome. Also what I'm 99% sure was a Peregrine, but I only spotted it just as it was flying into the sun and that was that. There's an eyrie not that far away so it's by no means out of the question and I have seen them here once or twice before. I have missed a lot of excellent birds locally by being too lazy to go out, but I did have a drive around Davidstow Airfield in Cornwall recently and got some decent snaps of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, some Dunlin, Ringed Plovers and Wheatears (and a right royal telling off by one of the local flying club who are now trying to discourage the public from using the place).

[Nick Armstrong]

Caliban, I'm seeing a number of Black-headed Gulls, a couple of Herring Gulls, Cormorant, Grey Heron, Coot and Mute Swan

.... though I'm a bit hazy about the various kinds of gull. Are Herring Gulls the big ones?



Ditto swans.... The classic white swans on English waterways - are they Mute Swans generally? In this photo, the two on the left are juveniles, some fluffy brown down still remaining.

I never cease to be amazed at the number of swans in Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens. I recently did a quick approximate count, and there were at least eighty on the Serpentine and the Round Pond combined.

[Vox Humana]

Yes, the hefty ones with pale grey backs are Herring Gulls. Black-headed Gulls are noticeably smaller when you see the two together. The latter only have their "black" (actually chocolate brown) heads for three or four months in the breeding season. In all gulls the presence of brownish feathers indicates young birds and the more brown they are the younger they are. The Herring Gulls in your second photo are all youngish.

Swans: yes. As a general rule of thumb any swan you see in England is overwhelmingly likely to be a Mute Swan and invariably so in summer (I'm ignoring things like the Australian Black Swan of which a few escapes from captivity are knocking around here and there). Adult Mute Swans are easily identifiable by their red bills. The other two species of "wild" swan, the Bewick's Swan and Whooper Swan are winter visitors, mostly to traditional sites (e.g. Slimbridge for Bewick's, Caerlaverock for Whooper, to name but two) although wandering individuals or small groups are apt to turn up almost anywhere. When seen well they are easily distinguishable from Mute Swans because they both have yellow and black bills, but distinguishing between the two takes some experience.

[Nick Armstrong]

Thank you VH. It's always surprising to me to see a fully-grown Herring Gull next to a Heron - their body sizes aren't that different, yet I always think of the Heron as a much bigger bird. All in the legs, I suppose. I always like seeing the two Herons which are resident around the Serpentine - in cold weather, they stand on the roof of the neighbouring derelict boat house for hours on end.

It's not uncommon to see all the short posts in my 'silhouette' photo occupied by cormorants, also quite a sight.

Large quantities of Egyptian Geese (I think), increasing numbers of green parakeets racing and shrieking around - it's all quite busy there.

Just found this blog: http://kensingtongardensandhydeparkbirds.blogspot.co.uk

[Vox Humana]

That's an interesting blog, Caliban. I see one of those pesky Black Swans I mentioned! Bill Oddie once commented on the surprising variety of birds that can be seen in central London. Egyptian Geese: quite likely, I would think. That's a species that has become quite widespread here as a breeding bird, entirely due to escapes from captivity. They are all over the place in Norfolk. I always enjoy seeing Ring-necked Parakeets when I'm around the London and Home Counties. I don't think I'd want the raucous things visiting my garden regularly though.

[doversoul1]

Who says sparrows are in decline? I have a swarm of sparrows (not sure if they are house or tree sparrows) congregate in a large May tree and hop over to the nearest spot in the vegetable garden and peck at whatever growing there. They have now stripped my Swiss Chard to bare stalks. In spring, they pecked at the peas but then there weren’t so many of them and the pea sticks protected the plants to some extent but now there are more of them and the Chard is unprotected. At least the chard will grow fresh leaves but what a nuisance. You’d have thought the food we provide for them would be more than enough. They like a balanced diet, said one of our neighbours.

[Bryn]

There are local areas where House Sparrows have continued to thrive throughout the general decline. The hedges bordering a pub I pass most days continues to ring as it has since for decades. Elsewhere, however, the situation is very different. I have not seen a House Sparrow anywhere near my residence for many a year.

[Richard Tarleton]

There are local areas where House Sparrows have continued to thrive throughout the general decline.

It seems sensible to check with the BTO Atlas at this point - this tells us that house sparrows are present in around 90% of 10km squares in the UK, and that range has not changed a great deal. This conceals a 69% decline in the UK breeding population between 1977 (the previous Atlas) and 2010, stabilising somewhat in the last decade. Different factors controlling population size in town and country: in towns it is breeding success that's down (reduction in invertebrate prey, pollution and lack of nest sites) whereas in the country it's first year survival rates, with reduction in winter food supply caused by agricultural intensification. So obviously doversoul's garden an important food source in that particular vicinity