Birds ... the feathery ones!!

[The Old Man of Storr]

We've got dense shrubbery round the back of our house and it's where the dawn chorus begins - our boy's bedroom is right next to them and he has to wear ear plugs as the little buggers start at 4.30 am - 5 am - anyway I just so happened to be downstairs at 5 am the other morning , I could hear the blackbird's melodious tone [ he's the loudest ] so I grated some cheese and stuck it outside the kitchen window for him - the singing all stopped . I'm not going down there every day but at least I found a solution .

[rigoberts song]

Morning all ,my next Exmoor bird walk is in Horner woods sun 7th May where we will hopefully see
Redstart ,pied flycatcher ,blackcap ,whitethroat ,chiffchaff
Willow warbler , stonechat ,whinchat Wheatear and others
Chance of lesser spotted woodpecker too..
All the walks which run through until xmas are on the Exmoor national park website.
If any of you are down here for the Bank Holiday would be lovely to see you .RS.

[pablo jaye]

Bit worried, no sign of the Robin this morning eggs unattended

May have been out for food - any return since then?

For anyone wondering what type of birds are in your garden, there is a decent app called BirdNET that Ive been using a lot. You just point the phone towards the birdsong and record it - the app analyses the sound and lets you know what it is - along with a degree of probablilty (particularly if the song isn’t near, or there are a few different ones).

Also, I was at Chichester harbour over the weekend - fantastic birdwatching place and great to wake up to a different dawn chorus - greenshanks, godwits and small egrets rather than blackbirds, thrushes, and finches.

[rigoberts song]

Had a nice walk around Exford this afternoon and amongst the usual willow warbler and chiffchaff I saw my first redstart of the season beautiful looking bird

[The Old Man of Storr]

Saw 2 ospreys and a golden eagle while walking up the River Lossie yesterday .

While walking for 3 miles through Culbin Forest this morning I saw a single water bird , could have been a moorhen - too far away to tell - sod all else .

I did feed an adolescent gull outside our caravan this afternoon - a digestive biscuit . Seemed happy enough with it .

[The Old Man of Storr]

As some of you may have read on the Things That Make You Smile thread I am being held hostage by a blackbird who demands I feed him four times a day -

Yesterday was another sunny day but we had to work next door putting the finishing touches to our self-catering unit - it's so hot just now we leave the front door of our house open and we're in and out of both properties fetching something or other - we'd take the occasional break for tea [ light dusting can be harder than you think ] and while outside Jen spotted the blackbird peering in through our front door thinking there's someone there as the TV played Radio 4 .

At 2 pm everything's finished and it's so nice we decide to take Dan swimming at the Kinloch river [ there's a nice pool further up ] - at 4 pm we arrive back - I go and sit down switch the TV open my laptop - Jen says ' There's something strange here on the floor by the kitchen ' - ' Probably honey , Dan was making himself some pancakes earlier on ' - ' No , I've just touched it , it's bird sh*t ' - ' Must have come in on one of our shoes '.....' No , it's fresh '....hmmmmm .

Today I'm tidying up my books in the spare room .....I hear Jen's voice ....' Can you come and help me ? ' .

The blackbird was bobbing about in the lounge , the little git ...I walk round it and it flies out the front door .

At least we found out how the bird sh*t got there .

Off I go to feed it for the second time today .....a mixture of bread , ground almonds and Alpen ....he brings one of his children to the table , it's thrush-like in appearance , light brown with lovely markings on its breast , looks bigger and healthier than its Dad but still insists on being fed ...kids , eh ?

[rigoberts song]

Last bird walk of the spring /summer looking at pied flycatcher Blackcap Chiffchaff Swift Greater spotted woodpecker redstarts on Thursday next week all details on Exmoor national park website.
If anyones down here on hols come and say hello.

[Tenbury]

My resident male blackbird (who sports white eyebrows like Denis Healey) kicked off this morning @4.17 am.

[The Old Man of Storr]

My resident male blackbird (who sports white eyebrows like Denis Healey) kicked off this morning @4.17 am.

Better than a bunch of linked up alarms I can tell you . [ see what makes you smile thread ]

They make a joyous sound though 4.17 am is a tad early . Dan had to wear earplugs .

Around 5-6 years ago we had a male blackbird with distinct white markings down one of its wings - he became our adopted blackbird that year - this year's has a tiny bit of white to its wing but not as much as the one previously - I'm hoping the whiteness turned black as sometime in the second or third year it disappeared - I've read that blackbirds only live around 3 years so it could have been that but I don't see why they can't live longer with a good supply of food [ which they get here ] and lack of predators - I did spot a peregrine falcon in our garden last year but not seen him in ages so hopefully he's moved on to pastures new - I have seen sparrow hawks here but again not in a while - we do have a Pine Marten living close by [ he was living in one of our Keter Boxes down the garden at one time ] but again not seen him or his poo in a while , hopefully he too has migrated off somewhere else . I love our blackbirds - well , I love them all but I'm particularly fond of this cheeky chappie .

[The Old Man of Storr]

Ok , I wasn't with her but I have no reason to disbelieve her , she's not that type of person -

This morning after going to the local Post Office in our Hub Jen spotted what she thought were 2 eagles , one further away than the other but when she stopped the car and got her bins out they were actually a Golden Eagle and a Sea Eagle , the smaller Golden Eagle appeared to be head-butting the much larger Sea Eagle in the abdomen region !!

I've seen crows chasing away buzzards plenty of times but not in our 35/36 years here on Skye have I seen 2 eagles fighting .

[vietnammer]

On a mission now (ordered by missus, she's away) to get bell-collars for our three cats due to the three poor little Blue Tits that have ben brought in and dismembered, after some viscious live-play. They've had them before, but tend to lose them. Nature red in tooth and claw, alas.

[The Old Man of Storr]

The three blackbird fledglings have started coming to the kitchen window by themselves now bypassing poor old Dad .

Today I made them all a mixture of oats , bananas finely chopped , mixed frozen berries [ defrosted ] and a hummus sandwich with an egg broken in to the mix - they must think they're at The Ritz . They've already finished a whole box of Alpen and it had only been 5 days .

Please send food parcels to Old Man Of Storr , Skye .

[EvilC]

Something is deeply wrong here. Your blackbirds get Alpen, I buy own brand muesli from ****ing Lidl.

[jevs]

Something is deeply wrong here. Your blackbirds get Alpen, I buy own brand muesli from ****ing Lidl.

Peasant!!!

[The Old Man of Storr]

Something is deeply wrong here. Your blackbirds get Alpen, I buy own brand muesli from ****ing Lidl.

It was a full packet left by some of our visitors - I find Alpen far too healthy for my liking , I much prefer Tesco Thick White Bread toasted with loads of butter , jam or marmalade depending on my mood - today was jam .

I'm actually running out of ideas - I'm out of Alpen , I'm nearly out of Scott's Porridge oats [ they finished the cheap stuff ] - I'm giving them my frozen blueberries instead of eating them myself and they've finished all my hummus and my dried sultanas !!

I'm desperate , Dan........I mean , Evil .

Unashamedly borrowed from Boys From The Black Stuff .

[Wiltshire Ham err...]

I like West Ham and Birds (and other wildlife, biodiversity, habitats, etc.), (oh and guitars...) and it's always nice to find like-minded folks who also like both.
Growing up several decades ago though for blokes in general it was all 'football, cars, women, grr., etc.' and while these days you can be, do, like anything and you have the right to do so, do we still find West Ham situations (or is it certain character types) where you would keep quiet about your other interest?
I'm not that bothered what people think of me these days, but would probably keep my binoculars under my coat in some situations, but where I work (a financial organisation, office based) I have tried to engage people about biodiversity (and this is a place with lots of media about LGBTQ+, social background, gender, etc. equality) by writing a blog, doing work for wildlife in our grounds, nest-boxes, wildflower meadow, etc. but get a really low response from the thousands of people who work there.

Just came across this thread and thought I'd get your opinions.

[Mayday]

Parakeets. Should be exterminated.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

Parakeets. Should be exterminated.

We have squadrons of the things round here, we call them posh pigeons. Noisy doesn't come close, and their agressive nature when it comes to native birds is having a negative effect. In particular they compete with green woodpeckers for hole-in-tree nesting sites, and they'll empty a bird feeder in 2.8 seconds. They need controlling, that's for sure.

We're an easy going bunch on here, whatever floats you boat. Start a thread on just about anything and you'll find like minded souls.

[Wiltshire Ham err...]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose-ringed_parakeet

"As a popular pet species, escaped birds have colonised a number of cities around the world, including populations in Northern and Western Europe."
"The analyses show that the risk of parakeet establishment may rise further as a result of decreasing frost days due to global warming, rising urbanization, and rising human populations."

So basically it's our fault, so we probably need to try and fix it (and global warming, polution, biodiversity loss, etc...)

[Mayday]

We have squadrons of the things round here, we call them posh pigeons. Noisy doesn't come close, and their agressive nature when it comes to native birds is having a negative effect. In particular they compete with green woodpeckers for hole-in-tree nesting sites, and they'll empty a bird feeder in 2.8 seconds. They need controlling, that's for sure.

We're an easy going bunch on here, whatever floats you boat. Start a thread on just about anything and you'll find like minded souls.

They are absolute aggressive bullying bustards.
Not only do they domineer other native species of bird they strip some trees bare of fruit/nuts thereby reducing food stuff for birds and woodland tree propagation.
The noise is intolerable too and completely alien and unnatural to the UK.

PS: It makes me smile that Bustard isn't swear filtered on here. Particularly appropriate for a bird thread.