This evening I caught some Doves and a Woodpecker eating at the feeder. 
Bird Watching a Relaxing Hobby
- Thread starter Lee Drennen
- Start date
Not my pics I’m afraid Lee. I just used them for illustration….
rtfoe
SMF Supporter
Lovely pictures guys...
My daughter always looks out for the single white heron on the riverbank when we pass the river every evening when we drive home.
Ron, I swear I thought I'll hear a double boom... good thing you use a camera rather than a double barrel shotgun.
Cheers,
Richard
My daughter always looks out for the single white heron on the riverbank when we pass the river every evening when we drive home.
Ron, I swear I thought I'll hear a double boom... good thing you use a camera rather than a double barrel shotgun.
Cheers,
Richard
Been watching this for a while - at first I thought it was a crow, but the beak looks too thick, so I reckon it's a raven.................
Dave
May well be right Dave. I find them very hard to distinguish myself. Easiest way is by the call, but if they don’t want to talk, then it’s down to guesswork regarding neck feathers… 
If it had flown, the tail would give it away - but that tail does look wider than a crows' - of course it flew away as soon as I took my eyes off it!May well be right Dave. I find them very hard to distinguish myself. Easiest way is by the call, but if they don’t want to talk, then it’s down to guesswork regarding neck feathers…
Dave
I recon that’s Quoth Dave….
I got it from Terry Prachett……who obviously read Poe differently to everyone else LOL….
Adrian "Marvel" Reynolds
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No photos, but had a nice selection around the pond on Thursday afternoon, blue tits , a robin , a couple of gold finches, sparrows, house and hedge and a few starlings. The pigeons were down feeding along with two collard doves. All of a sudden , nothing ! At that point the sparrow hawk landed on the fence, stayed for a few seconds and away. Took at least 30 mins for normal operations to regain .
We had about a thousand (no kidding!) starlings fly over the house this afternoon. Very impressive. The sky was momentarily black with birds. Probably the mega murmeration on the levels starting to split up for breeding. Same thing happened about the same time last year.
Used to get a couple of Sparrowhawks in the area a few years ago. Never managed to photograph them closely, I did manage this distance shot of the male back in 2017. Reading about them, the female is a much larger bird than the male and much more deadly.
Geoffers
SMF Supporter
For the first time in many years I’ve been getting several pairs of Chaffinch in the garden.
Not rare but unusual after such a long absence.
Geoff.
Not rare but unusual after such a long absence.
Geoff.
Not quite bird watching, but the frogs are busy in my pond.
Looks a fine mass there Ian .
We have spawn as well, but the fish are on standby !
Some must have matured over the years as the garden is completely enclosed and this year we have 3 pairs.
CarolsHusband
SMF Supporter
Well, seeing as this thread has gone to the frogs, have this little gem from the beach this morning. Cable drum thrown from the depths by the past few days swell.
There is a bird in the first pic, my Mrs in the distance having her morning dip.
Some sort of Mussels at a guess ?
edit Goose Barnacles apparently. And there is a connection to birds.... "It was once thought that barnacle geese hatched from goose barnacles. When 2 barnacle geese turned up in Scotland, people wondered where they had come from. No one had ever seen a barnacle goose nest or egg before. Then, when someone realised that the goose barnacle shell resembled the barnacle goose's head, they decided that the geese must grow attached to ships and then emerge as feathered birds "
There is a bird in the first pic, my Mrs in the distance having her morning dip.
Some sort of Mussels at a guess ?
edit Goose Barnacles apparently. And there is a connection to birds.... "It was once thought that barnacle geese hatched from goose barnacles. When 2 barnacle geese turned up in Scotland, people wondered where they had come from. No one had ever seen a barnacle goose nest or egg before. Then, when someone realised that the goose barnacle shell resembled the barnacle goose's head, they decided that the geese must grow attached to ships and then emerge as feathered birds "
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Andy the Sheep
SMF Supporter
Going back to birds, this morning while trimming an ivy wall I was distracted by some loud screech from above. Having checked it was nor the Trumpets of Judgment neither a wandering Kinzhal from the East, I noticed those UFOs
I'm not a birdwatcher but I feel confident enough to affirm that those are birds of prey. As I have no idea about what kind of BoP they are, any suggestions or hints? I think that the colour pattern of the lower wing should be a rather good clue for a birdwatcher.
Sorry for the low quality of the pics but that's all I could obtain from my pocket camera. On the other hand the subjects were not cooperative at all!
Andrea
I'm not a birdwatcher but I feel confident enough to affirm that those are birds of prey. As I have no idea about what kind of BoP they are, any suggestions or hints? I think that the colour pattern of the lower wing should be a rather good clue for a birdwatcher.
Sorry for the low quality of the pics but that's all I could obtain from my pocket camera. On the other hand the subjects were not cooperative at all!
Andrea
I think they are buzzards…..probably on a mating flight. The female is bigger and stronger so she spirals upwards until only the strongest male is left in her wake….I once saw eight of them in a spiral over my place of work…
They used to be very rare in the UK because their main prey is rabbits and mixamatosis virtually destroyed the rabbit population. As the rabbit population has recovered so has the buzzard population…..
They used to be very rare in the UK because their main prey is rabbits and mixamatosis virtually destroyed the rabbit population. As the rabbit population has recovered so has the buzzard population…..