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...
I went over to Australia for a week, the main reason being my couson's wedding, but I also organised a full day's birding with a guide called Steve Davidson, who runs a guiding company called The Melbourne Birder. A web search will bring up his website for those who are interested. Or let me know and I'll...
the sighting occured today about 4.00pm on Astley Moss. it was on the track bend past the feeding station off rindle rd. it was definately an adult wagtail but was totaly grey with a black tail. i saw it and another chap who appeared quite an experienced bird watcher, but we both were at a loss. anybody ou...
Just got back from a few days staying at a mates in Portsmouth.
Saturday
Weather was a bit wet and windy but we managed to see a few Med Gulls(400 pairs nesting there!!!),Little Terns,Sandwich Terns,and Common Terns.A quick look at Farlington Marshes in the rain produced a couple of Little Egrets b...
Went to Old Moor last night in the vain hope of seeing the Savi's Warbler, which sang, or rather reeled brilliantly, but decided against adding 130 or so birds to its British List.
The highlight of the night was the 'reeling' battle between the savi's and a gropper!
Incidentally, if anyone is thin...
TURTLE DOVE this morning at 11am on wires by the old detached house along Pendlebury Lane at Haigh CP, Wigan. Access the lane from Leyland Mill Lane.
Info thanks to Ian Woosey
An altogether genuine county rarity these days with only a very small handful of records since the turn of the milleni...
Hi,
wondered if anybody could recomend a set of bird song cd's? Or if anyone had a set on MP3 that they could share?
My bird song is letting me down somewhat and I need to work on this aspect.
Thanks
John
