Author Topic: Bird watch  (Read 278923 times)

Offline harmar

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Bird watch
« on: March 17, 2010, 02:04:06 am »
Anyone on RAWK a twitcher ? I've always liked birds ( yeah, both definition's ) as a kid I was an avid member of the YOC.
Anyhow, I always walk the dog in a country park and over the last 5/6 months I've noticed a family ( I presume ) of hawks of some kind. I've always thought that they were Kestrel's but I saw one about 15/20m away, sitting on a tree and it was about the size of a chicken. I'm guessing it may have been a Buzzard but I'm not so sure. Any of you guys into that sort of thing ? Ie Nature, etc. If it's in the wrong thread move/delete as appropiate mods ( fuck UB40 by the way ;) )
« Last Edit: April 27, 2013, 10:48:06 am by The 5th Benitle »
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Offline jaygraham

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2010, 02:14:46 am »
Brian Hall likes it apparently. Personally i couldn't be arsed, not got the patience (or desire!) to wait around for hours to see.......... a bird.......just doing stuff.
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Offline kavah

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #2 on: March 17, 2010, 02:45:16 am »
Bald Eagle, 15 mins from where I live (Portland) shame I've only got a shit camera.

Offline Umbarto

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #3 on: March 17, 2010, 03:28:39 am »
I prefer watching Turkeys... right before I shoot them...  ;D

On a serious note though, I do enjoy watching birds, mainly when I'm hunting deer though.  Get ridiculously close to birds when I'm in my full camo gear, they have a tendency to land next to my head.  I definitely have an affinity for predator birds, mainly owls and hawks, and I love seeing them in the wild. 

Offline Brian Blessed

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #4 on: March 17, 2010, 04:06:00 am »
Mike Tyson is an avid bird keeper and is getting a reality TV show regarding the subject on Animal Planet.

Offline MBL?

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2010, 04:26:16 am »
No pictures of tits yet?

Offline Brian Blessed

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #6 on: March 17, 2010, 04:52:31 am »
No pictures of tits yet?

How about a picture of a pair of boobies?


Offline cornish exile

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #7 on: March 17, 2010, 08:37:57 am »
I prefer watching Turkeys... right before I shoot them...  ;D

On a serious note though, I do enjoy watching birds, mainly when I'm hunting deer though.  Get ridiculously close to birds when I'm in my full camo gear, they have a tendency to land next to my head.  I definitely have an affinity for predator birds, mainly owls and hawks, and I love seeing them in the wild. 





is that your job. crawling around the countryside murdering deer?
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Offline Umbarto

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #8 on: March 17, 2010, 01:31:55 pm »
is that your job. crawling around the countryside murdering deer?

Nah, more of a hobby than anything, am pretty good at it if I say so myself.  I like to murder them, then put them in the slow cooker for about 15 hours, taste delicious, especially the younger ones.  While I'm out, I make sure to take in as many of the sights as I can though.  Nothing like going unnoticed by wild animals.

Weird about Mike Tyson, never would've pegged him for a bird watcher...

Offline harmar

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #9 on: March 17, 2010, 06:29:53 pm »
Bald Eagle, 15 mins from where I live (Portland) shame I've only got a shit camera.


That's pretty cool Kavah. I'm in Belfast, I reckon a Buzzard is as big as gets around here.

Anyhow, I brought binoculars with me today hoping to see them again, and had sat around for about an hour with not much happening except for a few Buzzards ( I presume ) but they were too far away to be sure. Probably not the best idea in the world to bring a 2yr old Springer Spaniel with you if you're gonna try to watch birds but sure, if I'm up the hill he'll always be with me. Then I heard the call of an eagle ( ?, is a Buzzard an Eagle ) and lo and behold there was one about 150/200m away just cruising, the odd nonchanalant flap of the wings and then just the "f*ck it, I couldn't be arsed flapping my wings here, I'll just float by on this thermal" attitude, although maybe not the most glamorous Bird of Prey around, the way they fly is just beautiful, as I watched this one I looked up and there was another about 100ft above me, couldn't believe my luck, I was like a dog with two dicks, I must have stayed there watching these two birds for aout 45/60mins and they're just beautiful.

I can definetely think of harder ways to get the day in.  ;D
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Offline Sir Harvest Fields

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #10 on: March 17, 2010, 06:41:30 pm »
i got woken up by a woodpecker. bloody thing. glad i didnt have a hangover else id have lobbed my gun at it.
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Offline harmar

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #11 on: March 17, 2010, 06:43:04 pm »
i got woken up by a woodpecker. bloody thing. glad i didnt have a hangover else id have lobbed my gun at it.


Haha, haha, ha ;)
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Offline aliverbirduponmychest

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #12 on: March 17, 2010, 07:20:06 pm »
Anyone on RAWK a twitcher ? I've always liked birds ( yeah, both definition's ) as a kid I was an avid member of the YOC.
Anyhow, I always walk the dog in a country park and over the last 5/6 months I've noticed a family ( I presume ) of hawks of some kind. I've always thought that they were Kestrel's but I saw one about 15/20m away, sitting on a tree and it was about the size of a chicken. I'm guessing it may have been a Buzzard but I'm not so sure. Any of you guys into that sort of thing ? Ie Nature, etc. If it's in the wrong thread move/delete as appropiate mods ( fuck UB40 by the way ;) )
I used to be in the Young Ornithologists Club as well. It most likely was a buzzard they are slightly larger than Kestrels. If it was white on it's chest with brown stripes it will defo be a buzzard.
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Offline harmar

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #13 on: March 17, 2010, 07:35:26 pm »
I used to be in the Young Ornithologists Club as well. It most likely was a buzzard they are slightly larger than Kestrels. If it was white on it's chest with brown stripes it will defo be a buzzard.


Think it must be mate, I watched it for ages and it didn't hover like a Kestrel would, so that kinda narrows down things.

The YOC eh ? You must've been a bit of a nerd too. ;)
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Offline Pheel

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #14 on: March 17, 2010, 10:27:53 pm »
This is a great reference tool..
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/
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Offline harmar

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #15 on: March 17, 2010, 10:40:00 pm »
This is a great reference tool..
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/



Cheers matey, I reckon they're Buzzards but thanks anyhow.
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Offline Sir Harvest Fields

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #16 on: March 17, 2010, 10:48:36 pm »
i know im a miserable fucker but to be honest there is something very serene about watching animals in their natural habitat. i love watching the red kites soar above me when im working outside. very elegant.
"Woe to you, Oh Earth and Sea, for the Devil sends the beast with wrath, because he knows the time is short...Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast for it is a human number, its number is Six hundred and sixty six."

Offline harmar

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #17 on: March 17, 2010, 10:53:51 pm »
i know im a miserable fucker but to be honest there is something very serene about watching animals in their natural habitat. i love watching the red kites soar above me when im working outside. very elegant.
i know im a miserable fucker but to be honest there is something very serene about watching animals in their natural habitat. i love watching the red kites soar above me when im working outside. very elegant.


I am too mate but watching the wee dog go loco and then seeing a few cool birds makes you forget about all the rest of the sait that's going on.

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Offline Maggie May

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #18 on: March 17, 2010, 11:24:51 pm »
Nah, more of a hobby than anything, am pretty good at it if I say so myself.  I like to murder them, then put them in the slow cooker for about 15 hours, taste delicious, especially the younger ones.  While I'm out, I make sure to take in as many of the sights as I can though.  Nothing like going unnoticed by wild animals.

Weird about Mike Tyson, never would've pegged him for a bird watcher...

Do you just indiscriminately  murder anything that crosses your path? 


I am too mate but watching the wee dog go loco and then seeing a few cool birds makes you forget about all the rest of the sait that's going on.



If you and Harvest are able to see beautiful birds like that, you are very lucky men. 
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Offline Lady_brandybuck

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #19 on: March 18, 2010, 03:35:22 am »
Macaws, parrots, sparrows, humming birds, blackbirds, vultures, swallows, Great Kiskadees, sparrow hawks and many more I can see everyday from my window.
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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #20 on: March 18, 2010, 04:06:19 am »
A Massive Tit.

(NoneHullianus Taneyouranus)
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Offline Brian Blessed

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #21 on: March 18, 2010, 04:20:24 am »
A Massive Tit.

(NoneHullianus Taneyouranus)

But it has a beautiful song.


Offline aliverbirduponmychest

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #22 on: March 18, 2010, 11:12:42 am »

Think it must be mate, I watched it for ages and it didn't hover like a Kestrel would, so that kinda narrows down things.

The YOC eh ? You must've been a bit of a nerd too. ;)
Still am mate. (A nerd that is) ;)
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Offline Kahuna{=}Berger

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #23 on: March 18, 2010, 12:05:09 pm »

Cheers matey, I reckon they're Buzzards but thanks anyhow.

Probably a buzzard but they've started trying to introduce golden eagles up your way lately mate. Having trouble with the farmers laying down poison though. Especially during lambing season. Thing is, no one's ever seen an eagle lifting away a lamb!

Big into birdwatching myself. Been in every feckin' bog, on every shitty island and hanging of every cliff around the country since I was about 9. Not so much any more though. Was a geat winter for watching birds in the garden due to it being so cold in Scandinavia. Loads more migrants coming south than normal.

Offline TipTopKop

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #24 on: March 18, 2010, 12:20:08 pm »

Offline Ecuared

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #25 on: March 18, 2010, 12:27:25 pm »
I live in Ecuador, which has an incredible amount of bird species. Many tourists come down here just to do birding and there some great lodgedes that specialize in it. I went to one a few years back and had a great time. Apart from the great hikes through the rainforest we spotted a bunch of different species (highlight was a yellow and black Tulcan).

But the coolest thing were the hummingbirds (Ecuador has more varieties than any other country), just from the feeder at the lodge we saw 16 different kinds. It was like a beautiful moving mosaic of colours and patterns!
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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #26 on: March 18, 2010, 12:46:28 pm »
We get quite a lot of green parakeets in the parks where I live – they must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the line! Noisy and pretty cool to look at. Used to admire the birds in Australia (insert Beavis & Butthead laugh here) – all the rainbow lorikeets and the like. Saw some cool wedge tailed eagles tucking into some roadkill as well. The scariest bird of all though has to be this:


Offline Kahuna{=}Berger

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #27 on: March 18, 2010, 03:52:39 pm »
Yeah, seen a few of them when I was in Oz. Casawarys I think they're called. Mental fuckers. Razor sharp talons.

Offline dutch_red

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #28 on: March 18, 2010, 04:07:05 pm »
We used to have a lot of birds in our little city-garden, because we have a big park infront of the house, but lately, we're lucky if we see a robin/redbreast or even a sparrow.

But nearby is a sort of national park (tiny, mind), and there are a lot of storks. They have special nests to breed. That sound they make is just amazing.
I hope some more birds will show up around that park, lovely all those sounds and to see them flying around.

In my city is also a very large (one of the biggest in Europe) bird park. Love to come there, though it's nothing like seeing them in the wild.

Took this one last week:
« Last Edit: March 18, 2010, 04:09:16 pm by dutch_red »
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Offline Bioluminescence

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2010, 12:04:20 pm »
I shall oblige with a tit



Relatively new to all this birdwatching malarkey but love it.









Moved to Cornwall and now able to see many more birds, including a gannet which had been blown off course during a storm.

Offline Sir Harvest Fields

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #30 on: March 19, 2010, 12:22:33 pm »
i actually have a pic of a robin redbreast perched on my fishing rod somewhere. was great to be so close to one. didnt realise i actually like birds that much. ( the feathered variety ) but the red kites and peregrine falcons are beautiful to watch.
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Offline harmar

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #31 on: March 19, 2010, 04:47:11 pm »
Still am mate. (A nerd that is) ;)


No shame in that mate, been accused of it a fair few times myself. ;D
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Offline harmar

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #32 on: March 19, 2010, 04:50:03 pm »
Probably a buzzard but they've started trying to introduce golden eagles up your way lately mate. Having trouble with the farmers laying down poison though. Especially during lambing season. Thing is, no one's ever seen an eagle lifting away a lamb!

Big into birdwatching myself. Been in every feckin' bog, on every shitty island and hanging of every cliff around the country since I was about 9. Not so much any more though. Was a geat winter for watching birds in the garden due to it being so cold in Scandinavia. Loads more migrants coming south than normal.



Yeah mate, they re-introduced them to Donegal, so I reckon that in few years they'll maybe start to make it over this far. Remember seeing a Golden Eagle when I was a nipper up around the Glens of Antrim, that was some sight.
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Offline Lawnmowerman

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #33 on: March 20, 2011, 10:54:13 am »
Came down the stairs this morning to find a magpie in the front room. Poor thing was after falling down the chimney. Shite all over the place. Thought i was gonna have a nightmare trying to catch it but it was quite calm, so i decided to open the curtains and pull them away from the window and open it. Gently led it over to the window where it hopped up on the window sill and off it went. Strangely, before it flew off, it paused for a second and looked at me as if to say 'cheers fella'

Offline Lawnmowerman

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #34 on: March 20, 2011, 12:30:19 pm »
Seen a wren in the back garden this winter. in for the winter food. great little things

<a href="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10232248&amp;amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10232248&amp;amp</a>
« Last Edit: March 20, 2011, 12:32:10 pm by Lawnmowerman »

Offline Komic

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #35 on: March 20, 2011, 12:48:35 pm »
Probably a buzzard but they've started trying to introduce golden eagles up your way lately mate. Having trouble with the farmers laying down poison though. Especially during lambing season. Thing is, no one's ever seen an eagle lifting away a lamb!

Big into birdwatching myself. Been in every feckin' bog, on every shitty island and hanging of every cliff around the country since I was about 9. Not so much any more though. Was a geat winter for watching birds in the garden due to it being so cold in Scandinavia. Loads more migrants coming south than normal.




Anyways my Dad is a massive twitcher, goes off all over looking for them. Apparently the other month there was a bird that appeared for the first time in Britain for 60 years or something. It appeared in someone's backgarden so this guy had a queue of 300 birdwatchers at £5 a piece to come into his kitchen to have a look. The bird flew off after about 50 people though.

Also the amount of times my dad has nearly crashed driving whilst watching a bird out the window is scary.

Also whoever was on about parakeets in England, so many have been released they are actually classified as a British breeding bird.

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #36 on: March 20, 2011, 01:20:43 pm »
Good thread mate, I love birds. Saw something on the Ford Road earlier this week, it looked like a Buzzard which I've never seen around here before. Could have a Hen Harrier or something. Much bigger than a Kestrel.

I live by Caldies park so there's tonnes of great stuff in the garden all the time - probably helps that the back gardens round here are approx 100 foot long. Regularly see great stuff like Herons, Jays, Long Tail Tits in flocks of 15 or so and the lovely Goldfinches.

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #37 on: March 20, 2011, 01:25:14 pm »

A Mandarin Duck visits Calderstones Park by us in Liverpool every spring, superb bird mate.

Offline Kahuna{=}Berger

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #38 on: March 20, 2011, 04:39:30 pm »
:o That's some pic!

A Mandarin Duck visits Calderstones Park by us in Liverpool every spring, superb bird mate.

Beautiful things, aren't they.

Offline Thehunter1978

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Re: Bird watch.
« Reply #39 on: March 20, 2011, 05:37:12 pm »
We get Red Kites over our house all the time, beautiful birds.