UKC

This mornings dog walk….

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 Bottom Clinger 14 Apr 2022

…was a real cracker. Weather was perfect.  Chiffchaffs singing, greenfinch and linnets. Then went to an area where I once saw some wheatear. And Bingo!  A male and female, real crackers. Sparrowhawk, heron, Reed bunting and yellowhammers - all excellent views. Blackcap and buzzard and heard a willow warbler. Then just near my house, a singing goldcrest. All the usuals giving good views - wren, song thrush and goldfinch. Done a lot of birdwatching recently, but local stuff always has an edge. 

Anyone else?

1
 wiwwim 14 Apr 2022
In reply to Bottom Clinger:

but what have all those birds done on grit?

 ianstevens 14 Apr 2022
In reply to wiwwim:

> but what have all those birds done on grit?

Probably built a few nests at a guess and consequently taking our access away, the jokers.

 Tringa 14 Apr 2022
In reply to Bottom Clinger:

That is a good tally BC. Nothing as good on my patch, song thrush and chiffchaff singing, the green woodpeckers, which were fairly absent last year, are around too, but we have blue tits nesting in the bird box on the back wall along with the usual suspects on the feeders - goldfinches, blue and great tits, great spotted woodpecker occasionally and ring necked parakeets.

Haven't seen any wheatears yet, which are always good to see. The distance some wheatears migrate is amazing.

Dave

 Michael Hood 14 Apr 2022
In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Red Kite this morning, just before arriving at my daughter's in London, happily soaring over a completely urban area.

In reply to wiwwim:

Ornithology lesson number x :

Bearded tits change their diets in autumn from insects to seeds. To help digest seeds they eat grit, it’s called ‘gritting’.  Bird reserves like Leighton Moss which have massive reed beds and subsequent good bearded tit numbers actually put out trays of grit for them to “eat”.  

Post edited at 13:07
 wiwwim 14 Apr 2022
In reply to Bottom Clinger:

I'll have to grit my teeth and bare it with that fascinating fact, although hairy tits are not my favorite.

In reply to Tringa:

Wheatears from this morning. 


In reply to Tringa:

Linnet, buzzard and yellowhammer. At one point, the male wheatear flew towards us and landed on a post about 15 feet away. Couldn’t quite get my camera sorted before a fellow dog walker strolled past and it flew off. This particular area is great for wildlife as lots of its is fenced off, including a massive solar panel area (easily visible from M6 on your left driving south from Charnock Richard services). In fact, the male wheatear is sat atop the high fencing. Hares can get through it though


In reply to Bottom Clinger:

A member of RSPB staff at the Loch Leven reserve told me there was a wheatear seen this morning (in non public part of reserve) and they now have 8 known nests of lapwing so far though a lot more still to nest, and an Osprey was seen flying though recently. Also, one Swallow was seen at the centre buildings earlier in the week looking decidedly unhappy with the hail at the time; not seen since and they think it could have died if it hadn’t managed to get shelter or flown to a warmer area.

I saw what could have been several swifts feeding over the water earlier in week, but weather was awful, visibility poor and so could have been any similar bird. Seems a bit early for them.

New to me sightings today , several Gadwell ducks, and a Willow Warbler* (or I think it was!). Otherwise, a red squirrel - used to humans - was teasing me running closer than I could focus at. Even saw meadow pipits today.

*If I got a good enough photo of the willow warbler I’ll post up later to see if anyone can confirm (or not) ID.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Good stuff. Most likely sand martins than swifts - lots around and they love feeding low over water. It’s what they do. 

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Today's photos. Could it be a Willow Warbler?

Red squirrel after it ran very close past me; it was heading up the tree to get to a bird feeder. Didn't manage to get any seeds though so quickly moved on to it's own feeder that the RSPB provide food in for the squirrels.


In reply to Climbing Pieman:

100% willow warbler.  Chiffchaffs have black, or at least very dark legs. The first photo is really good. 

Edit: I managed a few good views of Cetti’s warbler over the past few weeks. Easy to hear, frustratingly hard to watch. 

Post edited at 21:55
In reply to Bottom Clinger:

Many thanks for that. It was singing well so hopefully I’ll remember it’s song. I’ve still to try and learn more birds by their song. That’s the next stage once I get better at identifying birds by sight.

 Michael Hood 15 Apr 2022
In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Song is definitely an easier way to separate Willow Warbler (descending trill) from Chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff-chiff-chaff. (it's the only warblers I can audibly identify, no actually I'm now ok with Cetti's having had it pointed out the other day but I've yet to actually see one)

Swift's have been reported already in the UK this spring but only very sparsely so far. Several similar birds together are much more likely to be Sand Martins (as BC said above).

Bird song - you either need to listen to loads of recordings or be wandering around with someone who already knows them. Learning by locating the singing bird visually is a very long, frustrating and inefficient way of learning.

Post edited at 07:44

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