― 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
Niger seed?
― djh, Saturday, 29 December 2012 20:05 (5 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 (5 months ago) Permalink
Is it a good time of year to go to Slimbridge Wetlands Centre?
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 (5 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 (5 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 (5 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 (5 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 (5 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 (5 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 (5 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 (5 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 (5 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 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 (3 months ago) Permalink
Help needed!
― have a nice Blog (imago), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:00 (1 month 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 (1 month ago) Permalink
this is a song thrush:
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:18 (1 month ago) Permalink
nightingale:
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:19 (1 month 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 (1 month 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 (1 month ago) Permalink
do you feed the hummingbirds wmc?
― dschinghis kraan (NickB), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:26 (1 month 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 (1 month ago) Permalink
next time I'll have my binoculars on me
― have a nice Blog (imago), Sunday, 5 May 2013 22:30 (1 month 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 (1 month 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 (1 month 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 (1 month 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 (1 month ago) Permalink
otm, wren song has been avant-garde for millennia
― have a nice Blog (imago), Monday, 6 May 2013 09:25 (1 month 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 (1 month 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 weeks 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 weeks 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 weeks 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 weeks 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 weeks ago) Permalink