No thread for the West Midlands itself, so here goes. Sandwell Valley RSPB on 29/12/17: 7+ lesser redpoll 5 bullfinch 1 reed bunting 2 pied wagtail 2 grey wagtail 2 song thrush 3 stock dove 2 water rail heard 8 shoveler 15+ tufted duck 12 goosander 12 mute swan 1 little grebe 1 great crested grebe 11 lapwi...
With Covid restrictions now being relaxed enough that we can pretty much go birding where we now fancy, the need for this Covid-19 garden lockdown thread has now ceased and it will shortly be closed. I hope it afforded some a degree of enjoyment and perhaps help during the challenging past few months a...
I saw a group of at least 5 swallows round some old farm buildings at Pilsworth today, and a whitethroat at Gambleside on Wednesday. These seem early to me, but that's just my gut feeling. Does anyone else think the same? Have there been favourable winds en route from Africa? I'd be interested in opinio...
2x Northern Wheatear on field 126
The rest of this mornings sightings
4 Common Pheasant
230 Common Woodpigeon -- Flock of around 200
4 Northern Lapwing
1 Black-headed Gull
2 Eurasian Jay
7 Common Magpie
2 Eurasian Jackdaw
21 Common Raven
6 Eurasian Blue Tit
4 Great Tit
2 Eurasian Skyla...
We are pleased to announce that, in line with Government guidelines on the re-opening of non-essential retail (although to us birders some would say we are essential ), the Focalpoint Showroom will once again be open for customers to visit on 12th April, next Monday!! We are continuing to operate st...
I am pensioning off my trusty Motorola Razar and getting one of them smartphone thingys probably 10 years after the rest of the world!. Anyway are there any Birding Apps ouit there that are useful ? or are they just micky mouse? The way I am thinking is you need your phone out with you anyway so not taking a...
We have a mint, as new, pair of current Leica 8x32 Trinovid Binoculars for sale on commission. They are an unwanted present and have never even had the strap fitted. They are boxed with all accessories still. The buyer would be getting these at ONLY £629 rather than the RRP of £825 so a substantial savin...
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!The 2012 Greater Manchester County Bird Report has finally been published and is now available and yes, I did mean 2012!Copies can be obtained via either the County or Assistant County Recorder, for the 2012 price of only £7 (and we’ll throw in the P&P for that too!).
Sat looking at the feeders for an hour at noonish today whilst lunching, birds that visited in no particular order were or numbers; Blue tit Great tit Coal tit, one very scruffy individual ( not sure what he thinks of me) Robin Dunnock Blackbird Wood Pigeon Collared Dove Magpie Nuthatch House Sparro...
Back to Lockdown garden sightings. Small courtyard garden at the back facing North, now overlooking a new housing estate and their back gardens also. Ash tree at the bottom with feeders. Predominantly Goldfinch (20+) ravaging the feeders, with regular visits from Blackbird, Robin, Wood pigeon...
I thought I'd check the area out yesterday as it's just down the road from me. There was lots of activity in the morning but very quiet in the afternoons. I heard and then saw what I thought was a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Smaller than the Great Spotted Woodpecker it had white barring on it's back and it'...
Originally posted today by Dave Broome; The Moths of Lancashire is a book in the pipeline, by Stephen Palmer and Ben Smart. It will cover the vice-county areas V59 and VC60, so will include much of Greater Manchester. Info on the project is on the latest news section of Lancashire Moths
Saturday morning 10 am between the two road bridges :1 Dipper, 1Kingfisher,pair Grey Wagtails with young, at least 13 pairs of Sand Martins nesting in wall of Market Hall and in opposite bank, 5 Log Tailed Tit, 4 Goldfinch, 1 Song Thrush
The following Wetland Bird Survey/Waterbirds in the UK annual reports are available for free to anybody interested in them (the title name changed but they are the same report, from WeBS counts) 1993-94, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2007-08, 2010-11 The wealth of information in them...
These three publications are free if anybody wants them: Britains Birds in 1989-90 the conservation and monitoring review Britains Birds in 1990-91 the conservation and monitoring review Britains Birds in 1991-92 the conservation and monitoring review Can come to a suitable way of collection/...
Free to a good home, be that an individual or a society. Complete unbound volumes of British Birds magazine with indexes. Volume 77 (1984) to Volume 88 (1995). All in excellent condition (just slight ageing marks on the cover of the 1984 index). Can arrange hand-over at a mutually convenient locatio...
So glad this is back. Not as locked down as #1 but definitely back to looking out more often. Last few days included 3 Bullfinch, 14 Long Tailed Tit, 3 Chaffinch, numerous Coal, Blue and Great tits, Robins and Dunnocks. Crows, Magpies and Wood Pigeons are always around, as are Blackbirds. Less frequen...
Below is the link for the Peregrine webcam - though the pictures aren't very good quality.
There was a panic today, as none of the chicks could be seen from the fixed camera. Anyway, all 4 are OK - they have wandered further along the ledge (as they did last year). It's a very long ledge.
http://www...
This morning, so far Two Great Spotted Woodpecker chasing each other around the back of the garden. Both birds came onto the fatball feeder in the garden, but separately. One was definitely a female, but I was unable to ascertain whether the other bird was male or female, from the view I had. Also Jay an...
A Ring Ouzel present this morning (10:15 atleast) and may have been present a couple of days apparently. Climb the 63 steps to the top of the valley and the bird was in a field to the left.
Info thanks to Simon Warford and Dennis Atherton
My back garden is 30 feet long x 20 feet wide surrounded by a 10 foot wall . It is primarily used for vegetables. It has a bird table and plenty feeders. My front garden is all flowers and a large bush,it attracts lots of insects including grasshoppers from next doors jungle.The best birds visiting at the...
I thought I'd start a thread on this as I have just (two nights now) started to have a go at this albeit with fairly basic equipment. Its quite addictive. My first night was a bit of a disaster as I had located my setup in the back garden and instead of birds I just picked up the neighbours pond trickling away...
m green woodpecker treecreeper f GSW f sparrowhawk tits, blue, great, coal m&f chaffinch charm of goldfinches 2 dunnock nuthatch 3 goosanders in flight 2 m 1 f and a young stag, nearly wet myself, just walked 20 yards in front of my hide. snagged a couple of pics of that at the green woody, will send t...
We all know theres an unpleasant side to most of our birding sites. Illegal hunting is clearly the worst, but also fly-tipping, off-roading, louts, arson, etc are all in there Months ago, I met someone shooting rabbits on a LNR, and I risked challenging him. More recently, Ive talked with birders &am...
