Your day's wildlife

[gbb]

Driving back from Skegness, Little Egret somewhere near Spalding.

 

[Cyclist33]

Spent two hours getting up close and personal with a cormorant!

 

[slowmotion]

Mrs Tit has laid quite a few eggs. She buries them deep in the nest during the day and sits on them at night. It's quite hard to get a clear view of them but here she was earlier today.

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View: https://vimeo.com/124673856
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[Tail End Charlie]

Slowmotion, that is beyond the call of duty!! Filming at 0200 and posting at 0405!

 

[Tail End Charlie]

There were some interesting (to me) things on the ride today.
A Common Buzzard soaring over Bramhall/Hazel Grove. It just goes to show how strong the population is these days that you get them in suburban areas
A pair of Oystercatchers in a field. Always such a smart looking bird
A weasel ran across the road in front of the bike. I don't think I've ever seen one when I've been on foot but quite a few when on the bike. I suspect I startle them. When I'm on foot they've got plenty of opportunity to disappear
A swallow. First of the Spring for me. The amazing thing was that it wasn't in the Cheshire lowlands that I went to first. It was the top of Pym's Chair at about 1500ft above sea level
Loads of Chiffchaffs singing but not a single Willow Warbler yet, despite cycling through lots of promising habitat

Hey, I was at the top of Pym's chair yesterday! Didn't see a swallow though, more's the pity.

 

[nickyboy]

Hey, I was at the top of Pym's chair yesterday! Didn't see a swallow though, more's the pity.

q1 Did you cycle up?

q2 If you did, which way did you cycle up?

I came up the Jenkins Chapel - Pyms Chair route. Horrible, just horrible

I didn't see the swallow but I heard it singing as it flew past. I had just made it to the top so I didn't have the strength to lift my head up

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I did cycle up, but came up past Windgather rocks (the easy, well easier, way). I'll check out the swallow call on my app and listen out.
I've got "bird watching with your eyes closed" by Simon Barnes. It's up to his usual standards, he has a way with describing things, I particularly like his description of a chaffinch call having a sneeze at the end.
I'm enjoying listening out for birdsong, the thin, lispy ones I can't tell yet but have got some of the others.

 

[nickyboy]

I did cycle up, but came up past Windgather rocks (the easy, well easier, way). I'll check out the swallow call on my app and listen out.
I've got "bird watching with your eyes closed" by Simon Barnes. It's up to his usual standards, he has a way with describing things, I particularly like his description of a chaffinch call having a sneeze at the end.
I'm enjoying listening out for birdsong, the thin, lispy ones I can't tell yet but have got some of the others.

Windgather Rocks is still hard and must have been a tough headwind (I flew down there). Getting a handle on the songs (at this time of the year) and calls (at other times) of the commoner species makes for an enjoyable experience when riding the bike. I must have heard at least 20 species singing yesterday. eg Nuthatches are hard to see, almost impossible when riding the bike. I must have heard at least a dozen singing

 

[Alex H]

A Hoopoe stopped by for a dust bath in the really dry soil under the barn overhang (along with a few dozen sparrows)

 

[annedonnelly]

I did cycle up, but came up past Windgather rocks (the easy, well easier, way). I'll check out the swallow call on my app and listen out.
I've got "bird watching with your eyes closed" by Simon Barnes. It's up to his usual standards, he has a way with describing things, I particularly like his description of a chaffinch call having a sneeze at the end.
I'm enjoying listening out for birdsong, the thin, lispy ones I can't tell yet but have got some of the others.

I'm a fan of Simon Barnes but haven't seen that book. Something to look out for! I've got a BTO bird song CD and also the Sound Approach book & CDs but I've never spent enough time listening to them. One day...

 

[Mo1959]

more swallows and this pair are definitely a pair... DAMHIK

View attachment 85337

Not the best photo but I only had the compact camera with me and this was taken whilst moving as well.

Still haven't seen my first swallow yet. Should be any day now.

 

[slowmotion]

Slowmotion, that is beyond the call of duty!! Filming at 0200 and posting at 0405!

I've only got a £15 video capture card to get the images into my PC. I have to sit with my finger poised over the "record button". If you spend more money you can get systems that automatically dump images to your hard drive when the image changes substantially, ie when there's some action going on. The net result is that you end up with hours and hours of footage that you have to sift through and edit. Not my idea of fun.

 

[Crackle]

Jackdaws: I always think they're Rooks until I look them up and realize I've mixed them up again. Don't ever see any around here, so I'm always happy to watch them when I go somewhere and see them. Not having cyclist33's patience, I only stalked them long enough for 1 shot.

 

[Dave 123]

I'm at the in laws for the weekend in Wembury in Devon.
Mrs Dave talking to me while the in laws are there....
Mrs Dave- "blah blah..... What are you looking at?
I am looking at the two small birds feeding the other side of the patio door 4 foot away.
"He's looking at the yellowhammers, they've been coming for a couple of years" says my father in law.
Me- "those yellowhammers are cirl bunting..."

Imagine having cirl bunting as a regular garden bird!

 

[annedonnelly]

Female blackbird nicking mud from the garden pond to line her nest.
Sparrows are trying to get seed heads from the reeds. Land on the reed - sparrow is too heavy so the reed bends over taking the sparrow with it. Sparrow pulls the fluffy seed heads off and drops them. Flies down to the ground to pick them up and take them away. I assume they're using the fluffy bits in their nests.