I was sat watching a wagtail yesterday as I sat with my flask for a brew and my father sent me a picture of his trip to the lake.. A meadow pippitys nest with beautiful coloured eggs
Plenty of time kill so how about a bird per day thread? What you can see in your garden or on your walk. To kick off here's one from the dog walk. View attachment 24131
Could have pictured a male hen harrier today, but only had seconds to get a shot.
Male and Female Black Caps they have been feeding here since the male found a few grapes under the porch while sheltering from the rain.
Sparrow Hawk just landed in the rill from our small pond and is having a quick bathe!
The woodpigeon population has exploded in Cardiff, I'm seriously thinking about devising a way to trap them to stop them from stripping my cherry tree again, all suggestions gratefully accepted, shooting's out. Quite a few ducks and cormorants flying over Cardiff and, like 4W saw a sparrowhawk twice on Sunday
A minor diversion, goat of the day. Wondered why on earth Llandudno was trending, yet another feature of lockdown -
What I might see going round the city cycle path, taking in part of the Water of Leith walkway...
Redwings (last of them still around)
Blackbirds
Song thrushes (numbers seem to be recovering)
Robins
Wrens
House sparrows
Dunnocks
Blue tits
Great tits
Long-tailed tits
Treecreepers
Black caps
Grey wagtails
Pied/white wagtails
Mallards
Swans
Moorhens
Goosanders
Herons
Kingfishers
Chaffinches
Bullfinches
Goldfinches
Magpies
Carrion crows
Woodpigeons (probably more of them than anything else)
Herring gulls
Lesser black-back gulls
Black-headed gulls
Curlews (currently occupying the rugby pitches)
Oystercatchers (also on the rugby pitches)
Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
After they arrive, I hear warblers such as willow warbler and chiff-chaff, but I rarely get a good look at them. I also hear a tawny owl from time to time. I don't see peregrines on the cycle path, but I can sometimes see them if I go down and round the back of Asda's car park...
What I might see going round the city cycle path, taking in part of the Water of Leith walkway...
Redwings (last of them still around)
Blackbirds
Song thrushes (numbers seem to be recovering)
Robins
Wrens
House sparrows
Blue tits
Great tits
Long-tailed tits
Treecreepers
Black caps
Grey wagtails
Pied/white wagtails
Mallards
Swans
Moorhens
Goosanders
Herons
Chaffinches
Bullfinches
Goldfinches
Magpies
Carrion crows
Woodpigeons (probably more of them than anything else)
Herring gulls
Lesser black-back gulls
Black-headed gulls
Curlews (currently occupying the rugby pitches)
Kestrel
Sparrowhawk
After they arrive, I hear warblers such as willow warbler and chiff-chaff, but I rarely get a good look at them. I also hear a tawny owl from time to time. I don't see peregrines on the cycle path, but I can sometimes see them if I go down and round the back of Asda's car park...
I was watching a buzzard on a thermal yesterday,From my sitting room chair..as I followed the buzzard with my bins ,I noticed above it, a Peregrine on the same thermal.
Just been watching a pair of red kites patrolling over the gardens, we are four miles from the city centre. The Harewood breeding programme has been an outstanding success.
B
Had 2 male gold finch on the niger seeds this afternoon. Later a pair of dunnock in the garden, she was tail flirting and he was very attentive. Wren was also busy in the garden. Wish I'd set the camera. ?
A pretty ropy picture but an interesting bit of interaction.
A male Goosander and a male Goldeneye.
There were also four juvenile/female Goldeneye on the pool and all six birds were diving together. It was almost as if the Goosander was trying to hide...
Having a cuppa up the lotty earlier today and, presumably, the hawk I saw the other day took out a woodpigeon about a hundred feet from me. I was able to get half that distance from it and took a shot on the phone.
Having very little else pressing on my time for the next six months or so I had the leisure of watching it take its prey apart for twenty minutes. Passers by on the pavement beyond the hedge would make it pause momentarily or pull the corpse close to a tree but most of its work was in plain view on the path which connects the plots. It was interesting to see how normal service resumed, some sparrows and tits flew into the hedge totally unconcerned with the predator engaged not three feet below them.
One of my mates was doing some work on his so I called him down to take a look too, that took another ten minutes, all told it was eating for a good half hour plus.
Had a look at the pigeon when its nemesis flew off, the breast was not even half eaten, wondered whether the bird would return later on. Assumed it was a sparrowhawk - expect to see this photo in the Countryfile calendar..... the hawk appears to overbalancing on a skateboard
We have a Great Tit nesting in one of the boxes, it is coming down and taking beakfuls of coconut fibers from the patio doormat.
Feeders covered with Gold Finches, House Sparrows are all over the fat balls and a Magpie is chiselling lumps off the balls and taking them away.
Two Hedgehogs decided to billet on us and live in a box under the back porch and trundle around the garden at night. No bats as yet.
Not the greatest photo's but a week or so of lockdown and...after sweeping out a barn...if you look at the floor in centre of the pic, some debris..look up to halfway up the wall and there is a hole? something was building a nest..
And the house builders were in.....
Strangely tame, I went right up to this one bout a foot away......
Felt bad closing up their nest site but better to move them on now before they move in.
Not the greatest photo's but a week or so of lockdown and...after sweeping out a barn...if you look at the floor in centre of the pic, some debris..look up to halfway up the wall and there is a hole? something was building a nest..
Got some sea eagle pics on the external drive, will dig them out tomorrow, if I can find them. Wonder if the Grafham one was from Isle of Wight? Or have they done a crafty release elsewhere? Norfolk?
Anyway the weather was so bad today with severe wind and heavy snow at times it was an effort to get the camera out. This ones from the back door.
What are you arty types like, I just see a slightly out of focus mess!
Going back to the White Tailed Eagles for a minute.
We used to see them a lot on Uist, daily at some times of the year. In the spring of 2018 we were out on the low rocky point that sticks out into the sea beyond Bornish. A mother and cub otter came by and pulled out onto the rocks.
We watched them for a bit and then left them in peace but as when we were about 100 yards away a young WTE came over and dived down in the general area and then perched on the trig point. As it seemed pretty settled we went back for a closer look and it took off and did a couple of low circuits over us (two people and three dogs, who says you need to hide away to see wildlife close up?). Low enough to get a couple of indifferent but interesting shots.
That is otter fur from a near miss (for the eagle) in the beak!
And enough of the leg ring was visible to get an ID from the RSPB
It was a young male bird fledged the previous year from Ord on Skye. The RSPB commented that they almost never get info back from leg rings on live eagles...
Wow these are all amazing photos, the Lioness puts my cameras away (dusted)if I leave them ready to use.
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