― g@bbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 15:53 (7 years ago) Permalink
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 15:54 (7 years ago) Permalink
― M@TT PUFFIN, Wednesday, 24 August 2005 19:00 (7 years ago) Permalink
― youn, Friday, 26 August 2005 01:10 (7 years ago) Permalink
― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Friday, 26 August 2005 01:15 (7 years ago) Permalink
― roxymuzak, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 22:02 (5 years ago) Permalink
― Laurel, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 22:06 (5 years ago) Permalink
even Jonathan Franzen thinks so
self-lol
― gabbneb, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 22:13 (5 years ago) Permalink
is youn still searching for the ivory-billed woodpecker?
― gabbneb, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 22:14 (5 years ago) Permalink
Wow guyz there was a wren just sitting on the bin outside the window. I don't remember the last time I saw one of those.
― Noodle Vague, Monday, 31 March 2008 16:12 (5 years ago) Permalink
Reed Bunting in my folks garden the other day.
Handsome chap.
― Jarlrmai, Monday, 31 March 2008 16:14 (5 years ago) Permalink
bloody bird image hotlinking prevention
― Jarlrmai, Monday, 31 March 2008 16:15 (5 years ago) Permalink
thanks RSPB.
We have a big climbing jasmine that is breaking down its puny trellis -- I was going to trim the vines and shore it up with a new trellis, but a robin started a nest in it last Saturday and now I don't want to disturb it. The nest is only 5' off the ground, so I'll be able to get pics of the nest and eggs and babies as spring and summer progress.
― Rock Hardy, Monday, 31 March 2008 17:47 (5 years ago) Permalink
like 15 minutes ago i was in a garage lights dimmed listening to music chilling and then there is a significant buzz next to my left shoulider ! i check and get the fear for a sec thinking it's a giant water bug about to bite me but it was an exhausted hummingbird , that managed to cling on some box and sort of passed out. a piece of string twirled around its beak, i could pull on it to free it and it wouldn't wake up n.e.way turns out it was pecking on a chunk of sticky stuff around one of it's foot, was obsessed by it. i wrapped it up in a piece of clothe and cleaned it with a tweezer. put it outside it managed to take off but took off straight up all confused feeling caught up under the roof of a porch. idk it landed , i took it up and put it in great wide open space and it took off in a similar way, sort of straight up til i lost sight of it. now i wonder if i should have done things differently to optimize it's chances of survival. not that it matters much, they are not close to being extinct i guess, but I'm under the impression there is a possibility it got high enough, got exhausted again and sort of fell to a critical injury and end up dying. hm. good luck little dude , u got me involved!
― Sébastien, Sunday, 20 July 2008 03:10 (4 years ago) Permalink
a surprise cute little memento mori, that i could have done without, but it's sort of always like that , with that sot of thing yeh
― Sébastien, Sunday, 20 July 2008 03:17 (4 years ago) Permalink
I was happy to see the hummingbirds come around this year anyway even though I didn't put out feeders for them.
― Rock Hardy, Sunday, 20 July 2008 03:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
hey look at those birds
― gabbneb, Sunday, 20 July 2008 03:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
yo YOC representin', i ain't forgotten u guys
― Just got offed, Sunday, 20 July 2008 10:12 (4 years ago) Permalink
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/central.park.birds.2.887058.html
― very very serious (gabbneb), Monday, 15 December 2008 03:29 (4 years ago) Permalink
Did you just say he contacts you through a fucking bird?
What particular species... of bird?
― very very serious (gabbneb), Monday, 15 December 2008 03:31 (4 years ago) Permalink
― f f murray abraham (G00blar), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:40 (4 years ago) Permalink
― f f murray abraham (G00blar), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:41 (4 years ago) Permalink
picturesofbirdsstealingicecream.com
― f f murray abraham (G00blar), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:42 (4 years ago) Permalink
loooooooooooooooooooooooooool
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:42 (4 years ago) Permalink
i fucking love gulls
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:43 (4 years ago) Permalink
That's kind of horrifying for me. I'm sort of scared of birds. :-(
― Too Into Dancing to Argue (ENBB), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
Herring Gulls are just so garrulously kickass and obnoxious in a sort of totally awesome way
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:48 (4 years ago) Permalink
They all scare me.
Best gull story ever is that one time when they were little my friends Kevin and Jef where swimming in the ocean and Jef picked his nose and smeared it on Kevin and then ate the rest. Kevin was so grossed out that he puked right then and there in the ocean immediately after which a seagull flew down and ate the puke. True story.
Lesson? Gulls eat vomit and are therefore gross. My friends are gross too but also v v awesome.
― Too Into Dancing to Argue (ENBB), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:55 (4 years ago) Permalink
All seabirds (and indeed most birds) eat vomit. When adults feed their young, they do so at first largely through regurgitation.
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:59 (4 years ago) Permalink
What a delightful conversation!
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:00 (4 years ago) Permalink
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2421246/Vicar-has-to-wear-hard-hat-to-church-after-seagull-attack.html
― SB ya later, alligator (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Savage-Seagull-Attack-Leaves-Woman-Bloodied-And-Shaken-In-Somerset/Article/200807215030277?lpos=UK_News_Article_Related_Content_Region_13&lid=ARTICLE_15030277_Savage_Seagull_Attack_Leaves_Woman_Bloodied_And_Shaken_In_Somerset
Please check out the caption on that article's picture. I think we should invite the guy who wrote it.
― SB ya later, alligator (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
Scary! But yes, great caption.
― Too Into Dancing to Argue (ENBB), Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:27 (4 years ago) Permalink
The url reminds me of the Zoolander speech - no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied along the way, just so long so you can make a name for yourself as an investigatory journalist, no matter how many friends you lose or people you leave dead and bloodied and dying along the way...
― Ned Trifle II, Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:35 (4 years ago) Permalink
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20090320/twl-environment-us-birds-usa-1202b49.html
good luck usa
― leigh exodus (country matters), Friday, 20 March 2009 18:14 (4 years ago) Permalink
A robin is nesting in an archway thing in my parents' backyard:
― a sweet ballet dancer (ENBB), Sunday, 10 May 2009 03:23 (4 years ago) Permalink
So blue!
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Sunday, 10 May 2009 20:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
What sort of robin? A real robin or yr silly "American robin" which is actually a thrush?
― sorry for british (country matters), Sunday, 10 May 2009 20:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
x-post Aren't they awesome? I got a bunch of cool pics. I keep trying to get one of the mama but she flies away when I get within 3 ft of the nest. :-(
LJ - I don't know, I guess an American one? One of the brown and orange ones.
― a sweet ballet dancer (ENBB), Monday, 11 May 2009 01:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
'real' robin. I'm sure it will be this, the american robin is also brown and orange but larger.
They're nosey little birds, and will get very close to you if you're minding your own business. I think you getting close to their nest is not a great idea. I'm always greeted with friendly robins when I'm out fishing, stealing my maggots.
camping in wales once, i was awoken to a robin that had hopped into our tent.
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Monday, 11 May 2009 10:04 (4 years ago) Permalink
We have Blackbirds nesting in our garden and they have lovely blue eggs too. I imagine it's a "don't eat me" message to other animals. Not that it stops the bastid squirrels who will eat anything.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:13 (4 years ago) Permalink
Thrush eggs are speckled blue incidentally so these are mos' def' robins.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:15 (4 years ago) Permalink
Ste is right about the noseyness too, as soon as we start gardening they'll come hopping along and sneak any worms dug up. They get bullied by the sparrows in our garden but they can mostly hold their own.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:17 (4 years ago) Permalink
i think i still immediately think of christmas when i see robins, from when i was a kid and seeing them on christmas cards all the time.
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Monday, 11 May 2009 10:20 (4 years ago) Permalink
xp, yeah i think they stick to the same 'zone' more than most other birds, so when other birds enter their territory they can become very defensive.
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Monday, 11 May 2009 10:23 (4 years ago) Permalink
The UK Robin is limited to Europe, you don't get them in North America. Those are definitely American Robin eggs too, ours lay 5 or 6 little pale brown jobs.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Monday, 11 May 2009 10:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
new garden has Coal Tits nesting in a box on a Scots pine
― Jarlrmai, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:31 (4 years ago) Permalink
The robins in our garden are being very charming at the moment. One of them, presumably the male, keeps coming to the feeder to get a sunflower seed, then flying up to a nearby branch to feed it to his mate as a sort of little love offering.
x-post - we've got blue tits, kind of apprehensive about the chicks first few days 'in the wild' what with all the cats round our way (the furry bastards).
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Monday, 11 May 2009 10:34 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, I'm getting confused - when we were talking about american Robins being Thrushes I thought - european thrushes but I see now (having gone to wiki - d'oh) that it's a whole different thing. and quite groovy looking.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, they're smart looking fellers aren't they? Colourwise they're kind of a composite of the body of a song thrush, head of a blackbird, breast of a robin. Every now and again, one will get blown over the Atlantic by a storm and will turn up in a garden somewhere for a few days. Lords knows what happens to them after that.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Monday, 11 May 2009 10:53 (4 years ago) Permalink
So to sum up...(to get it clear in my tiny brain)
European Robin (with eggs)
American Robin (see above)
European Thrush and eggs
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:53 (4 years ago) Permalink
I like the way that those robins painted a picture of a church in their spare time.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Monday, 11 May 2009 11:06 (4 years ago) Permalink
They seem to have rigged up an electricity for the nest as well
― Jarlrmai, Monday, 11 May 2009 16:14 (4 years ago) Permalink
Oh, they're clever.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 16:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
with all the topics on ILX that turn into US/UK comparison threads, I'd still never have guessed "robins" was one of them
― nabisco, Monday, 11 May 2009 16:43 (4 years ago) Permalink
the poster responsible...less of a surprise
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 16:54 (4 years ago) Permalink
I retract "silly", although I maintain that calling it a robin is a big fat misnomer
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 16:55 (4 years ago) Permalink
― the Member for Paisley (gabbneb), Monday, 11 May 2009 17:05 (4 years ago) Permalink
we see your fancy britishes robin and raise you a california condor
― the Member for Paisley (gabbneb), Monday, 11 May 2009 17:13 (4 years ago) Permalink
my backyard in SF is populated by Anna's hummingbirds:
and Stellar's Jays:
― the table is the table, Monday, 11 May 2009 17:17 (4 years ago) Permalink
and occasionally the fearsome Common Raven, western:
these guys actually scare me. they're big as fucking gulls, and i'm used to crows.
― the table is the table, Monday, 11 May 2009 17:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
I retract "silly", although I maintain that calling it a robin is a big fat misnomer― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 11:55 (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 11:55 (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
I spent most of this winter complaining about these texas-sized robin imposters. Turdus Migratorius indeed.
― Prince of Persia (Ed), Monday, 11 May 2009 17:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
Genus Erithacus or nothing, mate. Red breasted bastard thrush.
― Prince of Persia (Ed), Monday, 11 May 2009 17:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
My dad had a big, barrel-shaped barbeque grill used for smoking meats. It had a little chimney with a latch that could open or close access to it. My dad had left it open and some robins built a nest in it. My dad wanted to remove the nest so he could cook on it, but naturally his three daughters greeted this with protests and tears. This debate happened every few days until the birds left the nest.
― fillibustar superstar! (Abbott), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:15 (4 years ago) Permalink
british robins are very territorial and will fight to the death to protect their territory.
― djh, Monday, 11 May 2009 18:16 (4 years ago) Permalink
The national aviary here in pittsburgh one of these
a pygmy falcon, which would probably loose in a fight with an territorially aggrieved robin.
― Prince of Persia (Ed), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
omg such conflicting and confused thoughts about that bird
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
They have one of these too
For a so-called national aviary it is very small, I think someone built the national aviary of Liechtenstein here. They have a sloth as well which is rather delightful but not strictly a bird.
― Prince of Persia (Ed), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
Is that a pygmy owl? I know such a breed exists.
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
Ah, so it is. URLs are so helpful.
There are several breeds, I really want to got to the dessert to see the cactus dwelling ones
― Prince of Persia (Ed), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:33 (4 years ago) Permalink
That Condor is more goth than Bimble.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 18:37 (4 years ago) Permalink
Bimble needs to up his game and start wearing some identification tags around his arms imo
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:45 (4 years ago) Permalink
I know I put this somewhere else but I'm very pleased with it.A Partridge On My Patio.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 18:48 (4 years ago) Permalink
― high (latebloomer), Monday, 11 May 2009 18:59 (4 years ago) Permalink
but not their good names, apparently
― nabisco, Monday, 11 May 2009 19:14 (4 years ago) Permalink
i like how their brazen hardness is perceived as cuteness.
― djh, Monday, 11 May 2009 19:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
i like to get on with birds<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/carljgodwin/2707309584/"; title="Hello there! by carljgodwin, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2707309584_ca294bb2ca.jpg"; width="333" height="500" alt="Hello there!" /></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/carljgodwin/2707319866/"; title="At one with nature... by carljgodwin, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/2707319866_973405e1c8.jpg"; width="500" height="333" alt="At one with nature..." /></a>what are these btw?
― not_goodwin, Monday, 11 May 2009 21:17 (4 years ago) Permalink
nooooo!i like to get on with birdswhat are these btw?
― not_goodwin, Monday, 11 May 2009 21:18 (4 years ago) Permalink
thats better
choughs
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 21:20 (4 years ago) Permalink
coastal members of the crow famly, tend to nest on cliffs, i think they might be the official bird of cornwall or wales or some shit
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 21:21 (4 years ago) Permalink
there's a little robin redbreast that is in my garden everyday. He perches on top of the same seat and shits on it.
― languid samuel l. jackson (jim), Monday, 11 May 2009 21:23 (4 years ago) Permalink
i was in Austria at the time.
― not_goodwin, Monday, 11 May 2009 21:23 (4 years ago) Permalink
oh shit they might be Alpine Choughs then! Actually, given the colour of their beaks, I'd say that's exactly what they are. My bad.
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 21:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
Argh I can't believe I made such an elemental error
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 21:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
Don't be angry with yourself, at least you know what they are.
― not_goodwin, Monday, 11 May 2009 21:44 (4 years ago) Permalink
Different beaks. But damn it you were close enough!
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 21:45 (4 years ago) Permalink
xp
now all you gotta do is pronouce em correctly
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 23:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
crows are bastards
― chip dumstorf, Monday, 11 May 2009 23:38 (4 years ago) Permalink
Featherstonehaugh-Cholmondeley
― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 12 May 2009 08:23 (4 years ago) Permalink
crows and gulls are the kings of birds imo, theyre just harder, cleverer, more resourceful and more straight-up aware of their surroundings than the sweet innocents of the avian world
and crows, on top of this, are passeridae, the more advanced and sophisticated half of the phylum...it's everything in one package: brilliant flying skills, advanced social interaction, improvised eating routines, fearless predation
― sorry for british (country matters), Tuesday, 12 May 2009 13:17 (4 years ago) Permalink
Dunno if you've seen them in the wild LJ, but choughs in particular are amazingly agile flyers and so at home too in the windiest and wildest of places. Awesome critters.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Tuesday, 12 May 2009 13:29 (4 years ago) Permalink
you dare doubt the lengths this not-quite-recovered ornithologist would go to to see a chough? pfah!
anyway, yeah, when we went to Wales and scouted out Skomer Island that one time, choughs aplenty cavorted by the cliffs. this was approximately 2 weeks before the sea empress disaster fwiw
― sorry for british (country matters), Tuesday, 12 May 2009 13:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
Ooooh, never been to Skomer. Gonna wait till the kids are a bit older and then take them birding up there to see da puffinks. This year's plan is to show them OWLS. Failed miserably to manage this last year though.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Tuesday, 12 May 2009 13:39 (4 years ago) Permalink
was a grey wagtail in the park this morning - i see him about twice a year
― koogs, Tuesday, 12 May 2009 13:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
I think grey wagtails ought to lobby parliament for a name change. They've definitely been short-changed there.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Tuesday, 12 May 2009 13:49 (4 years ago) Permalink
probably the yellow and pied wagtails got named 1st, then someone saw the grey one and was all bollocks gotta keep up this colour + wagtail thing we got going on.
― Jarlrmai, Tuesday, 12 May 2009 14:00 (4 years ago) Permalink
wagtails are more or less my favourite birds
the misnomer of "grey wagtail" and the manner in which its colourful hues reveal themselves at closer inspection (along with th fact that it incorporates the colours of the other two, gaudier wagtails) forms an intrinsic part of a section of a long poem i wrote
― sorry for british (country matters), Tuesday, 12 May 2009 14:34 (4 years ago) Permalink
songs for ornithologists:
CD-R80: Songs for ornithologists
― djh, Wednesday, 13 May 2009 19:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
the grey wagtail landed on the path in front of me today and i got within 10ft of him as he was hopping along and doing the sinusoidal flight thing they do. great tail feathers.
in other bird-related news, the swifts are back which is always a joy. why they fly back from south africa to W12 every year is beyond me but i'm glad they do. we get flocks of 20 or 30 of them at times, dogfighting amongst themselves. and the overcast weather means they were flying quite low this morning when i was out. they fly past level with my 3rd storey windows on occasion, screaming as they go. nature's stukkas.
― koogs, Friday, 15 May 2009 20:08 (4 years ago) Permalink
omg you totally read me, we had the first swifts of summer last weekend, they rock the skyline like nothing else
― sorry for british (country matters), Friday, 15 May 2009 22:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
These guys are everywhere in the Appalachians. In the summertime I love watching them ride the thermals, so beautiful and graceful. Of all the birds, Vultures and condors are the most metal.
― leavethecapital, Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
imo the raven is more metal
― sorry for british (country matters), Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
we are having a frenzy of birds in our back yard these days, and just this week i saw a pine grosbeak and a indigo bunting.
birds are so cool.
― moved to the Home of Rest For Horses at Speen (jjjusten), Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
The raven is not metal; wtf. They start out as wee ravens listening to TMBG and the oldies station and grow up o listen to sorta artsy shit like Kate Bush & Kronos Quartet, claiming they like modern composers & that Stockhausen is 'amazing' but it's all kind of a front.
― test drives at ur own risk i cant go with you too many bees (Abbott), Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:38 (4 years ago) Permalink
If they like anything metal it is like Kayo Dot & shit tho they have a guilty soft spot for female-fronted Eurometal lite.
― test drives at ur own risk i cant go with you too many bees (Abbott), Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:40 (4 years ago) Permalink
Ravens or Vultures! I think we need a poll!!
What would Varg chose?
― leavethecapital, Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:42 (4 years ago) Permalink
ABout which bird is superior or which is more metal?
― test drives at ur own risk i cant go with you too many bees (Abbott), Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:49 (4 years ago) Permalink
varg choose eagle owl lolz
― sorry for british (country matters), Saturday, 16 May 2009 00:51 (4 years ago) Permalink
Which is more metal. I think Vultures are more metal while Ravens are more goth. But if you're talking in terms of birds, IHMO it's the raven.
So does this mean goths better than metal? I don't think Varg would approve.
― leavethecapital, Saturday, 16 May 2009 01:10 (4 years ago) Permalink
next door neighbor's cat killed a rainbow lorikeet in my backyard this morning. sad affair. such handsome little guys.
― sonderborg, Saturday, 16 May 2009 01:16 (4 years ago) Permalink
so, flock of great tits in the park this morning so i stopped and had a look (because often there are long-tailed tits in the mix too and we don't have those back home). then i noticed a jay on the ground pecking a young great tit into unconsciousness and flying off with it in its beak (closely followed by a mob of other great tits). do jays do that, eat smaller birds?
i did later see a mixed flock of great and long-tailed tits by the hospital (which is now solely used for filming tv dramas) but they looked very bedraggled in the rain.
― koogs, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 08:46 (3 years ago) Permalink
apparently so:
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/jay.htm
"Jays feed on acorns, beech mast, fruits, insects, small rodents, bats, newts, birds' eggs and young birds."
― koogs, Tuesday, 26 May 2009 08:47 (3 years ago) Permalink
Just like the other crows I suppose - they'll eat whatever's going. Must be easy pickings for them when the young first leave their nests. 'Our' blue tits are yet to fledge, I think it'll be in the next couple of days. Has been pissing it down here which won't help them, but it has kept all the cats away.
On my ride in this morning there was a young blackbird in the gutter at a really busy junction in town. Luckily it was a red light so I could jump off to pick the little guy up and move him to safety. So bedraggled though, poor feller.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Tuesday, 26 May 2009 09:18 (3 years ago) Permalink
A bird used her body as a dam to stop overflowing drainpipe water from soaking her chicks
Not as depressing as it sounds (the bird didn't die).
― cant go with u too many alfbrees (Abbott), Friday, 29 May 2009 03:16 (3 years ago) Permalink
omg <3
mistle thrushes are the best thrushes fwiw
― sad blue nose hybrid with shit football crew (country matters), Friday, 29 May 2009 03:22 (3 years ago) Permalink
Which is more metal. I think Vultures are more metal while Ravens are more goth.
http://www.myspace.com/vvltvre
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Friday, 29 May 2009 03:30 (3 years ago) Permalink
Hey, good walk today, not birding or anything but took the bins and saw a firecrest, a peregrine, a water rail, two kingfishers and a half a dozen snipe. Also grey wagtail, buzzard, nuthatch, green woodpecker, reed bunting, kestrel and heron. Guess the cold, calm weather helped a lot. Didn't see any owls though, which I was really hoping to see as it got dusky.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Monday, 28 December 2009 19:43 (3 years ago) Permalink
where the hell do you live and can i live there too
― HELLO MY NAME IS TWILIGHT AND I AM A DRACULA (acoleuthic), Monday, 28 December 2009 19:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
This was deepest Sussex - banks of the river just north of Arundel. Lots of ducks too.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Monday, 28 December 2009 19:50 (3 years ago) Permalink
sweet
wonder if there were any smew. good time of year for merganser and shoveler iirc
hang on a WATER RAIL - those things are IMPOSSIBLE to see
have also never seen nuthatch...jeez
― HELLO MY NAME IS TWILIGHT AND I AM A DRACULA (acoleuthic), Monday, 28 December 2009 20:22 (3 years ago) Permalink
Smew like deep water iirc, so go to old gravel pits and reservoirs for those guys. For nuthatch you want some good broadleaved woodland, oak or something like that. If they're in yr area though they'll normally come to feeders and start bossing everything else around.
Lucked out with the water rail, it was that cold and icy that one of them was just hanging around in plain view. Didn't register it at first cos it was just this brown blob hanging around with the moorhens, so I assumed it was something equally boring.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Monday, 28 December 2009 21:05 (3 years ago) Permalink
Maybe I'll try and make 2010 the year I finally see a hawfinch.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Monday, 28 December 2009 21:09 (3 years ago) Permalink
have never seen hawfinch either! wonder if they are as delightful as goldfinch and bullfinch
there's a neat li'l gravel pit reserve in sevenoaks i used to go to all the time...got good waders and ducks there, mad good. should visit again soon! nuthatch and treecreepers remain beyond me
seeing a water rail like that is insane. i've heard them (at the aforementioned reserve) but not seen iirc *roots out checklist* oh wait i have! awesome.
ah, misspent youth
last night i was in a pub with upto11 and upto11's friends whom i'd never met before and i found myself describing the habitat and physiology of the duck preserved in a box on the pub wall. from the angle i sat i could not tell if it was an adult female red-breasted merganser or an adult female goosander (in retrospect it was almost certainly a goosander) so i gave both as options and said it was at least a merganser of some sort. a 'goose-like duck'. i believe the words 'freshwater' and 'maritime' left my lips at this point. i am a world-class conversationalist
― HELLO MY NAME IS TWILIGHT AND I AM A DRACULA (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 29 December 2009 09:35 (3 years ago) Permalink
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/8434907.stm
RIP feathered one
― everybody hauritz (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 16:24 (3 years ago) Permalink
Died of an incurable mallardy.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 21:33 (3 years ago) Permalink
^ flock of these beautiful things on the one tree in our back garden today. Also redwing and blackcap.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Friday, 8 January 2010 11:22 (3 years ago) Permalink
We've had loads of redwing! I posted about them here: ITT: revealin' some mystic thruths l8r, stay tuned!!!
Fieldfare are scarcer. Tough call as to who's better looking.
― Electric Universe (wherever that is) (acoleuthic), Friday, 8 January 2010 14:57 (3 years ago) Permalink
Shagging hell, a woodcock has just flown over our garden wtf. I've never even seen a woodcock before, let alone in the 'burbs. Pretty unmistakable outline though. Also there's a big mixed flock of fieldfare/redwing out there right now. Maybe 40-50 birds? Bonkers.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Saturday, 9 January 2010 13:07 (3 years ago) Permalink
!!!! that is insane!
― Electric Universe (wherever that is) (acoleuthic), Saturday, 9 January 2010 15:09 (3 years ago) Permalink
Correction - I have seen woodcocks before, but only stuffed ones in country pubs.
Constant cascade of different birds into the garden today. Food and water keep getting covered up by the snow though. Blackcap still knocking around, love their Hitler haircuts.
― We should have called Suzie and Bobby (NickB), Saturday, 9 January 2010 15:54 (3 years ago) Permalink
my new year's resolution should have been to put food out for the birds
maybe it can still be done
― Electric Universe (wherever that is) (acoleuthic), Saturday, 9 January 2010 16:00 (3 years ago) Permalink
Maybe 40-50 birds? Bonkers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8457214.stm?ls
― Do the english boil pizza? (acoleuthic), Thursday, 14 January 2010 00:00 (3 years ago) Permalink
Remember this? HI DERE WAHT IS AWESOME
Well, I done blogged it: http://cvpc.org.uk/2010/03/barbican-gig-review-a-journey-into-avant-finch/
― its sad he was a blogger (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 19:36 (3 years ago) Permalink
Good news today, one more reason Pinnacles National Monument is so awesome.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/10/BAV01CD6K6.DTL&tsp=1
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 20:23 (3 years ago) Permalink
haha numbered condors! nice to see they're back, even if it is the big flagship species that get all the best conservation
now read my blog :P
― its sad he was a blogger (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 10 March 2010 22:19 (3 years ago) Permalink
http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Owl_Nest_Box_Cam.html
Live barn owl webcam. Found one of these beautiful birds dead beside my barn yesterday, it had knocked its head :(
― soviet, Sunday, 28 March 2010 15:03 (3 years ago) Permalink
Two hummmingbirds doing a mating dance around my lemon tree. Weird vroom vroom air displacement noises, like a restrictor plate track race.
― felicity, Sunday, 28 March 2010 17:51 (3 years ago) Permalink
Aw sorry about your grim discovery! I'll check out the webcam in a jiffy.
― You are feisty, sexy, impatient, and impossible to bed, like Christ (acoleuthic), Sunday, 28 March 2010 21:05 (3 years ago) Permalink
Awesome pictures right now tbh. Beautiful birds.
― Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Farting in Space (NickB), Sunday, 28 March 2010 21:33 (3 years ago) Permalink
Hope we're not going to get treated to live footage of the chicks eating each other though.
― Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Farting in Space (NickB), Sunday, 28 March 2010 21:35 (3 years ago) Permalink
omg hai dere
― You are feisty, sexy, impatient, and impossible to bed, like Christ (acoleuthic), Sunday, 28 March 2010 21:38 (3 years ago) Permalink
background noise in that is pretty cool ambient soundscape imo
― You are feisty, sexy, impatient, and impossible to bed, like Christ (acoleuthic), Sunday, 28 March 2010 21:43 (3 years ago) Permalink
Hey LJ she was totally feeding a couple of mice to her featherless chicks an hour or so ago, I could not resist x-posting it to hi dere waht is awesome. God forbid I should start looking at her while at work, I will never get anything done now.
We always wanted to put webcams in all the bird and squirrel nests, now someone has done and it is A+.
― soviet, Sunday, 28 March 2010 22:04 (3 years ago) Permalink
How do I care for my fetusy babies with only these cruelly taloned feet and ripping beak to work with? Like this, see?
― soviet, Sunday, 28 March 2010 22:10 (3 years ago) Permalink
am slightly disturbed at the implications of that url. and also slightly disturbed by what appears to be a dismembered leg in the foreground at the moment.
Franklin Institute Hawks:http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5417192
― koogs, Monday, 29 March 2010 12:35 (3 years ago) Permalink
the swifts are back over shepherds bush - why spend summer in africa when you can spend them in W12?
only in their 2s or 3s at the moment. will be groups of 20 or 30 as the season progresses.
― koogs, Thursday, 20 May 2010 10:00 (3 years ago) Permalink
(i said almost exactly the same thing last year - BIRDS )
― koogs, Thursday, 20 May 2010 10:01 (3 years ago) Permalink
Swifts having been screaming over Brighton for a couple of weeks now. Cool guys.
― Vision Creation Mansun (NickB), Thursday, 20 May 2010 10:17 (3 years ago) Permalink
i have been looking out for them, and heard them last night for the first time, but only saw them this morning.
― koogs, Thursday, 20 May 2010 10:28 (3 years ago) Permalink
African dry season means few flying insects.
― Jarlrmai, Thursday, 20 May 2010 12:56 (3 years ago) Permalink
Also
House Martins, Swallows, Swifts FITE!
― Jarlrmai, Thursday, 20 May 2010 12:57 (3 years ago) Permalink
the first swifts of summer = awesome
gonna give that FITE to house martins because they were my favourites aged 6 or 7 - such awesome li'l critters, but tbh all three of those birds are some all-time brilliance
― glouis? (acoleuthic), Thursday, 20 May 2010 13:07 (3 years ago) Permalink
found this pretty little guy on the sidewalk outside my work :(
I'm kind of sure it's a tree swallow, but haven't been able to find an exact match in my id books. I live in Florida so we get a tooon of migratory birds this time of year.
― peacocks, Thursday, 20 May 2010 13:24 (3 years ago) Permalink
dear baby moorhens near my flat, you are rad, and i am a little sad/concerned that last time i visited i could only see one of you, whereas before there were three
dear heron who is sometimes seen under the bridge STARING, have i seen you in 3 different places over a half-mile stretch of river, or are there 3 of you?
dear baby ducks, where are you? is it not duckling season yet? there were only 2 of you last year too, in '07 or '08 there were loads more, i worry
dear birds who aren't waterbirds, i never see you, so you get no love from me until you become a little more visible
― xylyl syzygy (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 20 May 2010 13:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
I'm not saying it's not one, but that bill looks wrong for a swallow and the wings look quite short as well. xpost
― Vision Creation Mansun (NickB), Thursday, 20 May 2010 13:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
yeah, it doesn't quite look right. I didn't want to stretch out the wings to get a better look at their shape.
― peacocks, Thursday, 20 May 2010 13:45 (3 years ago) Permalink
^ okay I'm guessing it's one of these.
― Vision Creation Mansun (NickB), Thursday, 20 May 2010 14:16 (3 years ago) Permalink
Black-throated Blue Warbler btw.
yessss perfect! thanks!
― peacocks, Thursday, 20 May 2010 15:08 (3 years ago) Permalink
btw yesterday evening as I set out was a lovely, incredibly warm evening...I looked up into the darkening sky and yes that cry resounded...the first swifts of summer
― Dan, Dan, DARRAGH (acoleuthic), Friday, 21 May 2010 14:10 (3 years ago) Permalink
Louis check out the picture of the long-tailed tits here omg mad cuteness:
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=potw
― Vision Creation Mansun (NickB), Friday, 21 May 2010 14:16 (3 years ago) Permalink
per previous post elsewhere, teh lyrebird <3 <3 <3:
― wilter, Friday, 21 May 2010 14:19 (3 years ago) Permalink
imo it's not a hipster peacock
― wilter, Friday, 21 May 2010 14:21 (3 years ago) Permalink
long-tailed tits are awesome, they often come through my garden (although more a few years back) all going zee-zee-zee and flocking around in groups of 10 or so, they bloody love going about in gangs, all hyperactive flitting, flashes of purple and the undulating bounce of quick-flight between twigs on adjoining trees - oh yes, the long-tailed tit
― Dan, Dan, DARRAGH (acoleuthic), Friday, 21 May 2010 14:27 (3 years ago) Permalink
torresian imperial pigeon
― wilter, Monday, 24 May 2010 12:31 (3 years ago) Permalink
― wilter, Monday, 24 May 2010 12:32 (3 years ago) Permalink
see it bigger here
― i'm gonna go and talk to some food about this (Ned Trifle II), Friday, 28 May 2010 14:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
been seeing a lot of red-winged blackbirds hanging out on cattails lining the shore of a park pond across the street. i enjoy their conservative use of color, they're not all obnoxiously slutty about it like some other birds WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS
also, a few weeks ago this scene unfolded at the same pond, apparently some geese produced a gaggle of goslings and then when i tried to photodocument the goslings the geese hissed at me but did not comically peck at my crotch like so many geese have done throughout history
― iiiijjjj, Friday, 28 May 2010 14:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
I've been seeing a lot of red winged black birds lately too, they are stunning!
Took this a few weeks ago. They saunter leisurely across the street in the late afternoon, stopping in front of cars to peck at little items of interest:
― peacocks, Friday, 28 May 2010 14:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
what, those roam wild where you live? do you live in...thailand?
― iiiijjjj, Friday, 28 May 2010 14:49 (2 years ago) Permalink
As soon as I find a copy of the book here at work, I'm going to share a quote about peacocks and their displays vs evolution....
― the soul of the avocado escapes as soon as you open it (Laurel), Friday, 28 May 2010 14:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
Florida. The release and subsequent adaptation to the wild of exotic pets is incredibly common down here.
Laurel, I hope you find it! Are you thinking about how the trains of the males are more of a hindrance than a leg up on mating because the weight of the tail slows them down making them more vulnerable to predators? I read recently that the decorative trains (specifically size and color variation) have been found less effective in mating than calls and other physical displays, which is pretty interesting.
― peacocks, Friday, 28 May 2010 15:07 (2 years ago) Permalink
lol best use of username ever
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 15:09 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'm not really obsessed with peacocks...
― peacocks, Friday, 28 May 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
do you ever find dead peacocks in the road, peacocks
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 15:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
haha actually, no! It's a little street between two parks and I like to think, despite their wandering primarily during rush hour, that people are so pleasantly suprised to see them that they stop right away and wait patiently for them to pass. The females are gorgeous.
Although... the ranger for the two parks is really on top of his game so there might be some hit and runs that are picked up before anyone notices. I hope the former is the case.
― peacocks, Friday, 28 May 2010 15:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
all staring down their noses at the other birds
they must think themselves the landed gentry of their domain
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 15:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
aduh:
― peacocks, Friday, 28 May 2010 15:45 (2 years ago) Permalink
― i'm gonna go and talk to some food about this (Ned Trifle II), Friday, 28 May 2010 16:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
take the silhouette of that and you have a very bizarre creature indeed
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 16:50 (2 years ago) Permalink
That pic is from a DM article - [url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1281970/Swooping-150mph-golden-eagle-really-knows-meaning-fast-food.html]Swooping in at 150mph, this golden eagle really knows the meaning of fast food.[/url
I'm pretty sure they don't travel at 150 mph?
― i'm gonna go and talk to some food about this (Ned Trifle II), Friday, 28 May 2010 16:51 (2 years ago) Permalink
hahahahaha methinks the Mail have their raptors confused
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 16:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
The symmetry is amazing but it's the look on his face that kills me. "Yes, I am going to eat you, bwahahaha..."
― i'm gonna go and talk to some food about this (Ned Trifle II), Friday, 28 May 2010 16:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
at that angle it looks like it's a slightly sympathetic, pitying, amused expression
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 16:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
o lowly vole, if only you could fly like me
flying dinosaurs, how do they work
― am0n, Friday, 28 May 2010 17:01 (2 years ago) Permalink
Bird ppls have decided the olive-sided flycatchers call is saying, "Quick, three beers!"
― breaking that little dog's heart chakra (Abbott), Friday, 28 May 2010 17:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
flycatchers are incredible birds
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 17:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
some of my favourite memories involve watching them at primary school
― some men enjoy the feeling of being owned (acoleuthic), Friday, 28 May 2010 17:06 (2 years ago) Permalink
I saw a hawk in downtown Toronto today, a fucking hawk (roughly 2 feet in size, too).
― Ce soir je dîne sur la soupe de tortue (EDB), Saturday, 10 July 2010 04:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
Golden Eagles definitely swoop at around 150mph, fastest is the Peregrine Falcon at around 200mph
― Jarlrmai, Saturday, 10 July 2010 12:40 (2 years ago) Permalink
in neighbours garden finishing off a pigeon.
― not_goodwin, Saturday, 10 July 2010 12:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
― del griffith, Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
This bird has a RUMEN!
― soviet, Friday, 17 September 2010 20:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
They are all feathered dinosaurs but particularly that one.
― soviet, Friday, 17 September 2010 20:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
poor smelly bastards
― acoleuthic, Friday, 17 September 2010 20:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
better one, sorry, temporarily obsessed will stop now.
I mean now.
― soviet, Friday, 17 September 2010 20:33 (2 years ago) Permalink
worth watching gets even more amazing towards the end
― soviet, Saturday, 18 September 2010 16:22 (2 years ago) Permalink
Wow, thanks for posting that.
Had just come on here to ask "Where is good for watching migrating starlings?" and it turns out it's two miles up the road ... Marvellous.
― djh, Sunday, 3 October 2010 22:14 (2 years ago) Permalink
When's a good time to see starlings as in the above clip? (Looks like Feb?)
― djh, Sunday, 17 October 2010 16:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
― specifically, the word talking (Ned Trifle II), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 08:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
if only its tail wasn't melting amirite
shaped a bit like the Spurs logo
― pro EVOO sucker (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 08:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
Some people have actually said that the image is divine intervention and proof that there is a God
That God, eh?
― specifically, the word talking (Ned Trifle II), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 08:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
fucksake everyone involved, especially the flamingoes
flamingoes are among the most boring of birds imho
― pro EVOO sucker (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 08:59 (2 years ago) Permalink
if I wake earlier than the heroic 16:00 I have set my alarm-clock to I will rank all the birds whose jpgs still adorn this thread
― pro EVOO sucker (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 09:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
― pro EVOO sucker (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 08:59 (10 hours ago)
ha
i agree
― calpolaris (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 24 November 2010 19:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
great fucking birds (an incomplete list)
gulls (larger ones)corvidswagtailsswifts (and martins, more so than swallows)robins when singingALL WADERS EVER esp sandpiperssmall falconsshrikesbuntings (much more so than finches)the chiffchaffthe zitting cisticola aka fantailed warblertreecreepers although I've never seen one ;_;migratory thrushes PIPITS
pipits might be stealth winners actually
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 11:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
stormy petrels also altho they are almost too elusive and unlikely
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 11:48 (2 years ago) Permalink
SHIT BIRDS (British; incomplete)
geeseducks EXCEPT mergansers and wigeonsmute swanssmall gullsowls when portrayed as cutelarge raptors when portrayed as superior (ospreys have their moments for instance but r overly fetishised)coots when there are too many of them and they are not being violent (violent coots r GREAT)starlings (do not need to explain this)
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 11:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
So much wrongness, more later.
― Krampus Interruptus (NickB), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 11:58 (2 years ago) Permalink
BIRDS THAT CAN BE GREAT DEPENDING ON MOOD
pigeons (esp wood)woodpeckerstits (esp crested)the dunnockthe heron (esp in unexpected surrounds)the moorhenthe kingfisher when not gratuitousgamebirds when not in seasongrebes when you haven't seen one for a whilegannets the first time you see them; see also auks - the black guillemot is a delightful species actuallyfulmars when you haven't had an overload of shearwater stiffwingnesswrens when they're not being miserable skulkers
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 11:59 (2 years ago) Permalink
ok geese needs more of a breakdown. brent geese are cool.
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
Can't believe yr trying to troll me on ducks tbh.
― Krampus Interruptus (NickB), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
wtf wrens are awesome whatever their mood
― calumerio, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
^
― rouxymuzak (nakhchivan), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
wrens are awesome when flitting around in full view and singing; not when they're dashing around the undergrowth and you can't see them
ducks are a bit played ime - the wilder, faster-flying ones are mad cool tho - <3 goosanders
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
oh shit, EIDERS ok eiders are also cool but they're seagoing ducks - much preferable on the whole
Smew, garganey, eider, long-tailed duck - all classics of the genre imo.
― Krampus Interruptus (NickB), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:08 (2 years ago) Permalink
^^^all otm; feel ashamed now BUT I must stress those are ALL seagoing migratory sorts as per my amendation - actually thought of long-tailed ducks, add harlequins and goldeneyes too
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
Smew are actually fucking spectacular. Sorry, Smew. I was attacking your staid and pond-bound brethren.
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:11 (2 years ago) Permalink
Rolling my damn eiders here.
― Krampus Interruptus (NickB), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
SHIT BIRDS
geese
you ever seen Fly Away Home, motherfucker?
― lonely is as lonely does, lonely is an eeyore (unregistered), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
haha I've caused a controversy :/
am just flinging ideas around tbh - will have made my peace with all the shit birds before and will do so again
red kites over oxfordshire = great btw
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:15 (2 years ago) Permalink
forgot you were A Bird Man aco, always found that charming abt u
― Princess TamTam, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
you ever read The Once and Future King, motherfucker?
― e.g. delegates at a set age (ledge), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
as for non-migratory thrushes, the order of greatness is
mistle(big gap)ring ouzelblackbirdsong thrushnightingale
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
ok whatever, take up thy goose and shit everywhere
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
geese are at their best when u r feeding them and u hit them on the back with a large piece of bread and it makes the most satisfying noise
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:21 (2 years ago) Permalink
lol
― Princess TamTam, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:22 (2 years ago) Permalink
when i was a kid i was feeding ducks and a swan attacked me, v scary
SOmehow I read that as "Shit...birds..." like how a vulgar person like me says "shit" in reflex to the profound. All those birds are awesome, imo, I even like how starlings have fucked up America so much. "Like" meaning I appreciate all invasive species in an abstract way. ALso I think you need to see the owl movie in 3D. The climax is an owl flying around with a fire bucket while Dead Can Dance plays.
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:22 (2 years ago) Permalink
i still got a lot of love for the geese
― e.g. delegates at a set age (ledge), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
after that owl movie came out i spent a few weeks just saying the phrase 'owls of ga'hoole.' at choice moments, something about it just cracks me up
― Princess TamTam, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
I am p sure I ruined the movie for all the kids there by repressed-laughing like crazy through the whole thing.
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:24 (2 years ago) Permalink
Makes me feel like an ass but OTOH the owl kept making this face
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
While he made that face, he would say something like "That can't be," or "That's not right" or "We must get to the Guardians" in a fake Aussie voice.
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:27 (2 years ago) Permalink
abbott there are always exceptions!
residential swans are disgusting; the best ones are the migratory onessome geese are dandy (the smaller ones and the Egyptian ones)shelducks are mutant duck-geese and are v coolowl movie will be watched with my kids in 13 years' time. owls are great but only when in their wild, elusive element - subtle birds, hunters. also, Kiwi accent not Aussie iirc
ok there IS one awesome small gull, the JUVENILE kittiwake
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:27 (2 years ago) Permalink
Actually made a giant detour w/ the family on Sunday explicitly to look for owls over the meadows, but we drew a blank and now they hate me 8>
― Krampus Interruptus (NickB), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
The asshole of the bird world is the cassowary.
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
its great imagining the owls forging all those helmets and shit... a sword that has OWL OF GA'HOOLE engraved in it... u have to imagine 'gahoole' being said gahoooooooole like 'cooooookie crisp' btw'
traumaowl.jpg
― Princess TamTam, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
hahahahaha
I think I must have had a traumatic duck/geese (or "geeck" as I just typed initially)feeding experience too because now it kind of scares me to death. Did it with my parents a last year and as soon as one of the ducks became a little too grabby and aggressive I spooked and ran clear across the street. I love birds in theory but irl they make me nervous.
― ENBB, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
hahaha traumaowl.jpg otm
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
sad that this bird will turn into a boring small gull in its adulthood :(
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
i hear owls all the time but can never find them with my eyes, except for one night when i pulled into the driveway and there was a huge fuckin owl perched on the mailbox
― Princess TamTam, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
egyptian goose = fake goose
how about a good ol' bar headed
― e.g. delegates at a set age (ledge), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
― Stop Non-Erotic Cabaret (Abbbottt), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:29 (48 seconds ago)
yes but they're much more interesting than anything larger
barnacle goose >> bar-headed if we're getting into specifics
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
― Krampus Interruptus (NickB), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:28 (3 minutes ago)
harriers (as 'small falcons') are the best predatory birds for scouting over meadows, but if you see a long-eared I guess it is mad rewarding
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
― Princess TamTam, Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:30 (2 minutes ago)
you see, this is AWESOME and how owls shd happen
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:33 (2 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, that sounds great.
Owls that we get hunting over the wet meadows here in the winter are barn owls and short-eared owls - shorties are a top bird and they don't really give a shit about you standing there watching them either.
― Krampus Interruptus (NickB), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:42 (2 years ago) Permalink
I haven't seen any of those! I need to, I think.
Cormorants = very much a solid, unspectacular bird. Black redstarts = superb, belong on Great list
anyway yeah concentrate on the positives guys
― rmad and dangerous (acoleuthic), Tuesday, 30 November 2010 12:48 (2 years ago) Permalink
parakeets yall
was thinking today what the cultural equiv of them was
sum 41, apparently
― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:11 (2 years ago) Permalink
MIA
― titular character (acoleuthic), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
imported from SE Asia, gaudy, noisy, all over fucking London these days, rly irritating, kinda played
― titular character (acoleuthic), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
thought they were african or s/thing
wasn't including provenance in my calculation
thing about 'keets tho is they're huge, like as big as a crow but different shape and usually too high in trees to gauge their size
― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
they're ring-necked parakeets, totally indian subcontinent dude read yr field guides
provenance is only an optional part of my comparison; it works pretty well even w/o factoring it in
they're quite small-bodied tttt, size accentuated by large head + lengthy although usually damaged tail (scuffles w/ pigeons, household cats, holly bushes)
― titular character (acoleuthic), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
The specific origin of the birds is not known, but they most likely came from a single pair of breeding parakeets which escaped or were released in the mid-1990s. Other origins have been attributed to them: the most popular idea being that they escaped from Ealing Studios, West London, during the filming of The African Queen (which was actually made in the Isleworth Studios) in 1951. Other theories are that they escaped from an aviary during a 1987 hurricane; or that a pair released by Jimi Hendrix in Carnaby Street, London, in the 1960s, are to blame.
― zvookster, Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
if one must invoke corvids, then the magpie is most expedient control set - and a species whose tails are ruined with roughly equal regularity
but somehow for all their nest-raiding passerine-slaying cruelty, magpies are abt 5000x less cuntish than yr screeching herbivore wankers
― titular character (acoleuthic), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah don't worry i'll trust u on their origin
can't imagine a pigeon fighting
keets p big tho imo
not a zat knight but maybe an avian john mensah
just thought i'd give some <3 to them cuz usually i patronize them as gaudy wastes of time but damn if surviving (prospering judging by the racket they were making today) in northern european winters doesn't give them some cred
― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Keet&oldid=190135750
― zvookster, Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
they have hijacked a fieldfare each and are using its body warmth for sustenance. don't trust those bastards
― titular character (acoleuthic), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
screeching herbivore wankers
do truffle fries count? cuz they're a fungus rather than a plant
― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:34 (2 years ago) Permalink
The word "Keet" means orca in the Tlingit language
― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:35 (2 years ago) Permalink
dude you're part of the problem, put yr offal in the freaking bin next time
― titular character (acoleuthic), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:37 (2 years ago) Permalink
― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:42 (2 years ago) Permalink
i felt something fly up out of me and contribute to the deforestation of a lime tree ;_; peace god
― titular character (acoleuthic), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:44 (2 years ago) Permalink
― nax arrrrrgh (nakhchivan), Saturday, 18 December 2010 01:45 (2 years ago) Permalink
Kinda hoping that waxwings come here this year. 60 reported outside Debenhams in Eastbourne today, not so far away...
― O Permaban (NickB), Wednesday, 22 December 2010 17:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
they look kinda chill i guess
― No Wicked Heart Shall Prosper.rar (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 22 December 2010 17:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
― O Permaban (NickB), Wednesday, 22 December 2010 17:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
BEST BIRDS
― smexy fishy hawt joey martin (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 22 December 2010 17:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
"the waxing trend"
― smexy fishy hawt joey martin (acoleuthic), Wednesday, 22 December 2010 17:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://media.peopleofwalmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/1918Two.jpg
― Rockcrit from the Tuoms (nakhchivan), Thursday, 30 December 2010 03:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
peace god
― acoleuthic, Thursday, 30 December 2010 03:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
Those birds look like they're wearing deal with it shades from afar!
― ENBB, Friday, 31 December 2010 00:14 (2 years ago) Permalink
btw today I discovered the worst thing in the world
― acoleuthic, Friday, 31 December 2010 00:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
What's up with these birds falling out of the sky?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9432186
― O Permaban (NickB), Sunday, 2 January 2011 09:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
― yuoowemeone, Sunday, 2 January 2011 09:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'm kind of bird phobic, I think. I mean I like birds to look at and from afar but up close, wiggins central. My sister in law has an eclectus parrot and though v cool to look at I don't like being near it. The one time it sat on my shoulder I spent the whole time staring straight ahead praying that it wouldn't peck my eyes out. Plus I was chased by a goose once so I have a general distrust. Sorry birds. Nothing personal
― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, 2 January 2011 09:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
birds are great but having one of those psittacotic freaks on yr shoulder does not sound like fun
don't get me wrong parrots r basically chill but mainly for sitting in cages and listening to coal chamber
there are loads of birds here at night, guessing nightingales? never see them but <3 their songs
― /\/\/\Y/\ Amchill Rothschild (nakhchivan), Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
nightingales are creatures of deciduous woodland not urban greenfield
probably robins, mebbe songthrushes
― Boo Radely and the Super Fury Aminal (acoleuthic), Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:06 (2 years ago) Permalink
btw you shd all look at my link a few posts upthread
― Boo Radely and the Super Fury Aminal (acoleuthic), Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:07 (2 years ago) Permalink
I like the sound of birds at night.
― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:08 (2 years ago) Permalink
LJ are you a bird watcher / ornithologist?
― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:24 (2 years ago) Permalink
in my early days I was much more devout, but yeah I guess
― Boo Radely and the Super Fury Aminal (acoleuthic), Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
Lapsed Ornithology still pretty cool IMO
― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
may the bird be w/ u
― Boo Radely and the Super Fury Aminal (acoleuthic), Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
Go in peace and love to serve the birds
― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, 2 January 2011 17:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
damn feels so weird now lj knows i'm not akshly in ldn but a delapidated fortress in a slovakian birch forest ;_;
― /\/\/\Y/\ Amchill Rothschild (nakhchivan), Sunday, 2 January 2011 19:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
u shd host a vibrant, classico-noise-based alternative to exit festival
― Boo Radely and the Super Fury Aminal (acoleuthic), Sunday, 2 January 2011 19:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
i really like birds and always have done, but i've never got any sort of knowledge about them....just like to observe the local fauna yknow
it feels so weird that nobody knows why all the sparrows have disappeared
― /\/\/\Y/\ Amchill Rothschild (nakhchivan), Sunday, 2 January 2011 20:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
Wow, 68%
― VegemiteGrrrl, Sunday, 2 January 2011 20:01 (2 years ago) Permalink
ime it looks like more than that even
― /\/\/\Y/\ Amchill Rothschild (nakhchivan), Sunday, 2 January 2011 20:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
they're a v gregarious species and depend upon colonies - scarcities of food, disease or any kind of downward fluctuation (usually caused by changing agricultural procedures) means that entire colonies will subside
― Boo Radely and the Super Fury Aminal (acoleuthic), Sunday, 2 January 2011 20:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/biologicalsciences/falcon/
― max bro'd (nakhchivan), Wednesday, 5 January 2011 19:35 (2 years ago) Permalink
they're falling out of the sky in the US.
― cocklamoose (chrisv2010), Wednesday, 5 January 2011 19:37 (2 years ago) Permalink
nightingales are creatures of deciduous woodland
Read this first as "delicious woodland."
― children with wasting diseases (Phil D.), Wednesday, 5 January 2011 19:40 (2 years ago) Permalink
Us bird massacre due to fireworks (apparently) Happy new murdering birds eve (maybe) you lot >:(
Now happening in Sweden...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12118839
― not_goodwin, Thursday, 6 January 2011 02:20 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571
Fancy that!
― not_goodwin, Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:07 (2 years ago) Permalink
they know
they know it's time
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:13 (2 years ago) Permalink
I've heard of birds getting drunk on fermented berries before (waxwings iirc). Never heard of them dying from it though. RIP starlings
― seminal fuiud (NickB), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:18 (2 years ago) Permalink
fuckers be optin' outta the foodchain
rip starlings, sorry i called you shit birds upthread
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:24 (2 years ago) Permalink
I've heard of birds getting drunk on fermented berries before (waxwings iirc). Never heard of them dying from it though
In the version of this nth-hand anecdote that I heard, they did die
was going to chatter idly about my own bird-spotting news but will keep it off this doomed thread of bird deaths for fear of jinxing my new feathery palz
― agrarian gamekeeper (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
DO IT
(red kites again? lol)
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:34 (2 years ago) Permalink
Lots of recorded instances of it, so maybe they sometimes do :(
― seminal fuiud (NickB), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:39 (2 years ago) Permalink
Oh, did I talk about red kites on here already? I do not remember. The other half's father (who takes birds v seriously) is coming to visit soon and is most insistent on being taken to east Oxfordshire to see them, though. Hope they put on a good show.
No, this week's bird news is that there's been a leucistic Egyptian goose hanging around my walk to work all week. I had never seen the like before. Fed some ducks this lunchbreak and had it eating birdseed out of my hand. Wait, real birder types wouldn't approve of that at all, would you? Ahem.
― agrarian gamekeeper (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:49 (2 years ago) Permalink
I was the shadow of the waxwing slainBy vinous pomace and fermented grain
― nanoflymo (ledge), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
Egyptian goose
FAKE GOOSE
― nanoflymo (ledge), Thursday, 13 January 2011 15:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
Wasn't familiar with that Nabakov couplet, thanks ledge!
Last leucistic bird I saw was a snow white blackbird.
― seminal fuiud (NickB), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
Oh, did I talk about red kites on here already? I do not remember.
think it was you who affirmed my claims of their chiltern ubiquity!
also, handfeeding migrant rarities is some sort of heady fever-dream of twitching which could only happen to a casual birdwatcher
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:09 (2 years ago) Permalink
Apparently Norfolk has a lot of Egyptian geese. Don't think I've seen a full-colour one outside a WWT centre, never mind the small patchy pale brown + white thing (with bright yellow eyes!) tagging along with the greylags who are winter regulars on the path to work has been making me happy all week. Thank you, little guy.
The bigger, hissier geese don't quite seem to know what to make of it, but it's never far from them, so it seems to have half-joined the gaggle.
I hate collective nouns, so I don't know why I used that one. But yeah, did wonder if its readiness to hand-feed means it came from one of those WWT places (don't know if they all do hand-feeding but the one near Belfast does). It's not ringed or anything is all I know.
And yes, no red kites here in Oxford itself but almost as soon as you leave the city to the east you start to see them. At least, that's been the case so far. Probably when we take the in-laws to see them we will be stood on a windswept hill for a week staring into empty skies.
― agrarian gamekeeper (a passing spacecadet), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
God that was long. Do some work, spacecadet!
a passing of spacecadets
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:23 (2 years ago) Permalink
LJ you need to rank the finches, buntings, sparrows, tits and larks.
― seminal fuiud (NickB), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
imo
― seminal fuiud (NickB), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:26 (2 years ago) Permalink
broadly,
pipits > buntings > tits > finches > larks > sparrows, and I *like* sparrows
will rank individual birds at some point
― legerndrymayne (acoleuthic), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:30 (2 years ago) Permalink
that'll take some time.
― nanoflymo (ledge), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
Audible chuckles
― seminal fuiud (NickB), Thursday, 13 January 2011 16:43 (2 years ago) Permalink
I do love Otmoor but see more starlings over Kidlington Sainsburys ...
― djh, Thursday, 27 January 2011 19:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
My wife took this one through her office window today. It's a red-tailed hawk eating a pigeon.
― Mr. Fart Pop Bass (Phil D.), Thursday, 27 January 2011 19:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
That hawk looks so sad, like he feels bad for the pigeon or something.
― seminal fuiud (NickB), Thursday, 27 January 2011 23:43 (2 years ago) Permalink
Now I like gulls most of the time, but all morning there's been one herring gull who has been hanging around a rabbit hole on the grassy bank outside my window, and every time a baby rabbit pops up to have their first nibble of fresh spring grass, this fat fucking gull chases them and tries to eat them.
― ka£ka (NickB), Monday, 28 February 2011 11:21 (2 years ago) Permalink
fucking awesome
― acoleuthic, Monday, 28 February 2011 11:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
the birds in NZ are rad btw and I am going to buy a book and identify them all. there is a sort of blackbirdy one that is everywhere but it has gaudy white patches all over its wings and a very haughty supercilium. I think if I were a NZ bird I would much rather be it than a kiwi.
― acoleuthic, Monday, 28 February 2011 11:32 (2 years ago) Permalink
I'd never witnessed this behaviour before but it seems like it's definitely a thing...
picture linkified cos it's sad and gross
xp yeah, I would be a total noob with nz birds
― ka£ka (NickB), Monday, 28 February 2011 11:35 (2 years ago) Permalink
herring gulls bring out the Princess TamTam in me more than probably anything else in the world. that picture ownes.
― acoleuthic, Monday, 28 February 2011 11:38 (2 years ago) Permalink
Talking of NZ, I always remember seeing kea on Attenborough's Life Of Birds staking out shearwater burrows, listening intently for movement and then digging the chicks out with their bills once they knew they were inside. Evil bastards.
― ka£ka (NickB), Monday, 28 February 2011 11:40 (2 years ago) Permalink
Might not have been shearwater btw, but some burrowing bird anyway.
― ka£ka (NickB), Monday, 28 February 2011 11:41 (2 years ago) Permalink
Ooh, not sure I've seen a kea! I did see a fucken kickass hawk from the car tho. Gonna investigate our birds of prey pronto -
― acoleuthic, Monday, 28 February 2011 11:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
― ka£ka (NickB), Monday, 28 February 2011 11:59 (2 years ago) Permalink
Evil bastards, I tell you.
― ka£ka (NickB), Monday, 28 February 2011 12:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
― acoleuthic, Monday, 28 February 2011 11:32 (5 days ago)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_world%27s_100_worst_invasive_species
third one
:D
― acoleuthic, Saturday, 5 March 2011 23:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
The starlings over Kidlington are incredible at the moment, around 1730 in an evening.
― djh, Sunday, 6 March 2011 20:38 (2 years ago) Permalink
ninetieth one
― acoleuthic, Sunday, 6 March 2011 23:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
Birds Youtube Song
― it's so cool man because it's so hardcore (CaptainLorax), Sunday, 6 March 2011 23:26 (2 years ago) Permalink
I saw a pyrrhuloxia today!!
― if I hate the headline, I'll make up a headline (Abbbottt), Thursday, 17 March 2011 22:22 (2 years ago) Permalink
I did not take this pic but look at this dude
― if I hate the headline, I'll make up a headline (Abbbottt), Thursday, 17 March 2011 22:25 (2 years ago) Permalink
phyroloxia if I'm not mistaken...I've always wanted to see one.
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Thursday, 17 March 2011 22:35 (2 years ago) Permalink
I saw one in Cruces, once, too.
― if I hate the headline, I'll make up a headline (Abbbottt), Thursday, 17 March 2011 22:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
swifts are back over W12, have been a week or so. which makes them nearly 3 weeks earlier than last year, i think.
saw a budgie in the park this morning, fighting with the blackbirds. and winning.
― koogs, Friday, 13 May 2011 09:33 (2 years ago) Permalink
Why is there so little sexual dimorphism in doves & pigeons compared to other types of birds?
― free inappropriate education (Abbbottt), Saturday, 28 May 2011 14:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
There is some, but mostly in what I think of as exotic species (like the jambu fruit dove above). Don't think any UK residents show it, so from that POV, that's a good question!
― immer wieder, ralf & günther (NickB), Saturday, 28 May 2011 17:24 (1 year ago) Permalink
I was thinking about it yesterday – how come these doves don't have much sexual dimporphism? The dove in question btw is the white-wing dove, which is all over the Southwest:
I thought, maybe I am just unobservant. But today I saw two doves have sex in a tree and I thought, nope, no way I could tell those two apart.
― free inappropriate education (Abbbottt), Saturday, 28 May 2011 17:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
Swifts are back here too btw koogs, and every year their screams make me wish I'd got round to fixing up some nest boxes for them. Maybe next time! xxxp
― immer wieder, ralf & günther (NickB), Saturday, 28 May 2011 17:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
whenever i see this thread title i think of this:
― a thong of ice and fire (Princess TamTam), Saturday, 28 May 2011 17:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'm guessing that any sexual dimorphism in pigeons and doves would be for sexual display or competition. Thinking about the species I'm familiar with that aren't obviously dimorphic, during courtship the males do tend to do a lot of that puffed-up neck, strutting about stuff instead, and that probably serves the same purpose without the evolutionary effort? Wondering too if bright colours might make them more obvious to predators, all our native species are really drab earth and rock colours (albeit with subtle flashes of irridescence).
― immer wieder, ralf & günther (NickB), Saturday, 28 May 2011 17:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
Not an expert, but some poking around in Google suggests that the lack of strong dimorphism is related to the fact that most pigeon species share parenting duties--kind of makes sense, any heavy-duty male plumage or w/e would probably attract too much attention to the nest?
PS would like to cosign pyrrhuloxia love upthread.
― bentelec, Saturday, 28 May 2011 17:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
Did read the recommendation somewhere that upturned bin lids are left in the garden with wet mud in them, as swifts/martins are struggling to make nests.
― djh, Saturday, 28 May 2011 19:47 (1 year ago) Permalink
omg this morning at 7am there was a bird cycling through about 6 different calls... like a car alarm that cycles through different sounds. it was CRAZY. i have no idea how to figure out what it was.
― tehresa, Thursday, 9 June 2011 20:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
shazam for birdcalls can't come fast enough
― brotherlovesdub, Thursday, 9 June 2011 20:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
If it was all clicks and whistles and crazy things, it might have been a starling:
― NickB, Thursday, 9 June 2011 20:31 (1 year ago) Permalink
it was much more lyrical than that
― tehresa, Thursday, 9 June 2011 20:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
Probably some sort of thrush then - American robin?
― NickB, Thursday, 9 June 2011 20:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
i am starting to think it was maybe a mocking bird singing through several different calls/sounds?
http://www.birdjam.com/birdsong.php?id=4&osCsid=ddunch423ggjr7q0ei58jcmia7
― tehresa, Saturday, 11 June 2011 15:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
I have a robin friend
― owenf, Saturday, 25 February 2012 12:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
> swifts are back over W12, have been a week or so.> koogs, Friday, 13 May 2011 09:33 (11 months ago)
saw one, friday 27th april. although now he's probably flying around soaking wet wondering why he bothered.
― koogs, Sunday, 29 April 2012 14:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
Seeing Gambel's quails – always a treat! They're so charming. I saw three today.
― Dale, dale, dale (Abbbottt), Wednesday, 9 May 2012 01:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
Photo and caption by Mark Bridger/National Geographic Photo Contest. This is Gandalf the Great Grey Owl and he gets scared flying out in the open so his owners have built his aviary inside a brick shed. He now loves spending his days watching the world go by out of his window.
― koogs, Friday, 30 November 2012 09:42 (5 months ago) Permalink
That's a sad state for an owl to be in. Come out and play, big feller!
― Albert Crampus (NickB), Friday, 30 November 2012 09:48 (5 months ago) Permalink
How Does An Owl Hide?
― Zen Jet Era (doo dah), Friday, 30 November 2012 12:24 (5 months ago) Permalink
Is it a good time of year to go to Slimbridge Wetlands Centre?
― djh, Saturday, 29 December 2012 18:45 (4 months ago) Permalink
nice weather for ducks. (don't know)
we had 10 (count them) goldfinches on our tiny tree over christmas.
― koogs, Saturday, 29 December 2012 20:04 (4 months ago) Permalink
Niger seed?
― djh, Saturday, 29 December 2012 20:05 (4 months ago) Permalink
re SWC : from the website it appears that more stuff will be happening at the end of jan.
also, it hasn't stopped raining here for days now (i live quite near), and cant imagine it being overly pleasant there.
― mark e, Saturday, 29 December 2012 20:23 (4 months ago) Permalink
Would be better if it was much colder and frozen, I reckon that with the relatively mild weather and all the rain, then all the native wildfowl and waders will be distributed over the surrounding countryside. Never been but I think Slimbridge has a collection of captive birds so there will be all of them and they probably have feeding stations and managed habitat for wild songbirds so there might be good numbers of those. Might be a chance of all the other birds pulling in some raptors too, so I think you've got as good a chance of seeing stuff there as you would have anywhere else.
― Albert Crampus (NickB), Saturday, 29 December 2012 20:32 (4 months ago) Permalink
i enjoy birds but there's something undeniably sinister about them as well
― packt like phoebe cates's dad in a chimney (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Saturday, 29 December 2012 20:49 (4 months ago) Permalink
Just refilled the feeder outside my office window. Birds get happy, and it's a home entertainment system for the cats and me.
― WilliamC, Saturday, 29 December 2012 21:06 (4 months ago) Permalink
Thing I love about birds is the sense that they're so at one with their environment. You watch them doing their birdy things and going about their birdy business and you get this sense that at one birdy level they know so many secret things about how life works in the local area... funny little rhythms of life that we're not privy to, when and where it is that all the bugs start hatching out, whose garden to visit for frostbitten rosehips when the winter takes hold, what bush you can safely shelter in on a cold, wet night, stuff like that. Also the sense of vulnerability you get from them - most birds are living on a knife-edge when it comes to finding enough edible calories especially in competition with everything else out there, or when they're dodging hazards like cats and hawks and humans and whatnot. You know you're cushioned from a lot of that stuff as a human, you don't have the same vital day to day struggles, but at the same time you do get some inkling of the fragility and specialness of life.
― Albert Crampus (NickB), Saturday, 29 December 2012 21:10 (4 months ago) Permalink
birds are more it's true
― things that are jokes pretty much (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Saturday, 29 December 2012 21:13 (4 months ago) Permalink
more REAL damn
i've grown to enjoy parakeets in winter, for their incoongruity and resilience, even if i still tire of them in summer
― things that are jokes pretty much (Nilmar Honorato da Silva), Saturday, 29 December 2012 21:14 (4 months ago) Permalink
Ha well they're the other end of things, they just tough it out in a big unruly mob and don't give a flying fuck for local sensibilities. Hanging out at the local rugby club, shitting fruity shits on flash motors, I'm all for it.
― Albert Crampus (NickB), Saturday, 29 December 2012 21:51 (4 months ago) Permalink
that is an excellent description of why birds are interestingthey have to be observant if they want to survivepeople sure don't
― passion it person (La Lechera), Saturday, 29 December 2012 22:06 (4 months ago) Permalink
Otmoor supposed to be good for starlings/murmuration at the moment - apparently from 1530 onwards - if any of you are Oxford-based or thereabouts.
― djh, Monday, 31 December 2012 17:11 (4 months ago) Permalink
^ One of these snazzy little fellows has taken up residence by the puddle on the flat roof right outside my office window.
― a la recherche du tempbans perdu (NickB), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 12:38 (4 months ago) Permalink
waxwings.
i had never seen a waxwing until this afternoon. saw one on the floor, wondered what it was. then noticed another dozen in the bush next to it. hid around the corner whilst i got the camera out only to find i was stood under a tree with another dozen in the branches...
they aren't native to uk, but there were some stories of flocks of them visiting a couple of years ago, feeding on berries (which these were)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3396938/Waxwing-leads-Russian-invasion.html
(my photos sucked)
― koogs, Thursday, 28 February 2013 19:03 (2 months ago) Permalink
oh man, waxwing envy here. good spot koogs!
― acid in the style of tenpole tudor (NickB), Thursday, 28 February 2013 19:39 (2 months ago) Permalink
Yes, nice spot. Have never seen a waxwing.
Some good pics here: http://fair-isle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/henry-waxwings-hand-feeding-again.html
― djh, Thursday, 28 February 2013 19:48 (2 months ago) Permalink
Am amazed how much a starling murmuration cheers me up - was sat in a traffic jam on the way home, watching a thousand or so starlings swooping over the local Harvester. Fucking beautiful.
― djh, Thursday, 28 February 2013 19:50 (2 months ago) Permalink
acquainted the mrs with a long-tailed tit today, she was most enthused. mad love for that grey wagtail, dippy li'l chap I'm sure
― c'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas le beurre (imago), Thursday, 28 February 2013 20:10 (2 months ago) Permalink
<3 long tailed tits. we get them in the park
there's a waxwing sightings tweet feed here: https://twitter.com/WaxwingsUK lot of them about by the look.
― koogs, Thursday, 28 February 2013 20:31 (2 months ago) Permalink
We had two groups of long tailed tits at one point, of seven and eight birds. But I never see more than three at a time now. Wondering if they've dispersed or died.
― djh, Thursday, 28 February 2013 22:23 (2 months ago) Permalink
i see mixed flocks containing long tailed tits and great tits. i think flock size varies with time of year (fledging? food?) have seen largish flocks in the last year.
― koogs, Thursday, 28 February 2013 22:33 (2 months ago) Permalink
There was great footage on Winter Watch of long tailed tits roosting: the first two to sit on the branch remained on the outside (ie. the coldest bit) and the rest would squeeze themselves in the middle. There didn't seem to be any shift or rotation in this to keep the outside birds warm.
― djh, Thursday, 28 February 2013 22:38 (2 months ago) Permalink
really want to start a band and call it Mixed Tit Flock
― c'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas le beurre (imago), Thursday, 28 February 2013 22:46 (2 months ago) Permalink
thought i saw a bullfinch this morning but it was high enough up that it cd've been a waxwing
― a phenomenological description of The Eagles (Noodle Vague), Friday, 1 March 2013 00:07 (2 months ago) Permalink
nah it was a bullfinch, just checked the calls
― a phenomenological description of The Eagles (Noodle Vague), Friday, 1 March 2013 00:08 (2 months ago) Permalink
Today's posts itt dear to my heart. One of 2012's highlights for me was finally seeing Cedar Waxwings. And we have a pet starling who is my special buddy.
― multi instru mentat list (Jon Lewis), Friday, 1 March 2013 02:49 (2 months ago) Permalink
Anyone been up to Otmoor recently? We're starting to get starlings gathering about five miles away. Wondering how it's looking on the reserve?
― djh, Sunday, 3 March 2013 17:41 (2 months ago) Permalink
Fairly good murmuration over the Harvester in Kidlington, this evening, around 1745.
I realise this is quite specific and not much use to most people ...
― djh, Monday, 11 March 2013 18:27 (2 months ago) Permalink
I wish ppl here in the US admired starlings like you guys do. They're v hated here.
― multi instru mentat list (Jon Lewis), Monday, 11 March 2013 18:33 (2 months ago) Permalink
this is interesting, about the way they were introduced into america
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Starling#North_America
― koogs, Monday, 11 March 2013 19:30 (2 months ago) Permalink
Help needed!
― have a nice Blog (imago), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:00 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
could be wrong but i reckon that's a song thrush there myself. very short phrases that are sometimes repeated once or twice with a definite pause before moving on to the next phrase. sung from up in a tree too - i've got a hunch that nightingales sing from lower down in cover, plus their song has got lots of weird alien clicks and laser gun trills.
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:15 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
this is a song thrush:
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:18 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
nightingale:
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:19 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Hummingbirds showed up here 3 weeks ago and have been freezing their asses off.
― What makes a man start threads? (WilliamC), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:24 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
it's the repetition inside each line that's the big difference to my ears. the song thrush is all dat-dat dat-dat dat-dat weeeee, whereas nightingale is just all over the place in a brrrrrrrr-brip-be-bap-deeeeet--zuuuuuel kinda way xp
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:25 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
do you feed the hummingbirds wmc?
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:26 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
here's the thing, though - the bird I saw (and you can just about see it in the video) didn't seem to have any markings on its underside
― have a nice Blog (imago), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:26 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
next time I'll have my binoculars on me
― have a nice Blog (imago), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:30 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Nick -- yes, we have feeders on the back deck and outside my office window.
― What makes a man start threads? (WilliamC), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:34 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
must be amazing, would never get any work done if i were at your desk
lj - guess it'll be there again tomorrow, same time, same place. always think of nightingales as very secretive things, would be nice to get a good sight of one. on our dog walk today we had whitethroats dodging around in the gorse. swifts have come back too, best birds ever
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:41 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
this is better nightingale film btw, this one sounds really goddamn song thrushy too i'm getting more confused the more i listen:
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:45 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
maybe you have to see them live or something but in a way they're a bit overrated imo, i reckon robins and dunnocks have far prettier songs. best one i hear regularly though is the wren. really long complex energetic lines, they're like the john coltranes of the bird world doing this sheets of sound thing. really blast it out for such diddy fuckers too:
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:57 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
otm, wren song has been avant-garde for millennia
― have a nice Blog (imago), Monday, 6 May 2013 09:25 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
was definitely drawn out of my way to the nightingale/curiously unspotted songthrush tho. something about the song was arresting and alien - I was, as they say, compelled from my orbit, and the dog had to sit patiently while I drank it in, not at all feeling like I was riding the Romantics' steez
― have a nice Blog (imago), Monday, 6 May 2013 09:27 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
A gila woodpecker has made a nest at the top of a saguaro in my front yard. This is very exciting to me! This hole 16 feet up constantly emitting baby bird rasps with a mom periodically flying in and out.
― I wish every slot machine had EAT THE RICH printed on it (Crabbits), Monday, 20 May 2013 01:45 (4 days ago) Permalink
A dove has taken up residence in our back yard. It doesn't seem injured, but it spends all its time on the ground, just hanging out, nestled down in the lawn except when our dog it out doing his business and barking at oxygen molecules. I wondered if it's a fledgling that doesn't quite know where to go next, but my daughter says she's seen its mate come around to it a few times a day.
― WilliamC, Monday, 20 May 2013 12:58 (4 days ago) Permalink
our neighbours have installed a nest-box roughly 1 metre away from our bedroom window, currently occupied by a family of Great Tits. the parents approach the box cautiously, hopping all the way down the fence to a chorus of wheedling. needless to say, we're enthused
― bleeding like a stoke pig (imago), Monday, 20 May 2013 13:09 (4 days ago) Permalink
turkeys outside my window at 5:00 this morning. lobblelobblelobble. they've gone all huge, fat and wattley for summer. it's shooting season, so all the little country stores are selling "turkey supplies". by which they mean things with which to murder the beasts.
― controversial vegan pregnancy (contenderizer), Monday, 20 May 2013 13:12 (4 days ago) Permalink
Went for a walk down the Thames foreshore at lunch and there were 2 Canadian geese with 3 goslings, so cute. Loads of geese around today, 3 different types. They're pretty tame, we were walking by really close and they just eyed us a bit and went back to napping.
― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Monday, 20 May 2013 13:16 (4 days ago) Permalink