Author Topic: Bird watch  (Read 278993 times)

Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2920 on: June 10, 2022, 10:02:41 pm »
I've only heard it around the house, first of all coming from the woods, which are fairly close by, about 70 yards or so, but since then I've heard it, I think, coming from the other side of the house towards the street, as if it's perched on a aerial or chimney but I can't see anything. The call is much slower and more monotone than the Nuthatch (one of my favourites they are) which did indeed sound more like a wee-wee-wee as suggested in your link. This is very much toot-toot-toot (if you whistle short and sharp yourself this is what it sounds like, almost non-birdlike, like I said, it genuinely sounded like kids messing about but it's clearly not that). I think the only time I've heard it is around this kind of time, spring/summer, and only for the last few years too.
I get usually the main kinds of garden birds on my feeders - mainly Sparrows, Starlings, Blue tits, Jackdaws, Robins, Dunnocks etc, the occasional Lesser spotted woodpecker, Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Sparrowhawks but nothing much more unusual than that, but do see and hear others when slightly further afield (but not this bird in question) but still can't place it. It's almost like it's a Blackbird, because of the tone/pitch, but with a broken beak or something and is only capable of making the same monotone whistle three or four times in a row. Proper got me this one has.

Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2921 on: June 10, 2022, 10:05:20 pm »
I had a listen through a load of others on that site too, and also went through an RSPB one before, and still couldn't find anything.  :butt

Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2922 on: June 10, 2022, 10:44:41 pm »
not that i'm suggesting this is your bird but more like this?

https://xeno-canto.org/685469

i am wondering if it's a fixated Song Thrush - they can mimic and very well too, and have a plethora of calls but are easily identified cos they always repeat a phrase usually twice (sometimes more), but sometimes i have come across birds fixated on a certain sound, well twice i've noted it. one used to sit on top of a bungalow mimicing the house phone (old school ring ring) and would do it continuously and the other one was a car alarm that particular bird was obsessed with.

starlings too are great mimics - best one i had was one sat on a lawn i couldnt see but sounded exactly like a car trying to start on a cold morning, looked over the hedge and there was a starling doing an amazing job

another option is a crow - huge variety of calls and some very strange ones that include bell and whistle like sounds.

another option is if it's a fledgling, there calls are typically not that well known even to birders and if you have a 'weird' one, when you track it down it often turns out to be a young bird (or a great tit! they have 60+ known calls, as the saying goes after beating through a forest all morning 'of course... it's a great tit.  ;D)

i'll keep looking but i think we're outside of typical bird calls and it's probably one of the above birds doing mimicry, i'll try and find an example in the range of your description
« Last Edit: June 10, 2022, 11:08:37 pm by Armand9 »
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Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2923 on: June 10, 2022, 10:50:49 pm »
No, very much like a human whistle, if you do it yourself now, three whistles together 1,2,3 (toot-toot-toot) then a gap for maybe 5-10 seconds, then three whistles again. (you'll need a medal if you get this ballbreaker!)

Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2924 on: June 10, 2022, 11:18:13 pm »
my bet is on a starling - you've had it in the woods and in the street/on the roof, totally fits and certainly capable of what you describe

had to post this

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/30uQJcJNU3g" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/30uQJcJNU3g</a>

this fucker does R2D2  :lmao


another one, listen to the end, whistles...

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/je277WKrT10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/je277WKrT10</a>
« Last Edit: June 11, 2022, 08:11:23 am by Armand9 »
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Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2925 on: June 11, 2022, 10:31:21 am »
Awesome  ;D

I would say, after listening to more of your suggestions, it is perhaps closest to one of the Great tit calls that I heard on that site, but again, only the three notes with a pause in between and then another three (or sometimes four). There's one on there that is close, but it's not quite right and is also about twelve notes in a row. Mentioning a Starling and mimicry is possible, something I didn't think of at all, and I suppose it's possible that a Starling is perhaps mimicking a Great tit? It certainly has that pitch of some of the Starlings more whistly calls (particularly that descending whistle one that they do).

Offline Son of Spion

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2926 on: June 11, 2022, 11:11:20 am »
We have a Starling around here that mimicks a car alarm. He's had me reaching for my fob a few times.
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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2927 on: June 11, 2022, 11:23:16 am »
Five Woodpigeons in my garden yesterday

So cute, timid, and since they pair up, they have rucks on my rooftop

It's brilliant

Gentle lovely fat birds. I imagine, this being the Internet, some coward will emerge with a problem with Woodpigeons, but they can spin on my kebab skewers or fight me irl. I love these birds. They're sweet.

Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2928 on: June 11, 2022, 11:40:59 am »
I feel sorry for Wood pigeons. The poor males go through so much rejection when doing their courtship rituals. You'll see them fly on over to the female and go through their routines, giving her their best "don't you want me baby" moves...then nine times out of ten she just fucks off somewhere else.

Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2929 on: June 11, 2022, 12:31:14 pm »
Awesome  ;D

I would say, after listening to more of your suggestions, it is perhaps closest to one of the Great tit calls that I heard on that site, but again, only the three notes with a pause in between and then another three (or sometimes four). There's one on there that is close, but it's not quite right and is also about twelve notes in a row. Mentioning a Starling and mimicry is possible, something I didn't think of at all, and I suppose it's possible that a Starling is perhaps mimicking a Great tit? It certainly has that pitch of some of the Starlings more whistly calls (particularly that descending whistle one that they do).

my favourite great tit call is what i termed the ufo landing call

wheesha weesha wheesha ocilating and slowing down gradually to a stand still - dont think i've heard it recorded tho haven't particularly looked for it

i heard it when i was a kid in my local wood atm and i was wtf is that, i thought it was something exotic, tracked it down and yep, fucking great tit lol

another cool trick of great tits - if they're around a feeder and there's lots of birds, they give their alarm call and all the birds scarper and it nips in on the food  ;D

which does bring up a kind of oddity - it's not just great tits that scarper, it's all the birds, demonstrating that alarm calls works across species, ie they recognise the function of the call from a totally different species and we're talking about birds that dont sound remotely alike (eg the great tit alarm call is fairly subtle, it's not like it's a booming fucking screech that screams at you GET the fuck out of dodge)
« Last Edit: June 11, 2022, 12:55:30 pm by Armand9 »
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Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2930 on: June 11, 2022, 12:49:52 pm »
on a different tangent, something birders use to try and get a view of a bird in say scrub or to draw birds out of cover in general so you can see what's making that sound or just to try and entice birds into view so you can see what's about, is pishing

it's particularly effective on american passerines, a trick we learned from across the pond, and birders started using it in autumn when we sometimes get american passerines (typically october, tho obviously rare) - so randomly going up to bushes and pishing to see what hops out

the theory is it sounds like an alarm call, so birds come to see wtf is the problem, bit like when a blackbird will mob a roosting tawny owl and before you know it all the small birds and jays and magpies are all there having a go at the owl

on our birds it works as well altho on some species better than others - eg robins, goldcrests and tits generally come for a look, whereas warblers dont seemed arsed

anyway, next time there's a bird calling from a bush and you can't see it, you can try pishing - you look a total prat tho  ;D just saying, i dont give a fuck anymore but at first many years ago i was like, i must look mental

here's a demo (tho personally i think he's overdoing it from my experience, better in loud short bursts, see what happens, if nothing, go again etc the idea is make the bird inquisitive, not blast it away)

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/LI4EwnWavUw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/LI4EwnWavUw</a>

on a sidenote, some people are absolutely brilliant at it and others are total duff and it's not easy to pin down why cos to our ear it sounds very similar what we're all doing but clearly it's not to the birds
« Last Edit: June 11, 2022, 12:55:00 pm by Armand9 »
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Offline Son of Spion

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2931 on: June 11, 2022, 02:11:39 pm »
I feel sorry for Wood pigeons. The poor males go through so much rejection when doing their courtship rituals. You'll see them fly on over to the female and go through their routines, giving her their best "don't you want me baby" moves...then nine times out of ten she just fucks off somewhere else.
So, they're the Man United of the bird world then? 🤔
The light that burns twice as bright, burns half as long, and you've burned so very, very brightly, Jürgen.

Offline rob1966

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2932 on: June 11, 2022, 02:44:30 pm »
So, they're the Man United of the bird world then? 🤔

;D
Jurgen, you made us laugh, you made us cry, you made Liverpool a bastion of invincibilty, now leave us on a high - YNWA

Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2933 on: June 11, 2022, 04:02:58 pm »
Top stuff Armand, thanks.

Oh, and I forgot to say. I saw a Red Kite today. I've seen it about five times now, they've only been in the area for a year or two and apparently there are two that have been seen together although I've only ever seen one on its own. I almost didn't believe it the first time I saw it (especially as it was soaring above the streets!) even though I knew I wasn't looking at a Buzzard. The second time I saw it I was 95% convinced, still almost disbelieving despite seeing the forked tail clearly. Then earlier this year I saw it again, this time soaring over farmland along with two Buzzards, so I knew for certain then that it was a Red Kite. Today's viewing was the closest and clearest.

Not my pic, but a good enough image of one. What majestic things they are.



« Last Edit: June 11, 2022, 04:14:07 pm by El_Frank »

Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2934 on: June 11, 2022, 04:43:50 pm »
sweet, they are magnificent birds

the release program going back 30 years now, when they were re-introduced to near oxford (88 birds between 1990 - 94), has been an outstanding success and one can pretty much turn up anywhere in england these days and they're still expanding breeding wise, i expect that to continue until they're breeding in every county eventually
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Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2935 on: June 11, 2022, 04:55:40 pm »
I'm surprised there's the resources for them and the Buzzards to have exploded in numbers though. I mean, loads of land is being bought up for new housing (near me to the point where it's becoming a bit of a joke). There's still a lot out there but it still surprises me that they're having so little trouble.


Offline rob1966

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2936 on: June 11, 2022, 05:26:19 pm »
sweet, they are magnificent birds

the release program going back 30 years now, when they were re-introduced to near oxford (88 birds between 1990 - 94), has been an outstanding success and one can pretty much turn up anywhere in england these days and they're still expanding breeding wise, i expect that to continue until they're breeding in every county eventually

I was doing a lot of Reading and Oxford runs in the trucks last year and 2020 and saw loads of Kites, including one that landed on the M40 to snatch something up from the road.

My best spot though was on the A34, I saw one of the White Tailed Sea Eagles with the Kites.
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Offline ToneLa

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2937 on: June 11, 2022, 05:59:50 pm »
I feel sorry for Wood pigeons. The poor males go through so much rejection when doing their courtship rituals. You'll see them fly on over to the female and go through their routines, giving her their best "don't you want me baby" moves...then nine times out of ten she just fucks off somewhere else.

haha well they gotta mate for life

Robins though, oh man

Quote
If this posturing doesn’t cause one of the robins to back down, then they will challenge each other to a fight. Much of the fighting is for show only but sometimes it gets much more serious with a robin lashing out with its claws and pecking at its rival’s neck in an attempt to sever the spinal cord. An estimated 10% of all adult male robin deaths and 3% of female deaths are caused by other robins attacking them.

Offline Son of Spion

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2938 on: June 11, 2022, 06:04:25 pm »
I feel sorry for Wood pigeons. The poor males go through so much rejection when doing their courtship rituals. You'll see them fly on over to the female and go through their routines, giving her their best "don't you want me baby" moves...then nine times out of ten she just fucks off somewhere else.
It looks like these two got it together.

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Offline rob1966

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2939 on: June 11, 2022, 06:26:29 pm »
I feel sorry for Wood pigeons. The poor males go through so much rejection when doing their courtship rituals. You'll see them fly on over to the female and go through their routines, giving her their best "don't you want me baby" moves...then nine times out of ten she just fucks off somewhere else.

One flew off the side of the road on a dual carriageway today, clipped a BMW SUV thingy then exploded against the windscreen of the van in front of me, feathers and bits of bird everywhere.
Jurgen, you made us laugh, you made us cry, you made Liverpool a bastion of invincibilty, now leave us on a high - YNWA

Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2940 on: June 12, 2022, 04:41:06 am »
I was doing a lot of Reading and Oxford runs in the trucks last year and 2020 and saw loads of Kites, including one that landed on the M40 to snatch something up from the road.

My best spot though was on the A34, I saw one of the White Tailed Sea Eagles with the Kites.

red kite is one of our best looking raptors and then there's White-tailed eagles - motherfucking beasts lol, cracking experience im sure

i dont care if they're part of a release project (as were the kites but have been self sustaining for decades now), they are always an event!

i've been lucky enough to have found two different birds a week apart on my local patch (from the project) but no sightings since and the sightings that were regular at one point in somerset (involved four different individuals) have dried up as well.

the juvenile birds wander in their first, possibly two, years but then return to their place of birth and stay fairly local to that, so i assume it's to do with that - we had wandering young birds around here but now they're older they stay around the south coast.

if you've never been lucky enough to have seen one (or a raptor of this scale), their size is always gobsmacking, most will know common buzzard as their large raptor, well...


adult common buzzard with adult white-tailed eagle, men against boys, they really are the proverbial flying door

and unusually for birds, they seem even fucking bigger on the deck, here they are with a murder of hooded crows (exactly same size as our typical crow) and a couple of ravens (which themselves are buzzard size)

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/P3CHcAwytPU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/P3CHcAwytPU</a>

there are a few bigger eagles in the world but it's the biggest in europe (tho there are european vultures bigger than them, a few of them)

sidenote - the black-browed albatross mentioned earlier in the thread that summered here last year, was seen on the 1st of April of this year on a calm day (so not idea flying conditions for them) being attacked off NW France by up to 9 White-tailed Eagles, yikes! So we presumed the bird was dead and wouldn't turn up this year. Thankfully it survived and is summering with us still. This isn't the first time White-tailed Eagles have gone for it, Danish birders saw two going for it in 2015.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2022, 05:06:15 am by Armand9 »
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Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2941 on: June 12, 2022, 05:17:17 am »
I'm surprised there's the resources for them and the Buzzards to have exploded in numbers though. I mean, loads of land is being bought up for new housing (near me to the point where it's becoming a bit of a joke). There's still a lot out there but it still surprises me that they're having so little trouble.

red kites aren't detered by cities, eg they were a common sight in london before persecution killed them off, they are scavengers (and known users of rubbish dumbs, so the city connection makes sense), while buzzards will scavange (as will all large raptors) they are primarily hunters, so there's no conflict there

the southern welsh population of kites (they dont mix with the population north of devil's bridge in wales, and neither of the welsh populations, N or S, mix with our english birds) are helped through the winter by the now famous Gigrin Farm who provide food daily. I paid a visit there a few years back cos there was a wintering Black Kite with them, we saw 300 Red Kites that day, sounds good but the week before there were 500! so yeah, scavenging is their goto

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/bSWhsKy_kog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/bSWhsKy_kog</a>

the shrinking of green belt and other land is a huge issue for uk birds, especially farm birds and common small birds that rely on bushes and hedgerows, but as you've pointed out doesn't seem to be having an adverse effect on buzzards. I think one reason may be their prime food target - rabbits, even with expanding housing, any area that has green in it seems to have plenty of rabbits and that may be their saving grace.

Also i was thinking the other day that i rarely see roadkill compared to years ago - there should be more! So the expansion of roads may even be helping birds that will take advantage of that, in that the roadkill may be happening it's just they're being scavanged much quicker, therefore less apparent - which has a logic to it (as sources deplete, they become a primary source or at least a more important secondary source). It may not be the case but something seems to be happening there, and i recall an area in africa i read about years ago where they were putting a huge new road right through some prime habitat and conservationists were concerned about how some endangered vultures would fare. Well, it actually did the opposite of what they feared, rather than depleting the population it grew due to the abundance of roadkill.
« Last Edit: June 12, 2022, 05:37:09 am by Armand9 »
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Offline reddebs

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2942 on: June 12, 2022, 08:54:32 am »
There's total mayhem going on round the feeders at this time of year. 

There's dozens of young, mainly sparrows, queuing up to get on the feeders or waiting for parents to feed them.

There's dust baths happening and the water bath is like kids round a pool daring who's going to be the first to jump in.

There's gold finches, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, collared doves, pheasants and we've even had a red legged partridge today.

On the other feeders the red squirrel has had a peaceful feast away from the chaos and now disappeared but it'll be back later for elevensies 😁

Offline rob1966

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2943 on: June 12, 2022, 10:46:52 am »
Had a Robin bouncing around the garden this morning.

Talking about Buzzards, when I did the Bird of Prey experience and walked into the woods with this gorgeous Harris Hawk, there was a Buzzard and it did a runner as soon as it caught sight of the Harris, don't blame it really  ;D



I have held a Bald Eagle, when the shows came to our hotel on holiday in Tenerife, that was bloody huge
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Offline El_Frank

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2944 on: June 12, 2022, 03:55:51 pm »
Interesting point about the roadkill. I suppose that could well be the case in some areas, and we never really know what someone else may have seen at another time either do we, so roadkill could well have been there at 5.30am but not when you pass at 7.30am, for example.
One local area that is now being built on that was great for wildlife (bastards!  :wanker ) was certainly a hotbed for rabbits, and in turn, the Buzzards, so it'll be interesting to see how, or if, this changes when the houses are there instead. I can look out my back windows and see the Buzzards soaring over there without leaving the house so it'll be easy enough to note any changes in that regard.
At one point I was making regular trips down south using, latterly, the A34 and would see loads of Buzzards and some Kites waiting for their next meals on the fences along the way. I guess that's avian intelligence for you: why work when you only need to wait!

Offline rob1966

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2945 on: June 12, 2022, 04:09:03 pm »
When I did the Bird of Prey experience, the staff member told us that Raptors are basically lazy fuckers and will only fly for food, so they will do the minimum required. With the amount of trucks and cars on that road, they must get loads. I usually see badgers, foxes and birds, have killed a few pigeons in my time as they bounce off the truck.
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Offline Armand9

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2946 on: June 12, 2022, 08:30:38 pm »
Interesting point about the roadkill. I suppose that could well be the case in some areas, and we never really know what someone else may have seen at another time either do we, so roadkill could well have been there at 5.30am but not when you pass at 7.30am, for example.
One local area that is now being built on that was great for wildlife (bastards!  :wanker ) was certainly a hotbed for rabbits, and in turn, the Buzzards, so it'll be interesting to see how, or if, this changes when the houses are there instead. I can look out my back windows and see the Buzzards soaring over there without leaving the house so it'll be easy enough to note any changes in that regard.
At one point I was making regular trips down south using, latterly, the A34 and would see loads of Buzzards and some Kites waiting for their next meals on the fences along the way. I guess that's avian intelligence for you: why work when you only need to wait!

UK population was estimated at around 31,000 to 44,000 territorial pairs in 2000, which i believe is as high as it's ever been since recording numbers has been documented and the territories that lost them due to myxomatosis, persecution and DDT (or any mix of those) in times past have by and large got them back, at least at some level. So i dont see that trend getting hit that hard at the moment and up north there are plenty of areas where they are not plentiful, even tho they are now our commonest raptor.

So regionally there shouldn't be much change for you but of course, if there are a bunch of meadows they used to hunt over being totally over built - they wont be hunting over those specific lost patches of habitat any more (tho you could see them as they soar in search of prey to adjacent areas). Or if there are woods behind those new houses, going by what you've said before i'd suspect they breed there, so should still be seen soaring/displaying.

All that said, if land is continually built on there comes a tipping point where it will naturally affect every wild animal if there are is no 'wild' habitat left - some can adapt (eg peregrines nest on churches and other tall buildings), some won't/can't and will move out of a region. Repeat that process enough and we see populations plummet as is the case for many of our farmland and hedgerow birds. Turtle Doves have declined 98% since 1967 (population studies will often go back to this date as a key date for proper data collation), that basically says we are going to lose them as a breeding bird in the uk and probably pretty soon (unless efforts to stop hunting them on the continent really does happen - wont in my opinion, hunters as a group dont give a shit - which is exacerbating the habitat loss problem for us).
« Last Edit: June 12, 2022, 08:39:04 pm by Armand9 »
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Offline Lad

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2947 on: June 13, 2022, 12:44:47 pm »
There's total mayhem going on round the feeders at this time of year. 

There's dozens of young, mainly sparrows, queuing up to get on the feeders or waiting for parents to feed them.

There's dust baths happening and the water bath is like kids round a pool daring who's going to be the first to jump in.

There's gold finches, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, collared doves, pheasants and we've even had a red legged partridge today.

On the other feeders the red squirrel has had a peaceful feast away from the chaos and now disappeared but it'll be back later for elevensies 😁

Like a mirror image of my garden only instead of pheasant and partridge insert great spotted woodpecker and blackcap.
Costing me a few bob in suet and niger seeds.

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2948 on: June 13, 2022, 12:48:56 pm »
Like a mirror image of my garden only instead of pheasant and partridge insert great spotted woodpecker and blackcap.
Costing me a few bob in suet and niger seeds.

It's sunflower seeds for us but then there's a world wide shortage of them with the war in Ukraine and I guess humans need is more important when the birds can feed themselves.

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2949 on: June 13, 2022, 06:05:22 pm »
Awesome  ;D

I would say, after listening to more of your suggestions, it is perhaps closest to one of the Great tit calls that I heard on that site, but again, only the three notes with a pause in between and then another three (or sometimes four). There's one on there that is close, but it's not quite right and is also about twelve notes in a row. Mentioning a Starling and mimicry is possible, something I didn't think of at all, and I suppose it's possible that a Starling is perhaps mimicking a Great tit? It certainly has that pitch of some of the Starlings more whistly calls (particularly that descending whistle one that they do).

i was birding my patch today and a common bird was calling and i thought, could he mean that... probably not but they do tend to do three bursts

https://xeno-canto.org/725015
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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2950 on: June 13, 2022, 08:05:48 pm »
 ;D Still no. The toots are faster/closer together, literally the speed you'd typically count 'one, two, three'.

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2951 on: June 14, 2022, 03:03:28 am »
when you mentioned great tit, was this the call you meant (there are two types in this recording, it's the second type, you'll know when you hear it)?

https://xeno-canto.org/641390

it's doing a string of four 'whistles' not three, but i dont think the number matters in this case as different great tits will do different strings of notes, eg three instead of four and if that's their thing, they'll generally stick to it
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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2952 on: June 14, 2022, 08:16:47 pm »
Yeah, like that but it still doesn't feel quite right as these ones are very 'tweety' rather than a whistly toot-toot-toot. Do you think it's possible something, likely a starling, is mimicking this call?

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2953 on: June 14, 2022, 09:50:50 pm »
starling could be imitating a human whistling for all we know, they can do pretty much anything from voices to mechanical sounds, it's just comes down to what they've been exposed to and if they choose to incorporate it into their repertoire.

the thinking behind why birds include mimicry is along the lines of why do birds have flashy colours for plumage? typically to attract a mate. so by that logic some conclude mimicry is the vocal version of that, i'll dazzle the bird with all this shit i can do  ;D ie it makes them standout individually incorporating sounds others aren't

while it's easy to see the logic behind that, there are so many variables and counter logic i could list i think the answer is far from being as straightforward as that, even tho i think there's some truth in that theory

all that aside

i think what we have established is that the call you hear is not the typical call of a bird in your area (you've been hearing it for years so we can assume it's a local species doing it), it doesn't appear to be alternative calls of a local species either, which leaves us with 3 options - 1. it's mimicry with a number of species candidates (strongest being starling imo), 2. it's a rare or escaped species of bird that has set up residence in your area that we haven't considered yet, 3. it's not a bird (you haven't seen it yet)

1 is by far the most likely

i would add the caveat that corvids are incredibly intelligent animals with a vast array of sounds and mimicry to their name, i've been trying to find an example of them whistling but it's proving difficult atm (i've heard them whistle so i know they can do it), so i wouldn't rule out a corvid at this point

they make some weird shit, i like this one with a Predator rattle at the start, imagine some pissed up movie nerd walking home through some woods and hears this  ;D
https://xeno-canto.org/96500
« Last Edit: June 14, 2022, 10:41:55 pm by Armand9 »
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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2954 on: June 15, 2022, 08:07:20 am »
Woodpecker on the birdfeeder this morning. Taken with the iphone.

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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2955 on: June 15, 2022, 03:02:21 pm »
nice juvenile, didn't take them long to find a feeder, a species that certainly benefits from the generosity of people putting out food for birds
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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2956 on: June 17, 2022, 07:35:03 am »
Bee-eaters are nesting in Norfolk, for anyone who lives that way or fancy travelling a bit

details here
https://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/Norfolk_quarry_hosts_breeding_Bee_eaters.aspx?s_id=538646111


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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2957 on: June 17, 2022, 11:25:03 am »
There's a couple of big geese families on the pond at work and whilst they're lovely, the paths are covered in muck. Good thing the baby ones are cute.
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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2958 on: June 18, 2022, 04:09:03 pm »
There's a couple of big geese families on the pond at work and whilst they're lovely, the paths are covered in muck. Good thing the baby ones are cute.

Christmas dinner sorted ;)
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Re: Bird watch
« Reply #2959 on: June 18, 2022, 06:43:45 pm »
You need one of these...



Although, it might draw out the 'furries', then you'll have an entirely different problem!