the current beared tit thread reminded me of an evening I spent with the local RSPB group(and very nice it was to) in conversation with two local birders whose names escape me,I was assured by one gentleman that he regularly see,s a beared tit on the flashes whilst his companion disputed their presence?? it took a while for the penny to drop (six months of reed studying)that the beared tit was holding a pint bitter and grinning like a cheshire cat.newbies beware old birding jokes

cheers geoff

just blowing the dust off this one, on thursday night the pie eaters, myself rob,jimmy,ian,and dave met at moss bridge to scour the flashes for owls and despite our best efforts the list is still void of any,although we did manage to find quite a few 'big bats' and plenty 'little bats' and just before curfew some really interesting clouds of midges over the firecrest pines,can,t win them all.

geoff/ian/rob/jimmy/dave

APPARENTLY THE WARDENS AT PENNY FLASH HAVE TO PUT HARD HATS ON TO FILL THE NUTS AT THE FEEDING STATION(HEALTH AND SAFETY)HAS THE WORLD GONE MADOR IS IT ME?WILL THEY NEED HOSPITAL TREATMENT IF A NUT FALLS ON THIER HEADSLIKE THE SANKEY CANAL WHERE I LIVE THEY CLOSED THE BANKS IN CASE A FISHERMAN FELL INWHY DOASN'T EVERYONE JUST BRICK THIER DOORS UP AND STAY INSIDE

I had a brief worrying moment yesterday when I spotted a hand poking out of the surface of the Mersey with fingers pointing upwards. That too, fortunatley, turned out to be a builders glove lodged in some debris.


-- Edited by Pete Hines at 00:49, 2007-07-15

-- Edited by Pete Hines at 00:51, 2007-07-15

Nice story Dave, your conciounce is clear.

Reminds me off one night last week. Was making the usual round trip to the shop along the ring road. I passed a dead bird on the chevrons in the middle of the road. It looked like a Kestrel. Very bad news i was close to a junction so i couldn't stop and see if by a miracle it was still alive. Kept an eye on it in my mirrors but no sign of movement. I was thinking "It looked like a young bird, pale and heavily streaked" Went through the junctions and turned around worrying that it was one of the young breeding birds in the area. I pulled up next to where i'd seen it. While waiting for a gap in the traffic i could clearly see it wasn't a young bird or an adult for that matter. It was in fact a builders glove

Glad it wasn't a Kestrel though.

Hi Geoff

About 15 years ago in Norfolk I hit a Blackbird which flew in front of my car , it was killed and for some reason I have never forgotten about it.

Today while driving home from work another Blackbird flew out and into the side of the car travelling in front of me, it lay in the road and I just managed to miss running over it .

Because of what happened 15 years ago I decided to pull over and check it to see if it was stunned or if I was going to have to give it a decent burial in my garden.Running into the middle of the East Lancs road is not a good idea and a couple of car horns were blowing. The Blackbird had its eyes closed ,a small amount of blood around his beak and was only just breathing. I wrapped it up in my fleece and placed it on the seat next to me and carried on home.

About 5 minutes later while doing 50 mph down the East Lancs rd a small head poked out from my fleece and the Blackbird took flight. Try driving when a bird is flying at 40 mph around your head and c**ping everywhere , it was the fastest emergency stop that I have ever done, more car horns and some very colourful banter with the driver who came close to crashing into my rear.I opened the car door and the Blackbird disappeared over the golf course.

Finally acknowledging the various signs being flashed in my direction from the other drivers who also had to stop rather quickly I carried on to my home. Unfortually the Blackbird seem to have been feeding on some type of berries so the car seat covers are now in the bin and I do not think that I will be wearing the fleece again.

And concerning 15 years ago ,I think the slate has been wiped clean ,along with the rest of the inside of my car.

well worth ressurecting this thread,it,s dark,raining,and no birding to be had,one day last month i got an email from ian woosey(I,M NOT DOING A YEAR LIST)informing me that he,d just been to see a butty tern(wiganees) at audenshaw.some what perplexed and a bit? stressed,tired,dazed,and confused and no time to think i hastily congratulated ian on another gm lifer and resolved to check me guides for said butty tern in case it called in to salford or horrocks on its way home,the rest as they say ,is history but when you press send it does acutally go and no amount of cussing and button pushing will bring it back. god bless the earl of butties and ian for not grassin me up cheers geoff