Wildlife in the garden - Spring and what is this bird?

SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
Nothing beats the sound of a Vixen;)

The odd Swallow has now been joined by the rest of the gang and there is much tearing about. The Curlwe have walkabout. Up on the moor the Wheatears have arrived in number and have expanded the range they nest in. That was a pleasent half hour while I worked out how many nests we have. The nest are in tufts of reeds which is a change as they normally nest in a half mile length of stone wall a couple of hundred yards to the east. Nearby is a large area of Gorse which is Stonechat City, beyond that the Winchats and Redstarts nest. I've heard the Stone Chats but have yet to get more than fleeting glance. First Cuckoo heard on Sunday while out watching the rallying on the range. The Cuckoo was beaten for top sound of the day by the bright yellow Mk1 Escort with a very serious engine and suspension. Flew beautifully!

Thank God winter is nearly done.
 
Rob Pulham

Rob Pulham

Western Thunderer
The hogs awoke early here in North Yorkshire, we have been having visitors since mid March. Chris has gathered quite a few videos but I haven't got around to posting them yet.

Sadly our pair of Little Owls seem to have moved on since the hedges were cut in early February but the Barn Owls are still in residence.
 
Stephen

Stephen

Western Thunderer
Whilst I don’t know a lot about the birds that frequent my garden (Robin, magpie, crows and a load of parakeets) the usual visitors who gain my attention are the family of foxes and also a few badgers…..

Tonight was no different with this one setting off the motion detector:
IMG_2441.jpeg

Every so often, a sort of urban vermin version of Westside Story erupts, and the badgers and foxes chase, scream, yelp at each other for about ten minutes before getting board and head off in different directions….

The previous owners installed a ‘badger wall’ which stops then burrowing in the direction of the house, and so far there is only one ‘entrance’ to a set that has emerged at the end of the garden.

I do have plans for an Fn3 garden railway at somepoint, so ensuring it is resistant to potential badger and fox ‘pathways’ will have to be considered.

Cheers,

Stephen
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
Those of you interested in feathers might find this link useful to loose a few minutes in.
https://bto-enews.org/NXK-8A7Q5-8SAKYP-551I6F-1/c.aspx
It is a new web site that uses the data from the last Bird Atlas and current Birdtrack data to show how birds are doing in your post code area. Some have gone, some declined and some are increasing in number. I am trying to add data to Birdtrack whenever I see birds during a walk with the dogs. As Birdtrack is a phone app I can do it when I see the birds.

Simon
 
steve50

steve50

Western Thunderer
SimonT said:
Those of you interested in feathers might find this link useful to loose a few minutes in.
https://bto-enews.org/NXK-8A7Q5-8SAKYP-551I6F-1/c.aspx
It is a new web site that uses the data from the last Bird Atlas and current Birdtrack data to show how birds are doing in your post code area. Some have gone, some declined and some are increasing in number. I am trying to add data to Birdtrack whenever I see birds during a walk with the dogs. As Birdtrack is a phone app I can do it when I see the birds.

Simon
Click to expand...
Interesting site Simon. A bit sad to see the declining and gone lists, a few birds on there I take for granted seeing.
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
Steve,
I agree but I get some hope from the fact that any data is out of date as soon as you publish (just like any electronic device). Here in the Beacons some birds are listed as gone in the 10km square we are in, Siskin and Wood Cock for example. I've seen two woodcock in the last few years which is quite good as they are only active around sunrise/sunset. My sunflower bird feeder is covered in siskins and goldfinches and I think I have four of their nests in the overgrown lylandii hedge we inherited. Plans to drop the hedge are now on hold.

Simon
 
Peter Insole

Peter Insole

Western Thunderer
Hmm! I don't think it is so much a case of the information on that website being out of date, but more of it being rather generic.

There are several species mentioned that have never, nor were ever likely to frequent our particular postcode, while I could think of too many species that we have definitely lost, and they don't even get a mention!

Anything that generates interest in the subject must be a jolly good thing, and is to be applauded, it is just a shame that the site is not particularly effective at presenting the full, and let's face it, rather abysmal picture.

Pete.
 
Max M

Max M

Western Thunderer
Had a look at the site but I do wonder on what basis they base their observations.
Where I live (Wetheral) has the river Eden flowing through it and what they report does not tie in with some of my observations over the 37 years I've lived here.
e.g. Whilst the like of Shellduck, Cormorant and Redshank may occasionally pass through I've never seen any evidence that they are resident. We are also a little beyond the Green Woodpeckers natural range so wouldn't expect them to show here
I've also noticed a significant decline rather than the increase reported on the site of Sand Martin (floods took out the sandbanks where they nested when the Eden flooded), Swifts and Greenfinch.

I appreciate that I can't be everywhere and won't see everything that is around but IMO some of the data is questionable or at the very least out f date?.
 
SimonT

SimonT

Western Thunderer
To give a perspective to this, the data comes from the last UK Bird Atlas which was published in, I think, 2011. It is a huge detailed tome that is based on scientific methods that have been proved during the time the BTO has been running. (The BTO is the oldest citizen science organisation in the world.) The data is used by the EU and supposedly the UK Government to form part of wildlife planning. Most of the survey is based on 1km grid squares that form together into 10km squares for a coarser mesh. I think part of the problem is that post codes have no connection to this grid system at all.

Two observations. First the web site is intended to be illustrative and to encourage interest and even participation. Secondly the database the web site links to is added to constantly by observations such a Garden Bird Watch and the Birdtrack app. Thirdly (Our chief weapons are....etc), birds, like most fauna on this planet, move all the time. Observation graphs have constant peaks and troughs that move backwards and forwards across the timeline as things like adverse winds, food availablity and cold wet weather change the behaviour of birds.

The wildlife organisations all work together. My weekly snap shot of the garden can include data or mamals, butterflies, dragon flies, bees and of course birds. Even in patch of our land (8 acres) I don't always see the residents such as the raven or the robins. On the bigger area of the moor there is even more variation in sightings. It's the long term data that is importent such as the Constant Effort birdringing projects who ring a fixed site at the same time on the same day every week to build up the picture. The bigger picture is available to BTO members. I'm glad the link raised your interest.

Simon
 
Eastsidepilot

Eastsidepilot

Western Thunderer
We seem to have acquired a pair of Partridges, daily visitors for the last couple of weeks, they may have nested somewhere through the bordering hedges in the field behind or to the side of our plot. This shot was taken a couple of days ago and now we only see one or the other so we think she could be sitting on a clutch of eggs.

DSC03259.JPG

DSC03261.JPG

And today the young Starlings with the parent birds called in to have a communal bath.

DSC03283.JPG
Col.
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
I’ve not yet tried it but there’s a phone app called “Merlin” which is intended to help bird identification

I’ll report back if I try it out
 
Max M

Max M

Western Thunderer
When does a collection of Starlings become a Murmeration? We counted 15 on our ground feeder this morning.
 
Dog Star

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
No photos because of the light levels... we seem to have regular Hedgehogs visiting between 10/30 and 10/45 each evening. The first to arrive is generally an adult and a baby a while later, no manners these young hogs, snuffle,snuffle and just push to the front. There are other visitors at around 03.00, sometimes two together.
 
Richard Gawler

Richard Gawler

Western Thunderer
I had a magpie in the garden yesterday, taking a snack from the cat's feeding bowl. Sainsbury's beef in jelly if this is important, but the cat really doesn't have a clue.
 
oldravendale

oldravendale

Western Thunderer
We have goldfinches in numbers, inevitable wood pigeons, collared doves, two varieties of woodpecker, a few sparrows, blue tits, great tits, black birds, thrushes, magpies, the resident jackdaws and dunnocks and BLOODY DUCKS! Mallards on our smallish wild life pond. Trouble is that they eat the tadpoles and dragonfly larvae and anything else they can sift out of the water apart from digging the plants up and fouling the water. I explained to the pond man that I'm out every morning in my dressing gown shouting at the buggers and waving a tea towel to shoo them off and he said, probably with more than a degree of justification "Well, you'd not want your neighbours to think you were normal, would you?"

At that point I think my case rests...

Brian
 
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