I don't have my bird feeders up after about mid April, so when I was putting the nyjer seed one back in place at 5.30 yesterday evening, I was thinking 'will the goldfinches find it again after nearly six months, or will they have found a new garden source?' The answer came at 7.25 this morning when I opened my bedroom curtains to find a goldfinch already in place! How do they do that? Hopefully it will soon be found by the siskins which were over the house yesterday morning.
I enjoy the simple pleasure of been out birding. If I dont see anything good, I can pass many a happy hour out in the field, with the anticipation that something may turn up.
But more recently, every morning there are five female Blackbirds outside my window on the communal garden. Finding breakfast and out running each other,scoffing down the first worms of the day...luv it!!!
The birding highlight today was watching Gannets of various ages drifting by almost at eye level at Bempton Cliffs. There must have been over 1000 just off shore. Quite mesmeric! There are plenty of Gannets still nesting on the cliff ledges, some with relatively small fluffy chicks. All the auks have now left though.
From now on one of the signs I'll look out for so that I know when Autumn is approaching will be an outbreak of terrible puns on these boards... or is that spring, or even winter???
Sorry Andy, there's no escape it's a year-round affliction
I love watching birds have a bath. The how many sparrows can you get in a bird bath? moment which I witnessed earlier this year was quite a sight to behold and the day that about twenty of them including this years youngsters lined up on the edge of the pond and took it in turns to stand on the water lilly pads to bath was another great one. They really like to get stuck in do sparrows, but I think that the bathing prize has to go to the female blackbird who came to bath daily, threw water everywhere and came out looking like a drowned rat, it made me smile. Debs
I never realised that pleasures could be THIS simple!!! Still you've got to keep yourself amused whilst the birdwatching is so dull.
From now on one of the signs I'll look out for so that I know when Autumn is approaching will be an outbreak of terrible puns on these boards... or is that spring, or even winter???
Please someone find something rare soon and put us out of our misery.
Thanks for your diagnosis, Bill (didn't think you would be able to resist!)
Another night recently I heard something which sounded like a sickly bird of prey. I would have gone out to investigate, but didn't want to get involved in ill eagle activities...
Steve - whilst I can't claim to have any medical training whatsoever - it sounds like someone could be showing the first signs of irritable owl syndrome
Cheers,
Bill.
Bill, Sounds like you've come down with a bad dose of Birdpun Disease.
I've recently come across similar cases of Gangrebe, Whooper Cough, Di Rhea and, of course, Thrush. Perhaps there is something going round
Perched on "the throne" last night, I could clearly hear a Tawny Owl "kewicking" outside the toilet window
There's never an excuse not to be "birding"
Steve - whilst I can't claim to have any medical training whatsoever - it sounds like someone could be showing the first signs of irritable owl syndrome.
Cheers,
Bill.
-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Thursday 13th of August 2009 06:16:15 PM
When walking along a path and I can hear the begging calls of a recently fledged Robin. The call is constant and insistent. The minute the adult bird actually "hits the spot" and feeds the youngster what an incredible change in tone and pitch to the begging call - the sound made by the young bird is almost one of ecstasy!
I may not have seen either adult or juvenile bird but a big smile is on my face knowing that another young bird is one further step on the way to adulthood!
finding HORROCKS hide at penny empty,and having half an hour finding your own birds,instead of being told of what you have missed during the week while youv'e been at work
-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Thursday 13th of August 2009 10:15:34 AM
Stepped out of my front door this morning to steady rain falling from a leaden sky, but was immediately cheered by the sound of a willow warbler singing its song, albeit a bit hesitantly, from the trees in front of my house. In a way it said, 'Don't worry, there's always next year for the chance of a 'proper' summer'.
Any other people seeing the signs of the summer slipping away?
Andy, - Some nice sentiments expressed here and I'm sure all of us would endorse your final comment that "we must defend nature against all the odds."
The stark truth however is that (worldwide), the odds are increasingly stacked against the survival of the natural world in its present form, together with those associated "simple pleasures" which we can for the present still enjoy.
How we even contemplate effectively "defending nature" is the biggest challenge ahead of us, and I shall just stop here, because I for one am not optimistic.
__________________
Challenges are inevitable, but failure is optional.
2 Common Tern chicks, about 5 days old, one hanging on to the head and the other to the tail, of a fish just brought in by the parent, made me smile the other day. A real tug of war - wish I'd got my camera!
__________________
Judith Smith
__________________________________
Lightshaw hall Flash is sacrosanct - NO paths please!
Nice new thread,in a town centre in cheshire that I visit every day a pair of swallows have raised a brood in an alley 7 ft up and 20ft from the main st,they fly in and out without a care past the traffic and pedestrians,magic if you,ve got a minute to watch them.Almost makes work worthwhile
A fabulous response. You have stated vividly just exactly what this hobby should be all about (apart from the stress of raising young, of course!!). What a pity some reduce it to ticks against a list. For myself, I think a nice healthy mixture of twitching good birds and just appreciating whatever fate may send you keeps you honest about the hobby. Thankfully I think that most people who watch birds subscribe to that principle: The number who feed ordinary garden birds proves that.
Please everyone, give us those little stories that bring a smile to your face and show why we need to, and must, defend nature against all the odds.
Many thanks for such a great, great post and I personally wish we had many more like yours on the forum! To my mind it is the stories behind the sightings that are of the most interest - sure lists of birds that have been seen have a place but it is the background info, details, facts, figures and even fantasies attached to birding that make it such an interesting hobby.
Most of my "highs" this summer have come from "atlas birding" and spending time watching mostly the commoner species and also learning a terrific amount from observing them at close quarters.
So here goes with just a few of them:-
At Park Bridge on 6th June whilst walking along a woodland edge I heard some unfamiliar sounds. Stood still for what seemed like an absolute age and was rewarded by the sight of a pair of adult Chiffchaff with 3 possibly 4 calling, begging young seen at incredibly close quarters. Was able to watch all of their activities for about 10 minutes, from only a few feet away and by learning their begging calls this helped me locate other family parties, including very recently fledged young, at 4 other locations in the following few months. At the best of times Chiffchaff is such a hard species to see clearly - but time, patience (and no small amount of luck!!) gave me a thrilling and rewarding experience watching this family party. There was a real adrenaline buzz and the feeling that I had been incredibly privileged to observe such a "private" occasion as recently fledged birds taking their first tentative steps into the world.
I agree with your comments that local breeding birds can provide simple but uplifting pleasures. A pair of Little Ringed Plovers arrived at a site that I visit and I have spent the summer watching their antics. By careful watching, for the first time ever I was able spot exactly where their nest was and by reading up about this species, learn when roughly to expect the sight of the hatchlings. Sure enough 2 tiny balls of fluff on legs arrived around the due date and I really enjoyed watching them forage for themselves, also watching them spending time huddled under an alarm calling parent, when danger was present. It was interesting to watch the adult fly away when danger had passed - generally not hanging around the young, presumably so as to not draw attention to them? - when it flew away, it did so directly and the young huddled underneath the adult bird were knocked over by the force of the departing bird! There is a downside though to getting so closely involved with birds! You begin to feel as though they belong to you and nerves start to play a part, as you pray and hope that the young manage to survive. You then look up and learn how long it is before the young fledge and as the day gets nearer your anxiety gets worse, as it would seem even more depressing to lose them at such a late stage! The joy of seeing them finally flying was immense and you are able to relax a bit and watch them at leisure..... until I found that this pair amazingly had 2 tiny young from a second brood several weeks later...... and the worry started all over again!
One of the upsides of spending time watching such a pair closely is that whilst you are hanging around you start to notice other things! The persistent alarm calls of Common Sandpipers with young, Collared Doves building a nest around where the back of you are standing, an Oystercatcher carrying food! Pleased to report that the Oystercatchers were also successful - fledging 2 young - and the hours spent watching them, timing the frequency of food provision by the adults and noting what the young were being fed on seemed time well spent and educational as well as being incredibly enjoyable.
For the first time ever this summer I have followed the fortunes of 2 pairs of locally breeding Mute Swans. The highs and worries of watching them nest build in very exposed sites, in what some might consider to be "less than desirable" areas, was followed by the good news of eggs hatching. One pair almost immediately lost their only cygnet and the other pair which started off with 4 young are now down to 2. Following these 2 pairs has been really rewarding, chatting to many of the local residents, most are incredibly keen for them to succeed and that is a real plus. It's just a shame that a few unsavoury characters can do such damage to such highly visible birds.
As you say even the commonest birds can provide real thrills - I know Canada Geese isn't everyones (anyones?) favourite bird but I have watched a pair of Canada Geese bring 7 (yes 7!) tiny goslings through to adulthood at a local site. What a remarkable achievement for that pair! This morning I even enjoyed watching as a scruffy looking Feral Pigeon fed two even scruffier begging nestlings, perched above the sign of the Age Concern charity shop in Chadderton! Presumably starting their young lives on a diet of regurgitated pizza or chips!!
Could go on much, much longer but I have got to go and see if all of "my" young have made it through the night!
Cheers,
Bill.
-- Edited by Bill Myerscough on Saturday 1st of August 2009 10:05:55 AM
I can see that most if not all contributors to these boards are just as easily pleased with observing 'common' birds and their behaviour as they are in seeing new or rare stuff. So this is just an example of such an occurence today whilst I was having a quick reccie locally. I had just made the steep climb up the south face of Werneth Low and had a short rest on a bench. I then crossed the plateau to take in the view of Manchester City Centre beyond the western slope. There as I came face to face with the fields did I also come face to face with two lapwings. There was immediately some confusion as they did not take flight even though I had taken them by surprise at a range of no more than 4 meters. Was there something wrong with them? The answer was thankfully a lot more joyous than that - they were two fully grown juveniles. I stood mesmerised as they carried on feeding right in front of me, coming to within 3 meters. Their parent was having a heart attack in the background, but they didn't seem bothered dispite looking at me closely for a time. The view through my binoculars (I was almost too close) was just my best ever of this species (notwithstanding a downy young I had almost trodden on in the Western Isles), the buffy edges to their mantle feathers especially outstanding as they are not always easy to see. Only thing was, I was camera-less as one often is in these circumstances. I'm not sure they could yet fly although it must have been imminent, so I just hope they can dodge the galloping horses that they share the field with for another couple of days.
Sorry to go on, but I was just so uplifted by such a simple (but more rare than it should be) pleasure.
Please add yours, however trivial they may seem. We all need a lift at times.
or is that merlingitis
,so i,ll just say the youngsters fledged at weekend,is there time for another brood???