Favourite feathered bird?

[Arch]

I still haven't found my bird feeder, though there are doggy type footprints in the soft ground underneath where it was - Fox? Deer? They sometimes come in the garden.

Deer are unlikely to leave doggy shape footprints - they have hooves! So fox or dog is more likely.

With regard to the comment above about starlings looking like they are doing a fingertip search - anyone with a lawn they can watch from an upstairs window should look out for blackbird chess - where several blackbirds land and take it in turns to make little runs across the grass. I've never quite worked out the rules...

 

[ChrisKH]

For all you knowledgeable bird fanciers, I'm a complete ignoramus when it comes to birds but we have a new one in our back garden of late. Very big bird (by comparison to many other common garden varieties), slightly smaller than a magpie with thrush like head and body markings, light blue rectangular flash on side of each wing and some white tail feathers. What is this bird? - I have never seen it before (or maybe never noticed).

 

[laurence]

With regard to the comment above about starlings looking like they are doing a fingertip search - anyone with a lawn they can watch from an upstairs window should look out for blackbird chess - where several blackbirds land and take it in turns to make little runs across the grass. I've never quite worked out the rules...

well. yer blackbirds are very territorial so, unless it's a breeding pair, they're probably trying to avoid other blackbirds... or are running away from them. youngsters often stray onto guarded territory whilst searching for their own patch and others will also make feeding raids into an enemy's patch.

a good game to play with blackbirds is to play Kate Bush's Aerial album (disk 2) loudly with the windows open. you will then find that the last few tracks are accompanied by local blackbirds responding (in anger) to the bird calls on the CD. the RSPB singing toys also can get the warning calls from indignant 'locals' defending their patch.

 

[laurence]

For all you knowledgeable bird fanciers, I'm a complete ignoramus when it comes to birds but we have a new one in our back garden of late. Very big bird (by comparison to many other common garden varieties), slightly smaller than a magpie with thrush like head and body markings, light blue rectangular flash on side of each wing and some white tail feathers. What is this bird? - I have never seen it before (or maybe never noticed).

sounds like a Jay. they are related to magpies, but shyer. do you have any oak trees nearby? they love oak trees and are partly responsible for the spread of them as they bury acorns in winter and then forget where they are.

they're brown, mainly, with blue flashes on the wings as well as white patches.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/j/jay/index.asp

 

[laurence]

the RSPB have a bird indentifier to help you identify birds (clever that). you can sort by colour, song, etc...

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/

 

[Landslide]

I saw a nice pair if tits this morning. (someone had to post this...)

I was expecting you to mention boobies...

 

[Fnaar]

I was expecting you to mention boobies...

What with tits, boobies and shags, a chap is spoiled for innuendi And let's not even go down the "strangling a chicken" route...

 

[ChrisKH]

sounds like a Jay. they are related to magpies, but shyer. do you have any oak trees nearby? they love oak trees and are partly responsible for the spread of them as they bury acorns in winter and then forget where they are.

they're brown, mainly, with blue flashes on the wings as well as white patches.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/j/jay/index.asp

Yes, that's almost certainly it, thanks. Quite a few Oaks in the area, though not in my garden - my plot used to be a massive plot with an orchard and various trees (including oaks) 20-30 years ago and then it was subdivided and sold off. So I can see the trees but they're not in my garden.

 

[GaryA]

In no particular order:
Robins because they sing so nicely even in the dead-frost of a midwinter night
Rooks because their Caws are such a part of the British countryside
Sparrowhawks because of their astonishing low-level aerobatics
Swifts because they remind me of summer skies on country walks
Sea Eagles because of their size and vulture like profile
Dunnocks because everyone overlooks them
Arctic tern because of its amazing migration and apparant fragility

 

[laurence]

Yes, that's almost certainly it, thanks. Quite a few Oaks in the area, though not in my garden - my plot used to be a massive plot with an orchard and various trees (including oaks) 20-30 years ago and then it was subdivided and sold off. So I can see the trees but they're not in my garden.

not yet, you mean! have a look under bushes and stuff, you might see the sprouts of one growing.

 

[frog]

Bought Mrs frog a spotting scope and table tripod for Christmas. It arrived a week ago and we've nearly worn it out. Each of the 4 robins which come to feed in the garden are now recognisable because you can pick out individaul feathers in their plumeage!

My favourite is the single Dunnock which sits in the nearby holly bush waiting for the bigger birds to fill up before he goes in to feed.

 

[laurence]

Bought Mrs frog a spotting scope and table tripod for Christmas. It arrived a week ago and we've nearly worn it out. Each of the 4 robins which come to feed in the garden are now recognisable because you can pick out individaul feathers in their plumeage!

My favourite is the single Dunnock which sits in the nearby holly bush waiting for the bigger birds to fill up before he goes in to feed.

ooooh... are you going to try digi-scoping?

(it's attaching a digital camera to the eyepiece to get close-up shots)

 

[Fnaar]

ooooh... are you going to try digi-scoping?

(it's attaching a digital camera to the eyepiece to get close-up shots)

Can we stick to birdwatching, please?

 

[laurence]

My favourite is the single Dunnock which sits in the nearby holly bush waiting for the bigger birds to fill up before he goes in to feed.

all this mention of Dunnocks made me look closer at a picture of a bird i saw at the wetlands centre. i thought it was a sparrow, but i'm now convinced it was a dunnock. i thought it was odd that it didn't hop around on the ground, but walked and scuttled. lovely bird. thanks guys.

 

[frog]

ooooh... are you going to try digi-scoping?

She doesn't know it yet but that's what we're working towards. First thing she said when she read the notes which came with was: 'Ooooh you can attach a camera to it'.

Like lambs to the slaughter