Fly Fishing Forum banner

What bird's did you see while out fishing?

40K views 234 replies 83 participants last post by  bobmiddlepoint 
#1 ·
So here's an opening question to get the ball rolling on our latest forum for all you birdwatchers and twitchers out there.

For many of us including me, being out in the countryside is a big reason why I go fishing and I enjoy keeping an eye out for the local wildlife and birds are probably the most often seen.

So what are your regular sightings and also the rarer or less common birds you have seen while out fishing recently or in the past?

For me a recent trip down to Woodington Lakes in Hampshire gave up a splendid view of a sparrowhawk flying low and slow along the treeline - always a favourite.
 
#65 ·
OMG :eek:
I'm on the Hants and Berks border and they're (thanks God!) much more abundant here.
I accounted for at least 5 breeding pairs between short stretches of my two local rivers. There are fair few nesting around the lakes in Reedbed Nature Reserve, too.

Few pairs of Red Kites patrol my local area daily, buzzards are not uncommon and grey herons are abundant too.
Always lovely to see them fly by :)
 
#3 ·
On my trout loch, through the season, we often see;
Ospreys
Buzzards,
Perigrine,
Kestrel,
Sparrowhawks
barn owl
Ravens
Crows
Pheasants,
heron,
swans,
greylag
mallard
waterhen
Great crested grebe
coot
an odd kingfisher
woodpeckers
and all the usual songbirds.
 
#4 · (Edited)
On my trout loch, through the season, we often see;
Ospreys
Buzzards,
Perigrine,
Kestrel,
Sparrowhawks
barn owl
Ravens
Crows
magpie
Pheasants,
heron,
swans,
greylag
mallard
waterhen
Great crested grebe
coot
an odd kingfisher
woodpeckers
and all the usual songbirds.
I'll add to the list above,same loch.
Sedge warbler
willow warbler
Chiffchaff
Wren
snipe
Reed bunting
Pied wagtail
Grey wagtail
Goldfinch
Yellowhammer
Swallow
Sand martin
House martin
Swift
song thrush
Mistle thrush
Redstart
Fieldfare
Redwing
collared dove
Pochard
Widgeon
Goldeneye
Tufted duck
Goosander
Little grebe
Cormorant
Blue tit
Great tit
Coal tit
Long tailed tit
Linnet
Chafinch.
spotted flycatcher.

Jim
 
#6 ·
I thought I'd started a thread this morning to kick things off. Must have done something wrong. Anyway, I was commenting how I love to see swallows picking up duns from the water surface. The earliest I've spotted them (even got the lingo!) is 7th april on the mid clyde feeding on a hatch of dark olives as were the trout - I even caught a few (trout that is, not olives!) on a 14 greenwell. Swallows are amazingly fast and quite capable of picking up your artificial on the back cast and being hooked. Never had one over 2 ounces and not very good to eat!! Only kidding twitchers; Cheers, Fishertom
 
#10 ·
There arent many birds out when I go fishing usually.
I used to see most of them on a Friday or Saturday night. I kept a diary and so far Ive seen;
Greater Flatonitsback
Lesser Shortskirt
Spotted Slummer
Legless Pink Strumpet.
Greyslag Goosed
Spewchucker

I used to get mobbed by birds regularly but they dont bother me much these days.
 
#14 ·
Swallow, Sand martin, House martin, Swift, B/H Gull, Common gull, Spotted flycatcher, G.S.W, Osprey, Kestrel, Buzzard, Peregrine, Barn owl, Tawny owl, Sparrowhawk, willow warbler, Chiffchaff, Reed bunting, Sedge warbler, Lapwing,Curlew, Snipe, Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Ringed plover, Mallard, Mute swan, Whooper swan, Greylag, Wood pigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Thrush-song/mistle, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Skylark, Meadow pipit, Pied wagtail, Grey wagtail, Dipper, Carrion crow, Kingfisher, Oh! and the dreaded Goosander and Cormorant.:eek:mg:
 
#24 ·
Yep, same here - I'm aware of certain things with the smaller birds - I always associate Coldingham Loch with yellowhammers and warblers - simply because you are hearing them all day when you are there. Also, corncrakes when fishing the Uist lochs (makes sound of thumb nail being dragged along teeth of comb :p).

But I like to watch out for the birds of prey. So far, I've spotted eagles - gold and white-tailed - buzzards (my favourite), peregrines, hen harriers, short-eared owls, merlins, hobbies and goshawks. Me and Wee Jimmy watched a goshawk trying to catch a duck on Loch Bhac - brilliant :thumbs:

You could add a secondary thread: "Birds I've had an offer from while fly fishing..."

For me:

grebe
black-headed gull
tern
swallow
house martin
sand martin
wheatear (dapping)

There have been times when fishing dries on stillwater when the swallows and martins have been quite persistant to the point of picking the fly up off the surface and trying to fly off with it. Even when it all goes tight and the fly gets yanked out their beak, they come back and have another go! Fortunately not hooked one to date, though had one incident of a swift taking a dropper fly while playing a fish. We managed to save the wee guy OK. Wee Jimmy can tell you the tale...
:eek:

Col
 
#16 ·
Cormorants more cormorants,a robin and a crow with a hood on(is he a robber) then another cormorant and my mallard ducks breeding happily to feed the crows and sea gulls.

Keep up the protection RSPB we will soon have only predators left and I love watching the birdlife but there needs to be a balance.
 
#19 ·
Quite a few where I fish as its popular with the scantly clad joggers (as luck would have it) :)

also canada geese, cormorants, coots, kingfishers in that order


PS its bad luck to look up when geese fly overhead :doh:




.
 
#23 ·
**** poem; but I love it.
It's a goodie Mostyn :D

and the Oxford dictionary agrees with me so ner! ;)

Definition of rhyme
noun

[count noun] a short poem in which the sound of the word or syllable at the end of each line corresponds with that at the end of another:
"Harriet sang Ben little rhymes"
 
#25 ·
Hopefully i am getting me licence soon for fishing .
But this morning i walked my dog acress our school field and i was happy to see the first Swallow of 2013 at close range.
I did think i saw one a week ago but it was a cold wind and i have trouble with 3 D vision because i only have one eye and i find its best to keep quite untill i get a closer look .
Most times i carry a monocular when fishing and dog walking ,but its typical when you dont have a camera or a monocular you see the best things.:)
 
#26 ·
Just about every Raptor known in my part of the world. In our rural areas its quite common to see the power companies have built nesting platforms or pirtches on top of wooden telephone/power poles.:thumbs:

A very good thing for a lot of reasons.
 
#28 ·
Swallows and House Martins over the mead below Black Barn. Sign of Spring at last beginning to warm up a little...

richard
 
#29 ·
Pair of eagles that are often my fishing companions on Lake Santeetlah and its tributaries. It rarely takes these eagles more than 24 hours to hone in on a tributary that's been freshly stocked with trout by the state. Easy pickings for us all!

We have violent storms/winds in the high elevations of W NC and nearly every year their nest gets blown away but they always rebuild in same general area come Spring-at peak of a ridge overlooking a large area of southern exposed shallows that are full of bait fish. I think they are a very special, old, wise, experienced pair of eagles as they raise multiple eaglets every year and dominate the best fishing turf in my area. I often see them stealing fish from ospreys.









And another fishing buddy, the heron of Raven Forks. He always flies up onto this same snag when he's gotten a trout!

 
Top