Bird watching

[Ely]

I've always loved nature and the out doors but recently I had to do an ecology assignment surveying birds. I went out with a pair of binoculars and saw all sorts including a pair of marsh harriers and a barn owl (during the day!). I never thought I'd be the type to walk with binoculars in hand but I really enjoyed it and it may lead to another past time. Are there others here who enjoy bird watching? Does it get addictive as beekeeping? Don'worry, I'll never be a 'twitcher'

 

[Luminos]

I've always loved nature and the out doors but recently I had to do an ecology assignment surveying birds. I went out with a pair of binoculars and saw all sorts including a pair of marsh harriers and a barn owl (during the day!). I never thought I'd be the type to walk with binoculars in hand but I really enjoyed it and it may lead to another past time. Are there others here who enjoy bird watching? Does it get addictive as beekeeping? Don'worry, I'll never be a 'twitcher'

I love birdwatching.
Nothing wrong with being a twitcher

 

[pargyle]

I've always loved nature and the out doors but recently I had to do an ecology assignment surveying birds. I went out with a pair of binoculars and saw all sorts including a pair of marsh harriers and a barn owl (during the day!). I never thought I'd be the type to walk with binoculars in hand but I really enjoyed it and it may lead to another past time. Are there others here who enjoy bird watching? Does it get addictive as beekeeping? Don'worry, I'll never be a 'twitcher'

I do it the easy way ... feed them daily in the garden - amazing how many different varieties we get coming down to feed. They all seem to have a different time when they come down as well ... nothing to do with size or type. We see regular annual visitors that come back to our garden every year as well. I find it fascinating and you get to the point where you can actually recognise individual birds - we have three pairs of robins that nest within the garden (and they are very territorial) and I can tell which one is which just by the way they behave.

 

[Ely]

Sounds great but...do you get marsh harriers? Hehe

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[pargyle]

Sounds great but...do you get marsh harriers? Hehe

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Ahhh ... there are a few breeds we don't get ! Marsh harriers being one of them - but I do enjoy walking the countryside with the dog and we see a lot of those 'non garden' species up on the South downs. We even have two pairs of Peregrine Falcons nesting in the chalk quarry above a local council estate - fantastic sight - only ever seen them at Ross on Wye in the past.

 

[gavin]

You can see marsh harriers and sea eagles on the estate where I keep my bees, buzzards every day ... have also seen peregrines, red kites, ospreys commuting overhead and there is a merlin nearby - beat that!

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[pargyle]

You can see marsh harriers and sea eagles on the estate where I keep my bees, buzzards every day ... have also seen peregrines, red kites, ospreys commuting overhead and there is a merlin nearby - beat that!

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You can't beat Scotland for that ... clean air, fewer people, less land under concrete or intensively cultivated, wild areas in abundance - it's no wonder you have these wonderful birds. What bird would sensibly choose to live anywhere else ? I sat watching sea eagles fishing in the Firth of Forth when I was up there a couple of years ago, just down the coast from Rosyth. Wonderful sight.

 

[Luminos]

Saw a Hoopoe yesterday

 

[Black Comb]

its a nice relaxing hobby.
We have Marsh Harriers at the local RSPB and the Bittern, plus many others.
Also Cormorants and others that fish straight after high tide.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I enjoy watching the garden birds too. My seed/peanut bill is horrendous.
We have cameras in four nest boxes with blue tits building in two and a nuthatch in a third.I'll be ordering mealworms soon. We have a pair of nesting kites at the bottom of the garden and we can make out the nest with a scope. They have spent the last week or so in frenzied branch ripping to refurbish the nest.

 

[enrico]

How about a few birdy pictures then? Here is a female black cap taken last summer. She was a bit stunned after flying into our window but made a good photo opportunity
E

 

[victor meldrew]

Saw a Hoopoe yesterday

Last hoopoes I saw were in North Africa back in the 50s Royal Air Force Idris which is(was)now Tripoli International Airport!
VM


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[pargyle]

I enjoy watching the garden birds too. My seed/peanut bill is horrendous.
We have cameras in four nest boxes with blue tits building in two and a nuthatch in a third.I'll be ordering mealworms soon. We have a pair of nesting kites at the bottom of the garden and we can make out the nest with a scope. They have spent the last week or so in frenzied branch ripping to refurbish the nest.

Goodness Yes ... the cost of peanuts has doubled in the last 12 months - but just look at this link which shows the massive climb in groundnut prices over the last five years - extraordinary:

http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=peanuts&months=60

Don't know if I can afford peanuts for the birds much longer and I don't think our climate is quite suited to growing them. Wild bird food I buy in big sacks and it seems to be still a very steady price.

 

[Ely]

They say not to feed peanuts in spring because they might choke the young. Is there much substance to that?

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[jenkinsbrynmair]

We have a pair of nesting kites at the bottom of the garden and we can make out the nest with a scope.

I can make out quite a few jackdaws and crows using my scope, and the odd squirrel - It's very fortuitous that the bird feeders are exactly 25 yards away from the back door!
Lucky fluke or what?

Had a kite in the garden the evening I came back from the Welsh convention, they've been nesting for years not that far away.
It is nice first thing in the morning to watch the birdies feeding as you're waiting for your egg to boil - SWMBO's always muttering about why there's a pair of binoculars on the kitchen windowsill, used to be good for checking out the bees as well, but i can't quite see the entrances in their new location.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A very wet Sparrow-hawk

 

[pargyle]

A very wet Sparrow-hawk

Good photo - must be as fed up as the rest of us with the weather !

 

[Skyhook]

They say not to feed peanuts in spring because they might choke the young. Is there much substance to that?

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I don't know beyonnd that being what they say, but have no cause to doubt it. Apparently mealworms are the best at that time, as you are looking to make up any shortfall in caterpillars.


.

 

[BeeJayBee]

They say not to feed peanuts in spring because they might choke the young. Is there much substance to that?

We use sunflower seeds, because the birds visiting our garden prefer them - they totally ignore peanuts. I've watched Blue Tits etc take a seed and eat it, then dash away into a tree to collect caterpillars for their brood.

My guess is that any bird that feeds whole peanuts or whole sunflower seeds to hatchlings is desperate rather than foolish, it suggests that there's a local shortage of caterpillars.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

They say not to feed peanuts in spring because they might choke the young. Is there much substance to that?

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No - that was something that was bandied about a few years ago but has now been dismissed