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! http://i.pbase.com/o6/16/585616/1/74204871.6hvWOxlQ.birdhummingbirdgreen8237.jpg
― Sébastien, Sunday, 20 July 2008 03:10 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
hey look at those birds
― gabbneb, Sunday, 20 July 2008 03:52 (fifteen years ago) link
yo YOC representin', i ain't forgotten u guys
― Just got offed, Sunday, 20 July 2008 10:12 (fifteen years ago) link
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/central.park.birds.2.887058.html
― very very serious (gabbneb), Monday, 15 December 2008 03:29 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
http://jet-point.com/wp-content/ice_cream_stealing_birds_6.jpg
― f f murray abraham (G00blar), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:40 (fifteen years ago) link
http://jet-point.com/wp-content/ice_cream_stealing_birds_11.jpg
― f f murray abraham (G00blar), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:41 (fifteen years ago) link
http://jet-point.com/wp-content/ice_cream_stealing_birds_1.jpg
picturesofbirdsstealingicecream.com
― f f murray abraham (G00blar), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:42 (fifteen years ago) link
loooooooooooooooooooooooooool
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:42 (fifteen years ago) link
i fucking love gulls
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 17:43 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
What a delightful conversation!
― they probably drink corporate water (country matters), Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:00 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
Scary! But yes, great caption.
― Too Into Dancing to Argue (ENBB), Sunday, 8 March 2009 18:27 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
A robin is nesting in an archway thing in my parents' backyard:
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c287/expatrica/P5090114.jpg
― a sweet ballet dancer (ENBB), Sunday, 10 May 2009 03:23 (fourteen years ago) link
So blue!
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Sunday, 10 May 2009 20:26 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/derby/content/images/2005/01/13/2005_feature_bird_watching_robin_gallery_470x300.jpg
'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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
Thrush eggs are speckled blue incidentally so these are mos' def' robins.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:15 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
new garden has Coal Tits nesting in a box on a Scots pine
― Jarlrmai, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:31 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Turdus-migratorius-002.jpg/200px-Turdus-migratorius-002.jpg
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:47 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
So to sum up...(to get it clear in my tiny brain)
European Robin (with eggs)http://www.taxidermy4cash.com/tonyrobinnest.jpg
American Robin (see above)
European Thrush http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Song_thrush.jpg/250px-Song_thrush.jpgand eggshttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Three_Song_Thrush_(Turdus_philomelos)_eggs.jpg/180px-Three_Song_Thrush_(Turdus_philomelos)_eggs.jpg
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 10:53 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
They seem to have rigged up an electricity for the nest as well
― Jarlrmai, Monday, 11 May 2009 16:14 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh, they're clever.
― Ned Trifle II, Monday, 11 May 2009 16:24 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
the poster responsible...less of a surprise
― sorry for british (country matters), Monday, 11 May 2009 16:54 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor/images/condor119.jpg
― the Member for Paisley (gabbneb), Monday, 11 May 2009 17:05 (fourteen years ago) link
we see your fancy britishes robin and raise you a california condor
― the Member for Paisley (gabbneb), Monday, 11 May 2009 17:13 (fourteen years ago) link
my backyard in SF is populated by Anna's hummingbirds:http://www.comoxvalleynaturalist.bc.ca/assets/images/birds/annas_hummingbird_m.jpg
and Stellar's Jays:http://www.governmentcaucus.bc.ca/media/Stellar%27s-Jay_225.jpg
― the table is the table, Monday, 11 May 2009 17:17 (fourteen years ago) link
and occasionally the fearsome Common Raven, western:http://tompawlesh.smugmug.com/photos/225724675_Zc65L-M.jpg
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 (fourteen years ago) link
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 (fourteen years ago) link
ambushed by unexpected betws-y-coed!
(one of the field centres that made up the network of my late dad's work -- FSC rhyd-y-creuau -- is based very close by)
― mark s, Monday, 17 April 2023 10:35 (eleven months ago) link
This hummingbird stops by for baths every morning. pic.twitter.com/oaWm354Cy3— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) May 3, 2023
― koogs, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 19:35 (ten months ago) link
(all the more odd because of the way modern cameras work)
― koogs, Wednesday, 3 May 2023 19:36 (ten months ago) link
saw small, white, heron-shaped thing in the thames this morning by hammersmith bridge. book tells me it could be a small egret. egrets, i have a few...
the usual grey wagtail was hopping about too.
― koogs, Saturday, 3 June 2023 16:11 (nine months ago) link
The sun rises at 5:30 and sets at 9:30 where I live now, and around 9 PM every night for the last week or so, a very large, extremely horny robin has landed on the fence post directly outside my office window to sing his fuck-me song for a half hour. It's cool, and kind of entertaining, but also sort of annoying. Also, around 4 PM most days, a pair of very large hawks (or possibly eagles) come out and circle slowly over the trees and field behind my building for an hour or so. And there's a gang of crows that live near the Mexican place where I get lunch once a week, and I see them flying from tree to tree. They're gigantic. Montana: these goddamn birds act like they own the place!
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 3 June 2023 16:51 (nine months ago) link
i have a 4am bird, a blackbird i think, that seems to think the dawn chorus starts an hour before it starts to get light
― koogs, Saturday, 3 June 2023 17:03 (nine months ago) link
Little egrets are doing really well in the UK, with lots of nesting pairs.
Yesterday, I walked off a main road onto a grubby field edge and disturbed a buzzard. It was no more than five feet away and scared the shit out of me as it lifted almost soundlessly into the air. I investigated and found a mangled squirrel it had clearly been feasting on.
― Stars of the Lidl (Chinaski), Monday, 5 June 2023 15:22 (nine months ago) link
There were red kites flocking over a town in wales we were in, turns out a guy was feeding them lamb livers - my sister in law and her kids got to see them swooping down on to his lawn but my wife had just strapped our screaming child into the car so i missed out :(
― ledge, Monday, 5 June 2023 15:37 (nine months ago) link
They other day I saw a bunch of 8-10 corvids (crows and magpies I think) bullying a big bird of prey (probably a buzzard?) - the big chap was clearly trying to get away from them and they were swooping around it and pecking at it and it was quite a thing to see.
― Tim, Monday, 5 June 2023 15:40 (nine months ago) link
at the other end of the scale completely i saw housemartins near putney bridge on sunday. didn't see any digging up mud from the thames this time though, i guess it's a bit late for nest building.
― koogs, Monday, 5 June 2023 15:47 (nine months ago) link
(am seeing fewer magpies in the park at the moment, 1 or 2 rather than the usual 4 or 5. which i'm putting down to them nesting)
― koogs, Monday, 5 June 2023 15:48 (nine months ago) link
Yesterday I was walking through town and sat on a bench for a minute underneath the eaves of a building. There was a barn swallow sitting on a dangling arc of cable, kind of taking one step to the right, one step to the left, but not flying away and kind of keeping one eye on me. He was there long enough that I was able to take a picture of him, which surprised me. But then I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and realized there was a nest at the top of a column about 3 feet away from me, which he was guarding, so I got up and walked away, not wanting to disturb him and his family any further.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 5 June 2023 16:20 (nine months ago) link
man magpies are assholes. there's a couple of them near me who will just NOT leave one of the neighbourhood cats alone. it's just this one cat. I don't know what he did. but he pops his head out and they're down there jawing at him. hopping towards him from two angles at once.
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 5 June 2023 22:34 (nine months ago) link
I saw a swift the other day, not sure what kind (black with white patches)... I don't think I've seen one here before, maybe it's migrating or something
― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 5 June 2023 22:37 (nine months ago) link
I highly recommend the merlin app, which also allows you to identify the calls of birds. I've been having a lot of fun with it, a little endorphin rush when you id a new call you haven't before.
― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Monday, 5 June 2023 22:50 (nine months ago) link
I got bopped in the back of the head by an aggressive red-winged blackbird yesterday. I've seen them swoop at people at the park before, but this is the first time I've had one make contact and draw blood.
― jmm, Monday, 5 June 2023 22:52 (nine months ago) link
the one thing i will say in favor of magpies is that they have a beautiful calli was visiting my parents in australia recently & man, the sound of early-morning magpies really does it for meswoopy & kinda scary to me otherwise
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 5 June 2023 23:36 (nine months ago) link
They're not a problem here in Tasmania, but a few years back in Canberra I was pinned in terror behind a tree while an aggressive and fast magpie waited for me to come out, after taking a couple of shots at me. I ended up running to the corner store with my arms folded over my head in "perp walk" style. Those guys are lethal.Also a lot of the beautiful "magpie" calls you hear are actually butcher birds, not dangerous to people (although pitiless to lizards etc.).
― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 00:15 (nine months ago) link
beautiful call? they sound like machine guns!
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 07:38 (nine months ago) link
northern hemisphere/european magpies aren't particularly closely related to australian magpies
― imago, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 07:51 (nine months ago) link
this is a robin/robin deal
ahh
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 09:59 (nine months ago) link
As I remember them, Australian magpies have an extraordinary range of calls and vocalisations - to the point where they're often kept in cages, iirr? When I was in WA, I remember chatting to a postman who had a cap with eyes drawn on the back, to deter angry magpies. Sheesh.
I know British magpies can be buggers but they do have an extraordinary vocal range of their own. Up close, they can burble, creak, gargle, burble and natter with the best of them.
― Stars of the Lidl (Chinaski), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 10:06 (nine months ago) link
Before I knew what the hell a Larsen trap* was, I was walking along a field edge and found a caged magpie. I instinctively knew it was transgressive but I let the poor bugger out anyway.
*a big cage in two parts for angry farmers, where you keep a corvid in one half and keep the other half open to lure other territorial corvids and bingo have two birds for the price of one.
― Stars of the Lidl (Chinaski), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 10:12 (nine months ago) link
there was a program about the Australian artist/poet Frieda Hughes on WS yesterday. She had a magpie friend called George who used to perch on her head while she was painting and play with her dogs. I can't imagine a UK magpie being like that.
― calzino, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 10:17 (nine months ago) link
I should add that I love magpies when they're not being psychos, I've seen parent birds with youngsters bugging them, fussing back, bickering, they're so personable and funny. And kind of terrifying, if they look you in the eye.
― assert (matttkkkk), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 12:10 (nine months ago) link
the Iberian Magpie which I saw loads of in Portugal has blue bits instead of white bits, which owns
― imago, Tuesday, 6 June 2023 12:15 (nine months ago) link
oh wow
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 15:01 (nine months ago) link
Yeah we have some very aggressive red-winged blackbirds around my work, I got swooped at twice yesterday. Not enough to draw blood, but unsettling anyway.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 6 June 2023 17:38 (nine months ago) link
She actually found and raised her magpie in Wales
― Number None, Thursday, 8 June 2023 06:21 (nine months ago) link
I didn't pick up on that - was only half listening while doing the washing up. It sounded like she lived somewhere rural and assumed she was still living in Australia. I've heard stories before of people who develop friendships with wild birds and always enjoy this stuff. The closest I've ever got was one particular blackbird last summer that would spend a lot of time near me in the garden and this went on for weeks. But it would scarper to the hedge if I ever tried getting too close.
― calzino, Thursday, 8 June 2023 08:24 (nine months ago) link
What happens when a bird decides it's ready to run a weather report on its own [source, full story: https://t.co/1Mh9rSVlMC]pic.twitter.com/ZC6CxQC1m2— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 9, 2023
― koogs, Friday, 9 June 2023 18:36 (nine months ago) link
couple of weeks ago spotted an empty birds' nest in the parking lot of a nature preserve i frequent in LI.
today was informed that 1) it was an oriole's nest 2) it has since been destroyed by crows, and broken eggshells were found.
spotted an oriole today right by where the nest was, though. also, lots of crows.
― carthage marine park (Deflatormouse), Wednesday, 14 June 2023 01:01 (nine months ago) link
Saw a very large owl sitting on the top of a power pole while driving to Target this past Sunday morning. Surprised me because I thought all owls were nocturnal. Then a couple of miles later I saw a hawk or large eagle come in for a landing on another power pole, and when we passed a small creek I saw a duck with a surprising amount of ducklings — eight or nine, it looked like — paddling around in the water.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 14 June 2023 02:06 (nine months ago) link
Modey Lemon - Crows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=augVsAcmEH8
― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 14 June 2023 07:13 (nine months ago) link
https://i.ibb.co/ygCC7Bt/IMG-20230615-183021721.jpg VERY active tern & piping plover nesting site at Stelhi Beach in Bayville attracted a huge film crew yesterday. or at least i assume they were there for the birds, i have no idea. saw dozens of terns and a few plovers, then a couple more plovers by adjacent preserve at Fox Point. captured some audio & video.
today saw a sparrow flying around inside the supermarket in Manhattan, but wasn't able to get a pic
― carthage marine park (Deflatormouse), Saturday, 17 June 2023 02:16 (nine months ago) link