Wildlife in the garden - Indian summer?
- Thread starter Dog Star
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Focalplane
Western Thunderer
The Brac is where the wildlife is! No good for honeymoons at all, when we were there the sea was too rough to bring in food and supplies! But I would recommend it as long as you are not looking for desert island beaches; because there aren’t any! The diving, however is usually pretty good, so I am told.
Big Train James
Western Thunderer
Paul,
I was at least 30' or 40' from the jays, shooting with a lot of zoom. I must not have offended them, since they kept coming back for more peanuts. At one point there were six of them in the bushes, jockeying for food, and supremacy no doubt. One of them as big as a crow, probably the largest jay I have seen.
I'm happy with the photos, especially in light of the relatively light spec on my camera. It's a superzoom mirrorless Sony from several years ago. It does quite nicely when the subject isn't moving, yielding nice crisp photos which maintain their quality even when enlarged significantly. Wonderful for reference photography of trains, to support modeling. However, it doesn't do so well with moving objects, the auto focus is fairly slow, and I have come to believe that the auto settings that I usually shoot with switch to higher ISO's when shooting action. It may not be ISO, I'm not any sort of expert, but something is definitely different. I find the picture quality is never as good as with the still subjects, degrading very quickly when enlarging images.
I doubt I would ever get a truly high quality photo of a bird in flight with this camera. Passable, sure, unless you look too closely. But it has worked well for what I use it for, so I'm quite happy with it. The only feature I would like to have, and this camera is just a bit too old for it, is some sort of wifi or bluetooth shutter. I'd like to be able to mount the camera on a pole so I can shoot freight car roofs without the risk of falling 17', or going to jail for trespassing or worse. I suspect I will bite the bullet on something newer in the near future though.
I was at least 30' or 40' from the jays, shooting with a lot of zoom. I must not have offended them, since they kept coming back for more peanuts. At one point there were six of them in the bushes, jockeying for food, and supremacy no doubt. One of them as big as a crow, probably the largest jay I have seen.
I'm happy with the photos, especially in light of the relatively light spec on my camera. It's a superzoom mirrorless Sony from several years ago. It does quite nicely when the subject isn't moving, yielding nice crisp photos which maintain their quality even when enlarged significantly. Wonderful for reference photography of trains, to support modeling. However, it doesn't do so well with moving objects, the auto focus is fairly slow, and I have come to believe that the auto settings that I usually shoot with switch to higher ISO's when shooting action. It may not be ISO, I'm not any sort of expert, but something is definitely different. I find the picture quality is never as good as with the still subjects, degrading very quickly when enlarging images.
I doubt I would ever get a truly high quality photo of a bird in flight with this camera. Passable, sure, unless you look too closely. But it has worked well for what I use it for, so I'm quite happy with it. The only feature I would like to have, and this camera is just a bit too old for it, is some sort of wifi or bluetooth shutter. I'd like to be able to mount the camera on a pole so I can shoot freight car roofs without the risk of falling 17', or going to jail for trespassing or worse. I suspect I will bite the bullet on something newer in the near future though.
Peter Insole
Western Thunderer
If I might return to the subject of back gardens, and starlings in particular, a mildly and hopefully amusing tale I could tell:
From my own experience, I am aware of a generally anthropomorphic attitude toward wildlife. I fancy that dear old Johnny Morris and his "Animal Magic" television programme may be partly to blame for that ?! Any naturalist worth their salt would rightly frown on such notions, but there we are.
Having nailed my colours to that mast, I will now proceed with a contradiction:
Starlings could be described as "dwellers of the fast-lane", highly active creatures that while extremely gregarious are also notably quarrelsome, none more so than when pubescent ! The noise nuisance is guaranteed when a whole bunch of juveniles gather to feed in a small garden. Amongst the rowdy crowd there always appears to be one louder and more stroppy than the rest. Such was the the case one morning:
Our only view of the tiny rear lawn and the bird feeders is from a window in the "utility", and as I washed my hands in the sink I was able to observe that a particularly large Wood pigeon, a regular visitor, that was quietly waddling around grazing in a typically predictable manner. The peaceful scene was then disrupted by the arrival of the brown feathered, delinquent gang. It immediately became clear that yet again, one of the "Starlets" was behaving very badly indeed; squawking, chasing and savagely pecking at every one of it's siblings in a shameless display of vicious bullying! Now, when completely different species meet, and provided there is no competition or threat to either, they will normally ignore each other. Not so this time, and in such a surprising manner too! The pigeon quite lost his temper. Each time the brat launched an attack, the big grey bird turned, puffed itself up, singled out and then rushed toward the offender in the melee. There was a brief lull and return to general chatter in between, but the truce didn't last long. On the third incident, the little so-and-so seemed to get cocky and called the master's bluff. The pigeon rushed up again, but this time raised it's head high, and with a closed beak, brought down a terrific blow on the starling's bonce! I heard the impact indoors. The little blighter was laid out, momentarily stunned, but then managed to flutter up on to the fence and sulk, obviously very sore indeed. It thereafter caused no more trouble!
Order at the dining table was thus restored.
You might all think this story is perhaps a little far fetched, unlikely, or a complete figment, but believe me; none was more surprised than I to witness it, and I have taken very great care in the telling of it!
Perhaps all the little blighters in the wild have a bit more sensitivity than we usually credit them with ?
Pete.
From my own experience, I am aware of a generally anthropomorphic attitude toward wildlife. I fancy that dear old Johnny Morris and his "Animal Magic" television programme may be partly to blame for that ?! Any naturalist worth their salt would rightly frown on such notions, but there we are.
Having nailed my colours to that mast, I will now proceed with a contradiction:
Starlings could be described as "dwellers of the fast-lane", highly active creatures that while extremely gregarious are also notably quarrelsome, none more so than when pubescent ! The noise nuisance is guaranteed when a whole bunch of juveniles gather to feed in a small garden. Amongst the rowdy crowd there always appears to be one louder and more stroppy than the rest. Such was the the case one morning:
Our only view of the tiny rear lawn and the bird feeders is from a window in the "utility", and as I washed my hands in the sink I was able to observe that a particularly large Wood pigeon, a regular visitor, that was quietly waddling around grazing in a typically predictable manner. The peaceful scene was then disrupted by the arrival of the brown feathered, delinquent gang. It immediately became clear that yet again, one of the "Starlets" was behaving very badly indeed; squawking, chasing and savagely pecking at every one of it's siblings in a shameless display of vicious bullying! Now, when completely different species meet, and provided there is no competition or threat to either, they will normally ignore each other. Not so this time, and in such a surprising manner too! The pigeon quite lost his temper. Each time the brat launched an attack, the big grey bird turned, puffed itself up, singled out and then rushed toward the offender in the melee. There was a brief lull and return to general chatter in between, but the truce didn't last long. On the third incident, the little so-and-so seemed to get cocky and called the master's bluff. The pigeon rushed up again, but this time raised it's head high, and with a closed beak, brought down a terrific blow on the starling's bonce! I heard the impact indoors. The little blighter was laid out, momentarily stunned, but then managed to flutter up on to the fence and sulk, obviously very sore indeed. It thereafter caused no more trouble!
Order at the dining table was thus restored.
You might all think this story is perhaps a little far fetched, unlikely, or a complete figment, but believe me; none was more surprised than I to witness it, and I have taken very great care in the telling of it!
Perhaps all the little blighters in the wild have a bit more sensitivity than we usually credit them with ?
Pete.
Osgood
Western Thunderer
That's lovely Pete.
Reminds me of a letter sent in to the Eastern Daily Press many decades ago, in response to one of the late Ted Ellis's regular nature columns in which he commented on the apparent scarcity that year of pairs of mating herons.
The letter came from a dragline operator who was engaged on dyke drainage on the Acle marshes - he advised that a pair had been with him constantly over the previous 3 weeks.
Each time he swung the jib over the bank and threw out the contents of the bucket, they would wander over the freshly deposited mud picking out the eels, and some 45 seconds later moving just far enough out of the way to avoid the next bucket load.
He described an incident where one heron had walked over to grab a particularly large eel, but just as he stooped with open beak a crow swept in and grabbed the eel from right underneath him.
The crow struggled to take off with its catch and landed in the grass some yards away.
The heron, with no sense of urgency, stalked over, nutted the crow on its head with its beak, took the eel and staked back.
The driver noted that several minutes passed before the crow staggered to its feet and flew shakily away.......
Reminds me of a letter sent in to the Eastern Daily Press many decades ago, in response to one of the late Ted Ellis's regular nature columns in which he commented on the apparent scarcity that year of pairs of mating herons.
The letter came from a dragline operator who was engaged on dyke drainage on the Acle marshes - he advised that a pair had been with him constantly over the previous 3 weeks.
Each time he swung the jib over the bank and threw out the contents of the bucket, they would wander over the freshly deposited mud picking out the eels, and some 45 seconds later moving just far enough out of the way to avoid the next bucket load.
He described an incident where one heron had walked over to grab a particularly large eel, but just as he stooped with open beak a crow swept in and grabbed the eel from right underneath him.
The crow struggled to take off with its catch and landed in the grass some yards away.
The heron, with no sense of urgency, stalked over, nutted the crow on its head with its beak, took the eel and staked back.
The driver noted that several minutes passed before the crow staggered to its feet and flew shakily away.......
Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
We have similar minor but amusing dramas here regularly, albeit it within the same species. You may recall my posting photos of a large blue backed pheasant on the Wensleydale Railway thread?
We call him "Blue" (no imagination...) and he has a harem of between 3 and 7 ladies - he had 7 early in the year but we have only seen 3 recently.
Blue is very attentive and very polite. He walks them across to our bird feeders most days, and then sits patiently while they feed before he finally has his fill.
He also has a rival for their affections, who shows up several times each week. He looks similar to Blue but he's smaller, has a shorter tail and tiny ear tufts. He knows that he is an interloper and is constantly hiding from Blue who chases him off if he see's him. He stalks along the embankment keeping behind vegetation, with his head down only raising it occasionally to see if Blue is on to him.
If he happens to find one of the ladies on their own, they very quickly fly back to the protection of Blue.
Watching their antics has been a fascinating insight into the lives of pheasants.
We call him "Blue" (no imagination...) and he has a harem of between 3 and 7 ladies - he had 7 early in the year but we have only seen 3 recently.
Blue is very attentive and very polite. He walks them across to our bird feeders most days, and then sits patiently while they feed before he finally has his fill.
He also has a rival for their affections, who shows up several times each week. He looks similar to Blue but he's smaller, has a shorter tail and tiny ear tufts. He knows that he is an interloper and is constantly hiding from Blue who chases him off if he see's him. He stalks along the embankment keeping behind vegetation, with his head down only raising it occasionally to see if Blue is on to him.
If he happens to find one of the ladies on their own, they very quickly fly back to the protection of Blue.
Watching their antics has been a fascinating insight into the lives of pheasants.
Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
The level of pheasant drama went up a notch while we were eating dinner. Blue had just returned to the field after escorting two of his ladies for their evening meal when the usurper and a second male made a determined effort to grab one of the ladies. While Blue was seeing one of them off the second was busy chasing the lady who was having none of it.
We were most surprised when one of the free range chickens that share the field stepped in and chased off the male pheasant. He didn't go far but Blue quickly returned and sent packing.
We were most surprised when one of the free range chickens that share the field stepped in and chased off the male pheasant. He didn't go far but Blue quickly returned and sent packing.
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Two blackbirds tonight...
Mother and son it appears - as he's a tad scruffy and retains some juvenile plumage around the eyes and towards the tips of the wing feathers.
...and some Yorksher sheep int field below
.
Mother and son it appears - as he's a tad scruffy and retains some juvenile plumage around the eyes and towards the tips of the wing feathers.
...and some Yorksher sheep int field below
.
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Alas no...
....it was a Malfy Gin from Italy - Con Limone. Con Arancia (with blood and orange oranges) was nicer.
Saluti!
....it was a Malfy Gin from Italy - Con Limone. Con Arancia (with blood and orange oranges) was nicer.
Saluti!
Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
There was recent discussion of birds hitting windows, thankfully so far this year we haven't had any suicides but we had this on the living room window. Our best guess is a pigeon because they are quite dusty when they bump into anything and sometimes when they give their feathers a good shake they emit a cloud of dust for a few moments.
Attachments
oldravendale
Western Thunderer
Bloody pigeons. I wish a few more would commit suicide by flying in to our windows. We get the "dust angels" quite often but sadly no dead pigeons so far. (These biased comments apply to wood and feral pigeons only. Doves of any sort are expressly excluded.
Brian
Brian
Steph Dale
Western Thunderer
Rob,
I had one fly in to my kitchen window a few weeks ago (I'm about 30 feet up, I should add). I was amazed that both it's head and tail feathers left perfect marks.
Judging by the feathers our neighbourhood fox had a good meal that day.
Steph
I had one fly in to my kitchen window a few weeks ago (I'm about 30 feet up, I should add). I was amazed that both it's head and tail feathers left perfect marks.
Judging by the feathers our neighbourhood fox had a good meal that day.
Steph
Arun Sharma
Western Thunderer
I was rather taken by the Frigate Bird - It has the same obvious charisma as the Falkland Islands' Striated Caracara (Phalcoboenus australis).
Similar charisma is found in this chap [or chapess perhaps] sitting oiling its wings by Kingston Bridge a couple of years ago.
Similar charisma is found in this chap [or chapess perhaps] sitting oiling its wings by Kingston Bridge a couple of years ago.
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Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
We've had a few, not just the Pigeons but smaller birds also, all have survived including a Greenfinch which must of knocked itself out as I picked it up to find it was still breathing, so I left it on the roofed bird table, took about 4 -5 mins to recover and flew off.
I do remember a Wood Pigeon committing suicide on my truck windscreen at about 60mph ( yes it was the days before speed limiters ) which made me jump, thought it was a lump of concrete !
Col.
3 LINK
Western Thunderer
I remember I was driving the fire engine to a shout in Arundel late one night, and not hanging about down the duel carriageway of the A27 there was a thud against the windscreen. On arriving at the incident, and parked under a lamp post you could make out the perfect outline of a small bat, RIP…..
Martyn.
Martyn.
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Years (eons) ago I had a BMW 325i and accelerated hard out of a bend in the road when driving to Tring & District Model Railway Club (in the Cheddington days). I noticed a pigeon in the road and thought it had flown out if the way. Alas not. On arrival at the clubroom I had smashed radiator grille with the dead pigeon inside. I recall one or two club members passed quips about Dick Dastardly and Muttley.
simond
Western Thunderer
I had a Lancia Fulvia, lovely car, which had a rather fetching air intake on top of the bonnet.
Unfortunately, it was the air intake for the cabin ventilation, whose aroma was not aided by the addition of a small bird which had executed a perfect carrier-deck landing before being engulfed by said intake.
I managed to extract most of it, but some of it…. It ponged for several weeks…
Unfortunately, it was the air intake for the cabin ventilation, whose aroma was not aided by the addition of a small bird which had executed a perfect carrier-deck landing before being engulfed by said intake.
I managed to extract most of it, but some of it…. It ponged for several weeks…
Max M
Western Thunderer
Our local friendly Sparrowhawk has taken a couple of wood pigeons recently.Bloody pigeons. I wish a few more would commit suicide by flying in to our windows. We get the "dust angels" quite often but sadly no dead pigeons so far. (These biased comments apply to wood and feral pigeons only. Doves of any sort are expressly excluded.
Brian