I have been getting slightly worried recently about the lack of house martins I have seen this year compared to previous years, with my first of the year coming only a couple of weeks ago, and that was only a quick flyby by 2 birds. But thankfully I was working on the Birtles Hall country estate on the edge...
After being fascinated by the sound and size of watching some youtube footage of Great Reed Warblers I took a very early morning detour to Ilkeston today and had brilliant views in the sunshine as the bird moved around the reed bed it is frequenting. To see a thrush sized warbler was very interesting an...
Over this coming weekend, a visiting Aussie birder will be residing in Manchester City Centre. He will be based at the MacDonald Hotel on London Road (just off the Mancunian Way) and would dearly like to get out birding with a Manchester Birder.
He would require being picked up from the hotel but a...
hi new to this obsesion,bird watching and taking photo of them,cannot belive what ihave seen already.kingfisher,greenfinch bullfinch,goldfinch buzzard,kestral,goosander and her babies i have really been bitten by this bug iam out all the time.on the pond in the field where my horse lives the l...
I have 2 water stations which the birds use repeatedly.
This morning I thought the garden needed a good watering,then when I finnished and put the hose away,all the local Blackbirds were there in a flash,plus a couple of Mistle Thush,
As the ground is so hard this year I ask please dont forget the loca...
Just back from a great holiday in Sicily. Not a birding trip, but here's what I saw at various places in the west of the island (a few nice sightings):
Swift
House martin
Swallow
House sparrow (they all had chestnut crowns, local ssp. rather than Spanish sparrow?)
Sardinian warbler
Sedge warb...
Happy Father's Day to all you fathers
Can anybody tell me how many broods Dunnocks has?
I have a pair making regular visits to my garden this year. There used to be only 1 that visited regular but it seems to have got itself a mate now. They seem to be situated in some leylandii at the front of the house w...
Whilst wandering round the flash yesterday ,(15th June ), we found a sports- type bag , containiing a few items of birdwatching equipment ! This had apparently been "dumped" on the grass bank near to the yacht-club ! We decided to bring it home ,as there was no sign of wardens around the V.C....
Male reed bunting in garden this morning for about 30 mins, taking seed from beneath the feeders.
Bullfinches have become almost the commonest visitor to the sunflower seeds - two pairs. Came throughout 2008 from end Jan with just a few weeks gap at the end of August start of September - and have visit...
From my office window in Sale, have noticed a flock of jackdaws acting in a way I've never seen before. There are about twenty birds together in flight, and they are swooping around and changing direction in a similar way to a flock of pigeons or starlings.
I've never seen jackdaws acting like this be...
We had our second lot of fledgling visit today, we have only had 2 lots this year which is quite a few less than last year.
The reason for the post is that in the middle of our garden we have a bird bath, the adults were bathing themselves while the young ones were perched on the side what happened next i hav...
Nipped over t'Pennines yesterday, Swillington for Whiskered Tern (missed Collared Pratincole by 15 mins), then on to Kilnsea for a cracking singing Marsh Warbler then back to Swillington where the Pratincole finally re-appeared.
Two UK ticks in a day ( a rare experience these days) and a great s...
Goosander with 6 ducklings around 3 weeks old on the River Irwell next to Bury Water Treatment works this afternoon, in exactly the same place as I found a female with ducklings last year.
had a little wander down drinkwater park and along the river hoping to spot a kingfisher and the gooseanders. i saw neither of those but did see what i think was a mink running along the side of the river with a fish in its mouth. it scared off a load of canada geese that were sat with their young and i lost it a...
Afternoon
Possibly considering the idea of buying a smaller pair of binoculars than the normal 8x40/42 etc and wondered what experiences people have of them. Would be in the sub £500 bracket and have spotted a few which might merit a look. The zeiss 8x30 conquest, some of the minox HG ones and one or t...
My wife Norma and I were on the wall next to Old Hall Farm at 16:30 when I saw a small bird flapping in the water. On closer inspection I realised it was a Swift. I ran down the ramp hoping to wade out to try to rescue it, but even though I had wellington's on it was too deep.
By the time I walked round to the fiel...
Watching the Robins from the window,I was shocked by the treatment of 2 adult Robins attacking a juvenile,proberbly thier own.
The youngster was begging for food ,when one of the adults attacked it,knocking it over and pecking at it until it flew away.
Why should they do this ?.
hi all,new to this site and birding in general,it was just me and my dogs, but now there is a camera i have got the bug.there is plenty to see as well buzzards,sandmartins, jays and gooseander sorry about the spelling if its wrong.only draw back now is i want a new camera to get a bit closer,anyway hi all
A quick trip over the Pennines this afternoon for the Male Red-Backed Shrike.
Within 10 minutes of arriving, the bird was located on a fence post and good 'scope views were had as it was viewed on various posts and bushes in the vicinity.
It was also seen hunting an insect over the fields which was qu...
late posting this. went up last monday hoping to find a tawny owl which had been seen recently with young. felt like we checked every tree in the whole wood but no owl tawny owls are becoming our bogey bird!! however we got stunning views of a kingfisher sat perched on a post from hide at back of visitor cen...
I am just at the end stages of purchasing a new lense for a canon 550d camera, after all my pondering and picking the other photographers brains on here, i seem to be still stuck with the issue of which lense is best????
To me these seem to be the best two lenses without having to sell my house, or i could g...
First visit to this excellent site yesterday. Redstart and Tree Pipit, at least 7 of each species giving fantastic views. Also Green Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Raven, Cuckoo heard plus all the usual woodland species.
Take road out of Barbon to Dent for about 2 miles then park, cross bridge ov...
called in briefly today,(2.15ish) to watch my 1st hobby within 5 minutes of arriving. i feel i owe manchester birding a big thankyou for information which has enabled me to see 2 life firsts in a matter of weeks, namely the dover basin osprey and now the hobby. two amazing birds of prey. heres to many mor...
