spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs

[Ullman]

On 01/12/2022 at 17:48, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

 

That distinctive, soft "chu-chu-chu" call of fieldfares in flight is one of my favourite bird calls, and very evocative of this time of year.

Do you think your filedfare flocks were just filedfares, or were there redwings mixed in with them?

I haven't seen many of either yet.  A fieldfare flock of about 40 in the New Forest was the most noticeable.

Lots of fieldfares about again this week including a flock at Meaux yesterday that flew just a few feet overhead. Great sight in the winter sun but no redwing sightings that I could be sure about. There was a possible one last week but the visibility was so poor in the mist and murk that it might have been a song thrush.

[Ullman]

First definite redwing sighting a couple of days ago at Walling Fen as well as a couple of little egrets, a grey heron and a great close up view of a buzzard sitting on a hedge top. I imagine they're all drawn to the network of drainage channels in the area.

[Futtocks]

 

[Kayakman]

Was at the cabin up North and had a group of pure white tundra swans swimming in front of the place this morning....are there still wild swans in Great Britain?

[Futtocks]

11 minutes ago, Kayakman said:

Was at the cabin up North and had a group of pure white tundra swans swimming in front of the place this morning....are there still wild swans in Great Britain?

There are two types of swan that call the UK home for part of their year; Bewick's and whooper. Then there's mute swans, which stay all year round.

[Ullman]

Quite a few snow buntings feeding alongside a group of yellowhammers at Spurn this afternoon. 

[Ullman]

 

[Ullman]

Two marsh harrier sightings in the last three days out in the Holderness area between Burton Pidsea and Halsham. Distinct possibility it was the same one on both occasions I would imagine.

[DavidM]

A sparrowhawk decided to pluck and eat a pigeon on my lawn causing a mess of feathers . 

[Padge]

3 hours ago, DavidM said:

A sparrowhawk decided to pluck and eat a pigeon on my lawn causing a mess of feathers . 

A bit like having kids at the dinner table.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

Very pleasantly surprised to see a Little Egret today. It was mooching around along the banks of an open section of the stream that runs (buried) alongside one of the main roads through town.

[Futtocks]

37 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Very pleasantly surprised to see a Little Egret today. It was mooching around along the banks of an open section of the stream that runs (buried) alongside one of the main roads through town.

I (very) occasionally see an egret new where I am in NW London.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

7 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

I (very) occasionally see an egret new where I am in NW London.

We're not too far from Fairburn Ings and I've seen them there but never  even heard of them being seen around town. There's a small lake close by that attracts at least one heron so will have to keep an eye out for it around there.

[Futtocks]

3 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

We're not too far from Fairburn Ings and I've seen them there but never  even heard of them being seen around town. There's a small lake close by that attracts at least one heron so will have to keep an eye out for it around there.

When I walk to Sainsbury's, I cross a bridge over a small stream that feeds the local reservoir. There used to be a big heron that I'd see quite often, but not recently. I've only seen the egret 2 or 3 times.

Much more birdlife to be seen at the footbridge across the middle of the lake, about a mile away. Expectant birdlife pretending to be hungry too, so take seeds or oats or something else they can eat.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

5 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

We're not too far from Fairburn Ings and I've seen them there but never  even heard of them being seen around town. There's a small lake close by that attracts at least one heron so will have to keep an eye out for it around there.

I suspect that, the more little egrets settle in a locality, the more they will expand which bits of it they use.  I have seen them around some of the supermarkets in Salisbury, on quite canalised bits of streams.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Blashford Lakes are old gravel workings between Salisbury and Bournemouth, parts of which are now a bird reserve.  Someone there today reports seeing two sand martins.  I wonder if one was saying to the other, "Why did you think it was a good idea to beat the rush and get here early!?"

[ivans82]

Noticed quite a few little egrets around the derwent in Workington , also one near a small stream by the Town centre , people walking around within 12 feet of it and it never bothered one bit .

[Futtocks]

David Attenborough, in what may be his final series, concentrates on home front with Wild Isles. Episode 1 had some wonderful camerawork.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0f0tcfq/wild-isles-series-1-1-our-precious-isles 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Re-introducing a bird species to a suitable locality is all well and good, but you cannot, of course, stop them wandering off.

A scheme to return white-tailed eagles (also called sea eagles) to the Isle of Wight began a year or two ago.  At the moment, one or two seem to be doing a tour of Hampshire, with sightings variously around Fordingbridge (north of Bournemouth), crossing the M3 near Chandlers Ford and over a village south-east of Winchester.

I suppose if you live at the seaside, going inland on holiday has some appeal!

[hindle xiii]

Does anyone else listen to the "early bird" segment/game on early breakfast on BBC local radio?

Listeners guess a daily bird call (no correct answer means a rollover).

[DavidM]

On 13/03/2023 at 16:49, Futtocks said:

David Attenborough, in what may be his final series, concentrates on home front with Wild Isles. Episode 1 had some wonderful camerawork.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0f0tcfq/wild-isles-series-1-1-our-precious-isles 

Red squirrels and birds … i could watch a whole series just on them

[Padge]

First frog spawn appeared in our pond last weekend, frogs are in full throat making a racket.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

 

[Padge]

1 hour ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

 

Not as funny but I took this in Cornwall a few years ago.

 

 

[DavidM]

Bird of prey landed in my garden this morning . I presume it was aforementioned sparrow hawk but I noticed it had white spots or blotches on its back so I don’t know if that’s normal