Topic: Bird watch

[Crosby Nick]

Saw some swans with a few cygnets canal side on my run this morning. Lovely stuff. And the usual heron.

Unfortunately there’s a dead pigeon on the road outside. Crowd were picking at it and then a huge seagull appeared, had his full and left. Am I right in thinking they just like eating their hearts or have I completely made that up or watched too many films?!

[Son of Spion]

Gulls will eat anything.

I saw one down a rawhide dog chew a good five or so inches long on Lord Street in town one day. Down in one too. 

I had to scare off a Black-Backed Gull in Sefton Park the other week. It was trying to take ducklings. I know it's nature, but I'm just too protective of those little guys.

I know a Great Black-Backed Gull will take and swallow whole a live Puffin.

[jillcwhomever]

Gulls will eat anything.

I saw one down a rawhide dog chew a good five or so inches long on Lord Street in town one day. Down in one too. 

I had to scare off a Black-Backed Gull in Sefton Park the other week. It was trying to take ducklings. I know it's nature, but I'm just too protective of those little guys.

I know a Great Black-Backed Gull will take and swallow whole a live Puffin.

How dare you tell me that. 

[rob1966]

Saw a Hawk flying over when I was sat outside a bar this afternoon with whatever it had caught dangling from its talons.

[jillcwhomever]

I now have kamikaze baby sparrows launching themselves into my back door window!

[Crosby Nick]

I now have kamikaze baby sparrows launching themselves into my back door window!

Open the door then!

[jillcwhomever]

Open the door then!

No chance, I'm not spending two hours chasing them out again. 

[Crosby Nick]

I shouldn’t have joked Jill. Just had to pick up a dead Great Tit that must have flown into our back window.

Do they get disoriented in the heat?

[jillcwhomever]

I shouldn’t have joked Jill. Just had to pick up a dead Great Tit that must have flown into our back window.

Do they get disoriented in the heat?

Oh, that's not nice. I think they see their reflection so they think its another bird. That is why the RSPB recommends putting silhouettes on the window.

This is quite useful, gives a few tips.

Birds and windows do not mix well. Common problems are when birds collide with windows or attack them. Learn how you can help to stop birds flying into windows

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/birdwatching/bird-behaviour/birds-and-windows/

[rob1966]

Just seen two Kestrels scrapping with each other over next doors garden.

[Crosby Nick]

Just seen two Kestrels scrapping with each other over next doors garden.

Makes a nice change from the two from next door scrapping over the last can of Kestrel.

[Armand9]

Gulls will eat anything.

I saw one down a rawhide dog chew a good five or so inches long on Lord Street in town one day. Down in one too. 

I had to scare off a Black-Backed Gull in Sefton Park the other week. It was trying to take ducklings. I know it's nature, but I'm just too protective of those little guys.

I know a Great Black-Backed Gull will take and swallow whole a live Puffin.

indeed, absolute monsters, biggest gull in the world and there's very little that will go up against them but one bird that will is a bonxie (Great Skua, my favourite bird), they'll attack them and pull them down to the water to pirate food off of them, and i've even seen them try to kill them

and your post triggered one of my most horrible moments birding but awe as well, i was watching puffins coming in to land on Handa Island, Scotland, and a bonxie swooped in behind a puffin, grabbed it by the ass in flight and swallowed it whole on the fucking wing ass first, it was literally feet in front of me and i could see the puffin's face disappear into the bonxie's gape right in front of my face, felt so sorry for the bugger

the puffin will have the last laugh, cos that huge bill has to come out one end or the other, birds digestive systems can't breakdown stuff that tough, so out the ass or regurgitation, gonna sting (to be honest i wondered if it would kill the bonxie trying to get rid of it, i imagine it would have to be regurgitated)

on another note, had a bit of a wow day on my local patch on monday, had a woodlark come in and land in front of the hide, first record for the lake (they're very rare in my region of the country let alone my patch), and records have been kept since the 50's, so i was well happy with that 

[El_Frank]

I've definitely never seen ones of those.
Some things to add on previous posts. The toot-toot-toot mystery bird hasn't been heard since I posted about it, seems to have disappeared.
The possible Whitethroat was indeed a Whitethroat. I got a close and prolonged viewing of one to settle that one. And happy to report that in the past week I've seen three Chaffinches, all female (one on one day and two together on the next day) after not seeing any in years. I also keep hearing a Greenfinch in the same spot but can't see the thing.
And one thing that I thought was pretty cool. I mentioned the Heron and watching it until it caught a fish. I saw it a few days after, about 100 yards away flying towards me about 15 feet above the canal and it landed in the exact spot that I first saw it (I didn't even realise I was in that spot until it landed) and as I stepped back to record it again it flew 20 yards to the left into the exact place I recorded it catching the fish. They obviously have their favourite, and very precise, feeding locations.
And I got a really nice close view of a male Sparrowhawk the other day too. I heard it in the trees on the opposite side of the canal but couldn't find it, then this massive shite hit the canal and that drew my eye towards it right as it was taking off and it flew over my head by about 10-15 feet into the woods.

[El Lobo]

We've got about three kites constantly flying over ours (one of the areas they were re-introduced about 20 years ago) and saw one up close this morning, swooping down to try and get I assume a mouse or something. Fucking monstrous things they are, absolutely huge.

[Armand9]

.......I mentioned the Heron and watching it until it caught a fish. I saw it a few days after, about 100 yards away flying towards me about 15 feet above the canal and it landed in the exact spot that I first saw it (I didn't even realise I was in that spot until it landed) and as I stepped back to record it again it flew 20 yards to the left into the exact place I recorded it catching the fish. They obviously have their favourite, and very precise, feeding locations...........

yeah you can predict where your local birds will be at certain times of day etc with a bit of knowledge and/or experience, some species more than other. It can and does change at times for good reason, as with your heron for example (and those on my patch) that can change with rising/lowering water levels but yes they have their routines

even a rare bird can settle into a routine quickly, which then helps a ton if going for it - eg when i went for the albatross last year it had gotten into a pattern of three days out at sea, then back on the cliffs for a few days, so i waited for an out at sea period (ie it's gone missing) and on hearing it was back on the cliffs made sure i was there the next morning, which pretty much gauranteed i'd connect with it)

regarding the red kites, wonderful birds and like you said, big 'uns - outside of our eagles, only the osprey has a longer wingspan than a red kite

[Armand9]

.......
Some things to add on previous posts. The toot-toot-toot mystery bird hasn't been heard since I posted about it, seems to have disappeared.
......

i recall you have heard it over a number of years (2 years was it?), my question is, did you ever hear it outside of the breeding season?

[El_Frank]

I've heard it for a few years, I can't say for sure how long, but no more than five probably. I think I only hear it around spring/early summer but I wasn't necessarily always on the lookout for it. Has something got your spider-sense tingling?

[ToneLa]

Have not seen her in my garden, that still remains Woodpigeon central with the occasional cute visitors of bluetits and KING THE BLACKBIRD patrolling his turf. He wouldn't leave for a crow, respect. Wasn't easy with that magpie though.

Was woken up at 5am a couple days back. Crow on the garage roof with wood on its mouth knocking on the roof! Infiltrated my dreams, dreamt bad people were at my door, so I woke up and wee fucker just knocking like an underpaid milkman collecting his rounds. Why?

Anyway the her I like is Wisdom

What a boss
albatross

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_(albatross)

The link Ahhh you'll find her

[Armand9]

I've heard it for a few years, I can't say for sure how long, but no more than five probably. I think I only hear it around spring/early summer but I wasn't necessarily always on the lookout for it. Has something got your spider-sense tingling?

the reason i ask, is that if you only heard it in the breeding period (which looks like it), it's probably not a call - it's the bird's song, that changes things in whittling down what can do that

not many...

a number of bird's have it as the end of their song - repeated notes, i mean, eg wood warbler, tree pipit etc, they have a section of singing then end it with repeated notes (in those cases triple repeats)

hmmm, i have to think


meanwhile, back in the batcave

when i think back to your original post and the 'school wistle' description, i keep coming back to this bird, which i know you said you're familiar with but i've put a few links below to show variation - dont worry about the actual number of notes being exactly three, individual birds can have their preferences, the important thing is the repetitive nature you described and whether the quality of the note matches or not.

outside of mimicry it's the only bird we have that i would say naturally gives a 'school whistle' call, and in my head matches your original post description - the whistle, the repitition, the incessant nature of the bird ('driving me mad' iirc), all very nuthatch

https://xeno-canto.org/726454

https://xeno-canto.org/712233

https://xeno-canto.org/714264 - more distant, more likely the strength of the call you heard being more distant? it's also a 'triple' caller

[John C]

I've got some blue Corn Flower in the garden, the Goldfinches love it. There's 3 of them feeding off it this morning.

[El_Frank]

No, Armand, I feel fairly sure it's not a Nuthatch, different to all of those in pitch, length and pattern. It's a short sharp toot-toot-toot, short and sharp as if you hit a single key on a piano three times in a row.

I've got some blue Corn Flower in the garden, the Goldfinches love it. There's 3 of them feeding off it this morning.

Might try to get some of that next year then.
I've trimmed my hot lips plant and left the cuttings down (about 12 inches long) around the base of one of my dahlias to keep the slugs away, but oh no, these aren't cuttings or dahlia protectors, it's nesting material for Wood pigeons  Messy sods get it everywhere.

[Armand9]

No, Armand, I feel fairly sure it's not a Nuthatch, different to all of those in pitch, length and pattern. It's a short sharp toot-toot-toot, short and sharp as if you hit a single key on a piano three times in a row.

............

do you have any wetland near you?

cos if someone said that to me and there was wetland near (tho im not betting on it being your bird, as your bird hangs around)....

https://xeno-canto.org/572203

commonly described as tu-tu-tu, tho they can mix it up (see below) they typically ring out three short sharp notes more often than not, and it does have a whistle quality to it

https://xeno-canto.org/579223

mixing it up
https://xeno-canto.org/599193

[reddebs]

We had a willow warbler in the garden yesterday for the first time.  We get them down the lane along with chiff chaff but never in the garden.

I had to rescue a stunned juvenile blackbird yesterday that flew into the patio doors.  It was sat in full sun and panting so I moved it to under some bushes where it was cooler and safer till it recovered.

It had gone when I checked about ten minutes later so hopefully it did recover and flew off rather than be predated by one of the ferrets/polecats we've had in the garden recently.

[Son of Spion]

^
I had to do that with a Goldcrest some years ago. It flew into my client's patio doors and knocked itself out. It recovered and flew away though. 😊

[reddebs]

^
I had to do that with a Goldcrest some years ago. It flew into my client's patio doors and knocked itself out. It recovered and flew away though. 😊

I'd hoped it would come to and fly off quite quickly so I wouldn't have to intervene but it didn't even attempt to when I approached it so I had no choice if it was going to survive.

[El_Frank]

No, not a Greenshank either Armand (I told you it'd drive you crazy). That one is a bit too fast and slightly whistle/laser sounding, mystery bird is more like the sound of the whistle effect of taking a pen lid off and blowing across that.

[Armand9]

last chance saloon

https://xeno-canto.org/710302

[El_Frank]

Maybe if the mystery bird found an acid tab 

I think the closest we've come was the more simplified Great tit, and didn't you say something about them having so many calls/songs that when trying to find an unknown one you'd inevitably land on a Great tit at the end of it all? I think it's either one of theirs (although I haven't heard one that's right yet) or something mimicking them. I don't see them around the gardens here though, but there are plenty of them in the woods and by the canal etc, so they are near. Maybe I'm only hearing it at breeding time because they're coming closer to the gardens for food?

[Armand9]

well i've literally just gone down the whole britsh list (that's 630 species cos it includes every species recorded) and there are none left that we haven't already covered

which means

1. it's not a bird (this happens, not that rare, and if we have recordings we can nail them quickly)

2. there's an aviary near you and it's a caged bird, ie not a british bird (again, this happens, happened to me actually  , thought i had something good...)

3. we've already covered the species but because it's not doing exactly what you recall, it's been dismissed (as examples like the nuthatch show, most birds have variety - quicker/slower, higher/lower, less notes/more notes - they do mix things up and because it's not bang on your memory, we've passed over it. this is pretty common but you key into the quality of note usually and you recognise oh that's so and so, they just didn't do much or did it different - but you know which ballpark you're in (the great tit comes in here, as you pointed out)

4. it's some kind of mimicry

5. it's an abberant call/song - this is different to a bird changing it up etc, the bird is doing something that the species usually doesn't, so it could be anything

if you ever get a recording im sure we'd nail it, i'm 100% on that

[reddebs]

Just been watching a woody trying to work out how to get some water after having a feed.

We've 3 different bird baths, a big one that they use as a bath but also for drinking from and although it went to it first it didn't fancy the balancing on the edge.

Next it tried a smaller, lower down one but it's tucked under some plants and trees.

The last one is a flat dish on the ground which it chose to use in the end and it drank and drank and drank.

Bless 🥰

[Armand9]

at last autumn migration is starting to pick up a bit now (should be in full flow in 2 weeks), had quite a few species of wader on the patch yesterday and we've been treated for the last few days by this juvenile cuckoo performing in front of the hide, allowing for the kind of scrutiny you rarely get with such birds, wonderfully marked and here's the actual bird (pics by mate of mine, i dont do pics)




and i learned something new, which after watching cuckoos for decades you'd think i'd know but didn't, a small point, but cuckoos claws are the same colour as their legs/feet, typically on birds this isn't the case

think of raptors with bright yellow/orange legs but black claws/talons (easily seen on pics of golden eagles etc) - the cuckoo also has very bright orangey yellow legs and feet (the colour is more intense in real life than the pic shows) and it's claws are exactly the same colour, not gonna change the world but i love finding out new shit even after all this time and is actually cool as fuck, looking really smart once you notice it

[reddebs]

We've had quite a few flocks of curlew here recently, it's so nice to hear and see them again as they'd pretty much disappeared since my childhood.

The sparrowhawk's have been very active too and come quite close to me a few times when I've been in the garden borders deadheading the plants where we have all the feeders.

[Yorkykopite]

Haven't seen the swifts now for 48 hours. It's looking like they've gone.

When this is updated in a few days time we'll know for sure.

https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/learn-swifts-diary

[reddebs]

Just had a sparrowhawk attempt to help itself to breakfast in the garden.

We have lots of feeders but also lots of cover to hide if there's an attack. 

It sat at the table then dove into the horizontal conifer underneath, then into the privet hedge, then onto the ground and still it came away with nothing.

I think it must have been a juvenile as they're not normally that inefficient 😂

[Armand9]

Haven't seen the swifts now for 48 hours. It's looking like they've gone.

When this is updated in a few days time we'll know for sure.

https://oumnh.ox.ac.uk/learn-swifts-diary

had 7 on the patch yesterday, can't really know if they're birds moving through or late local birds but we're certainly down to stragglers now - conditions were ideal for swifts and hirundines feeding at the lake (ie sporadic drizzle yesterday), house martins were also noteable by their absence, only a handful (very surprising), groups of swallows and sand martins feeding up or moving through made up the lionshare of hirundines, that said numbers were generally low across the board with only sand martins having a decent showing relatively, as we dont expect many of them at this time cos they fuck off early as well

you do get the odd swfit that lingers, i can think of records even in november, but i've always wondered are these really birds that have lingered or were they born elsewhere (eg somewhere in europe) and have messed up their migration - then again it could be argued maybe it's a roving bird that has decided to stay in the northern hemisphere as feeding is clearly sufficient

when we find a rare swift we've no doubt that has messed up its migration (spring or autumn) cos it shouldn't be here, with a bird that summers here it's difficult to evaluate instances of a lone individual being present on extreme dates

[Armand9]

migration in full swing now, the lake has been picking up and i was thinking it was looking ripe for something really good to turn up and it did in the form of a juvenile Red-necked Phalarope a few days back (still present as i type)

yes, that tiny little bird next to the black-headed gull is a swimming wader  phalaropes, it's their thing (not my pic, one of the local lads https://twitter.com/bri66thomp)


the main thing though is we're into the autumn migration proper now for the next few months and that's always exciting times in hoping what you might get, something genuinely rare is of course the icing on the cake but just knowing birds we dont get to see normally are moving through the country and what's at the lake can change daily is what it's all about for me (which goes for any location in the uk now, whether that be your garden or your local walk)

like yesterday, with the RN Phalarope and Osprey performing well and with black terns, three species of egret, avocet, wood sands and a nice cast of other waders present, it was a wonderful Spotted Flycatcher quietly going about its business in the car park, as i arrived to my main haunt on the patch, that was my bird of the day

birding, funny old game saint

oh, and i had another 8 raptor species day at the lake (only my third time of managing that ever at the lake) with:
Osprey
Red Kite
Marsh Harrier
Buzzards galore
5 Sparrowhawk
2 Kestrel
2 Hobby
2 Peregrine

I try for this so many times it's always a thrill when i manage it, when you think about, there isn't a place in the UK where you can guarantee seeing 8 species of raptor on any given day, so it's always a buzz. That's what i love about patch/local birding, it doesnt have to be nationally rare or anything, just something that for your little part of the world is special to you.

[Yorkykopite]

had 7 on the patch yesterday, can't really know if they're birds moving through or late local birds but we're certainly down to stragglers now - conditions were ideal for swifts and hirundines feeding at the lake (ie sporadic drizzle yesterday), house martins were also noteable by their absence, only a handful (very surprising), groups of swallows and sand martins feeding up or moving through made up the lionshare of hirundines, that said numbers were generally low across the board with only sand martins having a decent showing relatively, as we dont expect many of them at this time cos they fuck off early as well

you do get the odd swfit that lingers, i can think of records even in november, but i've always wondered are these really birds that have lingered or were they born elsewhere (eg somewhere in europe) and have messed up their migration - then again it could be argued maybe it's a roving bird that has decided to stay in the northern hemisphere as feeding is clearly sufficient

when we find a rare swift we've no doubt that has messed up its migration (spring or autumn) cos it shouldn't be here, with a bird that summers here it's difficult to evaluate instances of a lone individual being present on extreme dates

I read that the Oxford swifts had had a very successful summer (breeding-wise) and that was the reason they left early. Job done and dusted as it were. Last week I was at Bamburgh in Northumberland and saw a solitary swift flying above the castle. Was that perhaps a straggler? Or would our northern swifts be leaving later anyway because of a slightly cooler summer (and slightly delayed breeding) in the North?

There were millions of swallows and house martins in the dunes there by incidentally.

[reddebs]

migration in full swing now, the lake has been picking up and i was thinking it was looking ripe for something really good to turn up and it did in the form of a juvenile Red-necked Phalarope a few days back (still present as i type)

yes, that tiny little bird next to the black-headed gull is a swimming wader  phalaropes, it's their thing (not my pic, one of the local lads https://twitter.com/bri66thomp)


the main thing though is we're into the autumn migration proper now for the next few months and that's always exciting times in hoping what you might get, something genuinely rare is of course the icing on the cake but just knowing birds we dont get to see normally are moving through the country and what's at the lake can change daily is what it's all about for me (which goes for any location in the uk now, whether that be your garden or your local walk)

like yesterday, with the RN Phalarope and Osprey performing well and with black terns, three species of egret, avocet, wood sands and a nice cast of other waders present, it was a wonderful Spotted Flycatcher quietly going about its business in the car park, as i arrived to my main haunt on the patch, that was my bird of the day

birding, funny old game saint

oh, and i had another 8 raptor species day at the lake (only my third time of managing that ever at the lake) with:
Osprey
Red Kite
Marsh Harrier
Buzzards galore
5 Sparrowhawk
2 Kestrel
2 Hobby
2 Peregrine

I try for this so many times it's always a thrill when i manage it, when you think about, there isn't a place in the UK where you can guarantee seeing 8 species of raptor on any given day, so it's always a buzz. That's what i love about patch/local birding, it doesnt have to be nationally rare or anything, just something that for your little part of the world is special to you.

We had a skein of geese flew over us yesterday, I don't remember them being so early arriving.

Didn't catch what they were but we had Brent and Pink Footed on the estuary last winter.

[Armand9]

I read that the Oxford swifts had had a very successful summer (breeding-wise) and that was the reason they left early. Job done and dusted as it were. Last week I was at Bamburgh in Northumberland and saw a solitary swift flying above the castle. Was that perhaps a straggler? Or would our northern swifts be leaving later anyway because of a slightly cooler summer (and slightly delayed breeding) in the North?

There were millions of swallows and house martins in the dunes there by incidentally.

maybe my use of the word straggler is a bit harsh on any swifts that haven't departed yet, as i wouldn't be surprised to see a swift atm but certainly it would seem the main body of them have gone and if you do chance upon one/some it's noteable now whereas a few of weeks ago it wouldn't have been

what you say about the north certainly sounds logical if those were the conditions up north this year (i live in the SW, so dont know - tho colleagues who are into insects as well as birds tell me it's a poor insect year).

it's also logical for another reason, in that northern birds get to breeding grounds later typically. something i didnt know until a number of years back is that when migrants come in they 'fill up' breeding areas from the south upwards. Eg so the first wave of say swallows come in and fill up the south coast and upwards, next lot arrive and they're like 'ah fuck this there's no room at the inn' and so head north of those areas, fill up those areas, next lot in and the same scenario and so on until the last birds in are fuck this everywhere, scotland it is 

that's a very simple outline of what happens but according to those that study migration and nesting strategies that's what happens, so the later you are the more north you'll have to go to find suitable breeding habitat - it's not so much as nesting availability, it's the number of same species birds present, so new comers see it as enough mouths feeding here, i'll bang on

interesting what you say about the hirundines (swallows, martins etc) cos in the SW there aren't really that many coming through atm, when winds swing to the north maybe we'll get a flood of them

We had a skein of geese flew over us yesterday, I don't remember them being so early arriving.

Didn't catch what they were but we had Brent and Pink Footed on the estuary last winter.

lucky you, dead jealous

i live too far south to get wild geese coming in (tho we get individuals that attach themselves to the local canada's on occasion or odd migrants that appear for a day or two), wild geese flocks are so impressive, for those that haven't seen them it probably sounds odd but they probably dont realise that these flocks can be huge with tens of thousands of birds in some places filling the sky with their calls and flight formations, btw geese are incredible birds when it comes to flight power and endurance yet get the brunt end of jokes regarding quackers etc - really is dont judge a book by it's cover (or more accurately ignorance)

anyway, as you say, that does sound on the early side to me as well. i know the first birds in come earlier than i always expect them as i associate them with winter but they come well before that but august would be early i'd thought

[Yorkykopite]

maybe my use of the word straggler is a bit harsh on any swifts that haven't departed yet, as i wouldn't be surprised to see a swift atm but certainly it would seem the main body of them have gone and if you do chance upon one/some it's noteable now whereas a few of weeks ago it wouldn't have been

what you say about the north certainly sounds logical if those were the conditions up north this year (i live in the SW, so dont know - tho colleagues who are into insects as well as birds tell me it's a poor insect year).

it's also logical for another reason, in that northern birds get to breeding grounds later typically. something i didnt know until a number of years back is that when migrants come in they 'fill up' breeding areas from the south upwards. Eg so the first wave of say swallows come in and fill up the south coast and upwards, next lot arrive and they're like 'ah fuck this there's no room at the inn' and so head north of those areas, fill up those areas, next lot in and the same scenario and so on until the last birds in are fuck this everywhere, scotland it is 

that's a very simple outline of what happens but according to those that study migration and nesting strategies that's what happens, so the later you are the more north you'll have to go to find suitable breeding habitat - it's not so much as nesting availability, it's the number of same species birds present, so new comers see it as enough mouths feeding here, i'll bang on

interesting what you say about the hirundines (swallows, martins etc) cos in the SW there aren't really that many coming through atm, when winds swing to the north maybe we'll get a flood of them

lucky you, dead jealous

i live too far south to get wild geese coming in (tho we get individuals that attach themselves to the local canada's on occasion or odd migrants that appear for a day or two), wild geese flocks are so impressive, for those that haven't seen them it probably sounds odd but they probably dont realise that these flocks can be huge with tens of thousands of birds in some places filling the sky with their calls and flight formations, btw geese are incredible birds when it comes to flight power and endurance yet get the brunt end of jokes regarding quackers etc - really is dont judge a book by it's cover (or more accurately ignorance)

anyway, as you say, that does sound on the early side to me as well. i know the first birds in come earlier than i always expect them as i associate them with winter but they come well before that but august would be early i'd thought

Thanks again! It's great you share your knowledge.