The Bird Watching Thread

[Zumbruk]

Evoluzione said:

I heard and saw a Cuckoo today, strange how it only calls at this time of the year.

Presumably it's a mating call which it only makes in the mating season, i.e., spring.

[Pastor Of Muppets]

Evoluzione said:

I heard and saw a Cuckoo today, strange how it only calls at this time of the year. It was flying from one group of trees to another over a fair old area, I wonder if it's looking for somewhere to lay it's eggs....

Only the male calls 'Cuckoo', the females have a bubbling type of call not often heard, they actually only visit the UK for a very short time to breed, arriving April and most of them have departed by mid June, although the seasons youngsters can linger into August.

There is a site where you can follow the migration of Cuckoos which have been fitted with transmitters here...

https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/cuckoo-tr...

[JGR1954]

A few of the birds visiting our home in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Sorry for the poor photo quality, most were taken through glass.

Downy Woodpecker:


Northern Cardinal:


Red-breasted Woodpecker:


White-breasted Nuthatch:


Carolina Wren:


Northern Flicker:


Cedar Waxwing:


Ruby-throated Hummingbird:


American Robin:

[Zumbruk]

JGR1954 said:

A few of the birds visiting our home in the Laurel Highlands of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Nice part of the world. We were there a few years ago to visit Fallingwater.

This place was awesome...

https://www.outofthefirecafe.com/

[PositronicRay]

Some tits have made a nest with a clutch of eggs on my potting table by the greenhouse door.

Im going to be in and out of the greenhouse, so is it a case of suck it up buttercup or should I move the table nest n all and hope for the best?

[JGR1954]

Zumbruk said:

Nice part of the world. We were there a few years ago to visit Fallingwater.

This place was awesome...

https://www.outofthefirecafe.com/

Small world. We're heading to Out of the Fire Cafe this weekend for lunch.

We love Fallingwater. If you make it back this way again and like Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, these are worth visiting:
https://kentuckknob.com/
https://www.franklloydwrightovernight.net/

[Evoluzione]

PositronicRay said:

Some tits have made a nest with a clutch of eggs on my potting table by the greenhouse door.

Im going to be in and out of the greenhouse, so is it a case of suck it up buttercup or should I move the table nest n all and hope for the best?

If you leave them alone they'll hatch, if you disturb them in anyway they won't.
A bit of a tricky one!

[Evoluzione]

Pastor Of Muppets said:

Evoluzione said:

I heard and saw a Cuckoo today, strange how it only calls at this time of the year. It was flying from one group of trees to another over a fair old area, I wonder if it's looking for somewhere to lay it's eggs....

Only the male calls 'Cuckoo', the females have a bubbling type of call not often heard, they actually only visit the UK for a very short time to breed, arriving April and most of them have departed by mid June, although the seasons youngsters can linger into August.

There is a site where you can follow the migration of Cuckoos which have been fitted with transmitters here...

https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/cuckoo-tr...

Thanks, I never knew! I wonder if it was looking for a mate, haven't heard it since.

[Zumbruk]

JGR1954 said:

Zumbruk said:

Nice part of the world. We were there a few years ago to visit Fallingwater.

This place was awesome...

https://www.outofthefirecafe.com/

Small world. We're heading to Out of the Fire Cafe this weekend for lunch.

I hate you.

(My Mother lives in Elizabethtown, PA, and we're big FLW fans. Fallingwater was a "must see". And we liked OotF Cafe so much we went there twice in 3 days.)

JGR1954 said:

We love Fallingwater. If you make it back this way again and like Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, these are worth visiting:
https://kentuckknob.com/

Yep. Been there.

JGR1954 said:

https://www.franklloydwrightovernight.net/

And there. No point in travelling all that way and not doing all the FLW at one go!

[GSE]

Saved this little fella yesterday. He flew into our office, then flew straight into a window and knocked himself out!
I picked him up, took him outside, checked his beak and legs, and moved his wings in and out, and couldn't see any damage.
After about 10 minutes he started to wake up open his eyes and move about, and eventually he flew off!
It made my day, good luck little fella!

[Mariosbt]

Well done that man! Especially at this time of year, it will more than likely have chicks in a nest somewhere waiting for food.

[knotweed]

carinaman said:

Anyone any good with bird calls?

The garden has Blackbirds, Wrens and Dunnocks. We get passing visitors such as Blue, Great and Long Tailed Tits.

There's a bird that makes a single note sigh like whistle. I've noticed the same call at the end of the road when walking along a footpath that has scrubby bushes on one side and gardens on the other, in that instance it seemed to coincide with me walking there almost like a single note, whistling alarm call or sigh.

Dunnocks have a high-pitched call, just one note. Usually from scrub or small trees. That would be my guess.

Mariosbt said:

I was working near Ulverston and there was a Starling that imitated an Oyster Catchers sound! Very well, I might add. Anyone else heard a Starilng imitating another bird song?

Starlings are a great way of finding out what other birds are in the local area! I had one this week that was brilliant at sounding like a lapwing. I've also heard them impersonate corncrakes, buzzards, tawny owls, squeaky doors ...

[Old Merc]

Is this a male common chaffinch?
This poor feller came for a drink, its feet look mangled and its beak looks odd.

[Old Merc]

This happened a while back, bang!! this sparrow hawk flew straight into our patio door.



He just sat in a daze on our garden furniture for ages. I got this close to him.

[Boosted LS1]

Chaffinch above :-)

[mrsshpub]

Old Merc said:

He just sat in a daze on our garden furniture for ages. I got this close to him.

This is a female, not a male

[knotweed]

I added a new bird to my life list last night. I went over to Mousa Broch (Shetland) to see the storm petrels. Mousa has the largest colony of them in the UK.

The venue:



The birds only return to the nests when it's dark (or as dark as it gets here in summer). You can hear them calling inside the walls. It started getting busy after midnight, I had one land on a ledge right next to me inside the broch and they were flying in between the people watching. It was pretty spectacular. Definitely recommend it!

[Mariosbt]

So easily pleased & content.

[Evoluzione]

Mariosbt said:

So easily pleased & content.

It doesn't matter what you have, as long as they are.
What are they though? Some kind of finches perhaps?

[Mariosbt]

Evoluzione said:

Mariosbt said:

So easily pleased & content.

It doesn't matter what you have, as long as they are.
What are they though? Some kind of finches perhaps?

House Sparrows. They nested in the roof of the garage at the back of our garden. A wonderful time of the year.