Forum birdwatching 2009

[sphenisc]

Yes, that's pretty much it. If it's the females I'm seeing, I don't know why there should seem to be so many more of them in winter though.

Rolfe.

The scientific name 'Fringilla coelebs' means 'bachelor finch', a reference to the fact that, in winter, the females tend to migrate further than the males so that in parts of northern Europe, e.g. Sweden where Linnaeus lived, the only Chaffinches left in winter are 'bachelor' males. Conversely, most of the migrant Chaffinches which reach the UK are females.

 

[Kotatsu]

(Terribly sorry that this hasn't been properly taken care of so far this year. I am working on it, but unlike when I am at home, I can't work on it during work hours, and in the evenings I have primarily been working on another project, which will be revealed within a few days, hopefully, as well as some legume research based on the "Are we really omnivores?" thread. However, we are still adding things, and I expect everything will proceed much faster as soon as I get back home this weekend...)

 

[Soapy Sam]

I'm surprised how few birds are around- Hamilton, Scotland- the inevitable pair of magpies, a sleepy looking crow and that's it. Though there was a blackbird with a broken clock singing in the dark around five am.

 

[Rolfe]

The scientific name 'Fringilla coelebs' means 'bachelor finch', a reference to the fact that, in winter, the females tend to migrate further than the males so that in parts of northern Europe, e.g. Sweden where Linnaeus lived, the only Chaffinches left in winter are 'bachelor' males. Conversely, most of the migrant Chaffinches which reach the UK are females.

Well, you learn something new every day....

Soapy Sam, maybe the word's got around that I've got a bit of an avian feast in my garden. I think I've got your missing birds.

Rolfe.

 

[sphenisc]

I'm surprised how few birds are around- Hamilton, Scotland- the inevitable pair of magpies, a sleepy looking crow and that's it. Though there was a blackbird with a broken clock singing in the dark around five am.

In Tayside we twitch magpies - very rare!

http://blx1.bto.org/atlases/MG-atlas.html

 

[EHocking]

Almost hit a barn owl in the car yesterday so...

Let me guess, it kept fiddling with the radio. That really irritates me, too.

 

[mummymonkey]

In Tayside we twitch magpies - very rare!
http://blx1.bto.org/atlases/MG-atlas.html

True. If we can get to them before they are shot.

 

[mummymonkey]

Let me guess, it kept fiddling with the radio. That really irritates me, too.

One of these it was:

 

[Soapy Sam]

In Tayside we twitch magpies - very rare!

http://blx1.bto.org/atlases/MG-atlas.html

Though a big fan of crows in general, I nurture an irrational dislike of magpies.
This seems oddly common. They do get rather a bad press.The carrion crows here chase them in Spring- I presume because they steal eggs.
I live in a small development with a fringe of woodland on three sides. Usually in winter a large number of birds are evident in (ETA-or under) the trees. These include blue and great tits, sparrows , wagtails and chaffinches with occasional invasions of more exotic boids like fieldfares- especially in heavy winters , as there are a couple of ewe trees which they seem to favour.

Looking out now, I hear no birdsong whatever and can't even see a crow.

Shades of "Silent Spring". It's mildly spooky.

ETA- Just realised I haven't seen or heard a plane go over today either, which is odd as I'm right on a flight path to Glasgow.

Has there been a war or something?

 

[Rolfe]

Come over here and sit in my conservatory for an hour or so (bring thermals and a hot-water-bottle....) and it won't seem so silent.

No war that I'm aware of.

Rolfe.

 

[Soapy Sam]

You not at work then?

(Average night time temo at work was minus 22. I'm sat here with all heating off , in a dressing gown. I've been up since 4am- my body clock hasn't reset yet. Very very quiet outside. It really is odd).
The mater has had a couple of Willow Tits in her garden. N.Lanarks cooncil has an APB out on them.

 

[Rolfe]

Oh yes I'm at work. I was speaking generally.

Actually, I've got the conservatory radiator set to frostguard, and a greenhouse heater too, to prevent the indoor plants in there freezing to death. But it's still only about 10^o at best.

I'm not sure I'd know a willow tit of it came up and bit me on the ear. My mater remarked that we seem to have a lot more variety of garden birds here, possibly because we're right on the edge of the village and get both the garden-living ones and the farmland ones.

Rolfe.

 

[Kotatsu]

I've lived at Eccleston Square near Victoria the last three weeks, and been woken up every morning to Wrens, Dunnocks, and Robins. However, this morning I heard again something I heard two weeks ago as well, which seems to have elements of all three, but isn't readily identified as any of them. I am at a loss (though I secretly believe it is just a Robin), so if anyone in London has the possibility to go past there and listen some morning, and sort this out, that would be nice. I thought it was just an aberration the first time I heard it, but now that I heard it again, I'm not so sure.

Details:
The voice is that of a Robin, at least initially, but for parts of the song --- which is of normal Wren-length -- it switches to a more Dunnock-like voice. That's a typical Robin, you will say. Well, how about this: the song is more or less the same every time, which is not like a Robin or a Dunnock, but more like a Wren.

Is it common for birds in London to sound weird? I know we have quite a lot of Great Tits in Gothenburg that sound like the breaks of the old trams, which always confuse me the first time they are heard in the spring. I assume the same would happen in any sufficiently noisy environment, but what, in the specific case of Eccleston Square, is the most likely candidate for this bird?

 

[Soapy Sam]

Cockney Sparrow with a bad cold?


ETA-Willow Tit http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/willowtit/index.asp
Easily identified by the cold perspiration bespangling the brow.

 

[Rolfe]

ETA-Willow Tit http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/willowtit/index.asp
Easily identified by the cold perspiration bespangling the brow.

I'm not sure if I'd have noticed that, amid the general hubub of great tits, blue tits and coal tits. The marsh tit is another that might well merge into the same general background. I also see that we're right on the edge of the ranges given for these two species.

I'll need to observe the tit population in even greater detail.

Rolfe.

 

[davefoc]

OK, this is sad.

It looks like my little bufflehead is all by himself, sort of.

My daughter and I looked very carefully at the pictures of his two female companions last night. They are ring-tailed duck females.

Interestingly, they form a tight little threesome. At times the ring-tailed females even dive and surface in synchrony with the bufflehead but it is very clear that they are not bufflehead females. Now I'm wondering if the little guy isn't injured and his group has left him behind.

The range of this species is amazing. I just wouldn't have guessed that such a little duck could fly such vast distances. Now that I think he might be injured I'm wondering if he's going to spend the summer in the Clark Park pond.

 

[CORed]

The weather and other responsibilities have kept me from doing as much birdwatching as I would like, but I did find one new species here in Colorado, USA.

Trumpeter Swan Cygnus buccinator

There were also some interesting ducks on the other side of the lake, but I couldn't get close enough to ID them.

Cool. I also live in Colorado and I have never seen a Trumpeter Swan in Colorado. I have seen them in Wyoming (Yellwostone and Grand Teton national parks).

 

[Rolfe]

I'm not sure if I'd have noticed that, amid the general hubub of great tits, blue tits and coal tits. The marsh tit is another that might well merge into the same general background. I also see that we're right on the edge of the ranges given for these two species.

I'll need to observe the tit population in even greater detail.

Talking of the tit population. When I arrived in Michigan, I looked at my host's bird table, and said, oh, there's a coal tit. But then I realised it didn't look quite right - tail too long or something. I looked it up in my host's bird book, and identified it as a black-capped chickadee (wonderful name!). Where do these little guys fit in the tit hierarchy?

I was pretty surprised when I perused that bird book in more detail. Hardly a species there that I recognised. Almost none of my familiar garden residents even in the book. Wow. It hadn't really occurred to me things were quite so different.

Now, if only that Northern Cardinal would have held still for a minute....

Rolfe.

 

[bruto]

Finally a new addition, perhaps a sign of the coming spring.

A Peregrine Falcon, falco peregrinus. We just got a new field guide to hawks, and this fellow obligingly sat on a nearby tree while I fumbled alternately with spotting scope and book to confirm it. Fortunately for the inexperienced bird watcher this one was a picture-book example, as well as a patient one.

After we shut the book on the falcon my wife spotted a big bird over a nearby field, and sure enough, it was a magnificent bald eagle, kindly flying our way so we could take a nice long look, and a couple of hasty photographs with too short a lens, which probably won't come out since they're on slow slide film, but an eagle is always worth a snap.

 

[Kotatsu]

Talking of the tit population. When I arrived in Michigan, I looked at my host's bird table, and said, oh, there's a coal tit. But then I realised it didn't look quite right - tail too long or something. I looked it up in my host's bird book, and identified it as a black-capped chickadee (wonderful name!). Where do these little guys fit in the tit hierarchy?

Well, the new tit taxonomy places the chickadees, the Willow Tit, the Sombre Tit, and the Marsh Tit in the genus Poecile, where as the Coal tit is in genus Periparus. I have the original paper where these changes were made somewhere at work, and can look it up on Monday.

I was pretty surprised when I perused that bird book in more detail. Hardly a species there that I recognised. Almost none of my familiar garden residents even in the book. Wow. It hadn't really occurred to me things were quite so different.

Yet almost every American that comes here complains about Domestic Pigeon, European Starling, House Sparrow, and so on^^.

Now, if only that Northern Cardinal would have held still for a minute....

You were ready to pounce?