At Tyldesley Cemetery today: a very noisy party of newly fledged Goldcrest, being fed by parents, an equally noisy family party of Treecreeper, family party of Jay and Song Thrush feeding young
Another quick walk round (whilst avoiding the chores I should really be doing before returning to work tomorrow) produced:
Several Chaffinches, Blackbirds and Chiffchaff all seen and heard singing 2 Woodpigeons 1 Magpie 1 Great Tit Several Robins, one of which followed me down the path A Wren tutting away in the trees 2 or 3 Willow Warblers warbling And the best of the day - 2 shy Jays hiding away in the woods
And oh yes, I tripped on a cunningly concealed bramble and fell A-over-T into a very large patch of nettles whilst trying to prevent my camera from instant death. I got stung all the way down my right side (ouch!) on my bare arms and face. It's still 'ouching' now as I write some four hours later - the dock leaves were useless, where's that antihistamine cream when you need it?
Kes, our resident Kestrel hunting and perched in a tree Luke, our local leucistic Blackbird who I see quite frequently nowadays 3 Chiffchaff singing 1 Song Thrush 4 Robins Several Blue Tits and Great Tits 2 Magpies Many Blackbirds and Woodpiegons An acrobatic Grey Squirrel
A quick walk round before United play City in the FA Cup this afto produced:
1 Jay (I've finally found one here) 1 leucistic blackbird - must be the same one that appeared in my garden Several other blackbirds Loads of Robins singing away and posing for photos Several Chiffchaff, one of which was quite obliging for photos Blue Tit Great Tit Goldfinch Bullfinch House Sparrow Magpie Woodpigeons Carrion Crow over
A quick walk round this evening before tea produced:
Kestrel - 1 Song Thrush - at least 2 Wrens - at least 2 and very noisy Several Chiffchaff singing Blackbird (lots) Woodpiegeons (lots) Magpies - 2 Blue Tit - 2 Great Tit - 1 Several Goldfinches over Gulls over
The highlight was the Kestrel which I watched for a good 15 minutes hunting over the flat waste land between the old railway track and the newer housing estate. After hovering in several different spots, it dropped quite slowly and then retreated to a nearby tree with a small grey kill, probably a mouse. It then proceeded to rip bits off it before eventually swallowing quite a large peice whole.
No sign of the escaped Senegal Parrot tonight.
-- Edited by Martyn Jones on Wednesday 13th of April 2011 07:17:22 PM
Cheers Steve, that's spot on. I looked for ages on the net but couldn't find anything close, but you've nailed it. (Well, not actually nailed it, because it wasn't an ex-parrot, hehe)
A quick walk down the old Tyldesley Loopline near my house this evening produced the following birds:
3 Chiffchaffs singing and two seen 1 very vocal Wren 2 Robins proclaiming their territory 3 Blackbirds 1 Goldfinch 2 Magpies 2 Great Tits 2 Blue Tits 1 Carrion Crow over Several Gulls over Numerous Woodpigeons
But the surprise of the evening was a green coloured Parrot or Macaw with a yellow and reddish underbelly and a greyish head. It was tame and ringed and it flew down on to my back whilst I was photographing it. I walked with it on my back for a few hundred metres but it flew off when I opened my car door. Anyone know what this might be and if I should I report if somewhere? There will be pictures on my blog tomorrow night (address below).
-- Edited by Martyn Jones on Tuesday 5th of April 2011 11:22:22 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Thursday 8th of November 2012 08:38:54 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Monday 12th of February 2018 09:20:30 PM