Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: mark smyth on December 10, 2010, 05:24:29 PM
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One of our golden eagles has been poisoned. People who do this should be poisoned too!
[url][http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/News/PoisonedGoldenEaglefoundinCoTyrone/tabid/1159/Default.aspx/url]
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Can someone give me an ID for this butterfly, please?
The photo is from a Czech garden in summer.....
[attach=1]
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Maggi,
It's a Map Butterfly (Araschina levana); highly variable apparently.
Here's a link with some more info: http://www.eurobutterflies.com/species_pages/levana.htm
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Thank you , Peter, very helpful. :-*
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How are bird numbers in your garden?
Last winter I had 50+ each of redpolls, Carduelis cabaret, and goldfinches, Carduelis carduelis. Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs, numbers were good. I had a few greenfinches, Carduelis chloris, but tits, Parus, were always almost absent.
This year numbers are way down. Redpolls and Goldfinches would be 10 of each on a good day. Chaffinches are still good. No greenfinches and tits can be counted in single numbers
I had a small flock of long-tailed tits, Aegithalos caudatus, pass through this week but they didnt recognise the food I have out
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brilliant bird photography http://www.markhancoxbirdphotography.co.uk/pages/galleries.php (http://www.markhancoxbirdphotography.co.uk/pages/galleries.php)
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In another thread, Mark wrote: "very short days for you two. How do birds cope with that? Do they all move away?"
Mark: You asked about how birds cope with the short days. I can't really answer that, but I've just had a look at all the bird reports in the last couple of weeks from the northernmost county in Norway (Finnmark) where daylength is zero (but there is nevertheless a long twilight). Just counting land birds, there were recorded as many as 21 species. Here they are: Blue Tit, Bullfinch, Willow Tit, Redpoll, House Sparrow, Greenfinch, Yellowhammer, Great Tit, Golden Eagle, Lapland Tit, Hooded Crow, Siberian Jay, Redwing, Magpie, Willow Grouse,Jay, Arctic Redpoll, Raven, Long tailed tit and Great Grey Shrike!
In a normal day here, I record 12-15 species feeding in my garden.
Despite the recent cold, the UK has a very mild climate for its latitude and the birds have it generally pretty good. However, I must admit that I always freeze when I visit England in winter, not because of poorly insulated houses, but mainly due to the high humidity which gives you the shivers (I almost never shiver here) and, secondary, the wind. I think that the humidity is often underrated as far as human discomfort is concerned and there should be a combined humidity/wind chill factor forecast...
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Last winter I had 50+ each of redpolls, Carduelis cabaret, and goldfinches, Carduelis carduelis. Chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs, numbers were good. I had a few greenfinches, Carduelis chloris, but tits, Parus, were always almost absent.
Redpolls are, at least here, notorious wanderers, varying enormously in numbers from year to year.
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/sokan.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/kki.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/zldi-1.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/cinege-1.jpg)
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I like your squash feeders
Stephen, it makes me wonder why our birds die in huge numbers during our winters when it snows yet your birds can survive
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I like your squash feeders
Stephen, it makes me wonder why our birds die in huge numbers during our winters when it snows yet your birds can survive
Mark, last winter many birds, especially in eastern parts of Norway, froze to death. Here almost the whole population of Eurasian Woodcock died of hunger. The soil was frozen even at the utmost skerries.
A lot of people feed the birds, but most of them find food in the forests.
I had a large horde of different species feeding in the garden, litterally hundreds of individuals.
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Stephen, I recognise your list of birds except Lapland Tit. What is the common or latin name for this species. Many thanks. Gary.
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Stephen, I recognise your list of birds except Lapland Tit. What is the common or latin name for this species. Many thanks. Gary.
Sorry, it's the Siberian Tit in English (Lappmeis in Norwegian, which confused me...)
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Stephen, I recognise your list of birds except Lapland Tit. What is the common or latin name for this species. Many thanks. Gary.
Sorry, it's the Siberian Tit in English (Lappmeis in Norwegian, which confused me...)
I'll add: Lappmeis (Poecile cinctus syn. Parus cinctus)
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lappmeis
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I have not heard of the Siberian tit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_Tit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_Tit) it looks very like our coal tit Periparus ater,
willow tit Poecile montanus and marsh tit Poecile palustris
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I see both coal, marsh and willow tit in my garden, but only occasionally as they are mostly forest birds.
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I like your squash feeders
Stephen, it makes me wonder why our birds die in huge numbers during our winters when it snows yet your birds can survive
As Trond says, there's of course quite high mortality here too, but this varies a lot between species. However, the Yellowhammer population in Northern Norway is no doubt more hardy than the Norfolk Yellowhammers that I watched in the 1970s! The Yellowhammer is one species which is very much helped here by people putting out food, but they certainly find food naturally too. I have a flock of about 20 on my feeder every day, but I've seen a flock of 200 birds feeding in the oat fields here recently. It's a good old tradition here to put out a sheath of oats (called julenek) for the Yellowhammers (see http://bilder.vgb.no/11287/3col/img_4950eb3dae309.jpg (http://bilder.vgb.no/11287/3col/img_4950eb3dae309.jpg)) and I still get locals coming around selling these at the door! Julenek is "Slow Food" for the birds....
Incidentally, I've often wondered if feeding birds on the scale that is practised in the UK is actually good for the birds - maybe it makes them less capable of finding natural food (more susceptible to cold weather?); the bird food if it isn't scraps has to be produced somewhere on a pretty large scale (largely non-organically - how does this effect the local populations?); cats take many garden birds. It's great entertainment though for us!
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200 yellow yornies wow! I can count all I have seen on one hand
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A programme has just started on BBC2 about our butterflies. The first few minutes showed them flying in very slow motion
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I see both coal, marsh and willow tit in my garden, but only occasionally as they are mostly forest birds.
same tit family live in the nearby gardens, even I have a family living in the garden
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szap.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szkp.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/vrsbegy.jpg)
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Arykana you feed steak to the birds?
I have changed the food I feed my wild birds. I stopped feeding Nyger because it makes a mess when the goldfinches, siskins and redpolls look for the ?heaviest seed. I now feed them kibbled, chopped, sunflower hearts in the Nyger feeder. There is no mess because the chaffinches, blackbirds and robin eat what falls.
Nyger is cheaper than sunflower seeds!
Nyger Ģ7.50 for 2.5kg
sunflower hearts Ģ9 for 2.5kg
kibbled sunflower hearts Ģ9.50 for 2.5kg
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Ouch Mark, that's expensive. Sunflower hearts in our local garden centre are Ģ5.99 for 2.5kg
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Sunflower hearts, what is that? Seed without seedcoats?
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That's correct Hoy.
Martin that's mail order so postage included. It's easier just now to buy from England than get to the local garden centre who are snowed in
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A programme has just started on BBC2 about our butterflies. The first few minutes showed them flying in very slow motion
The butterflies here are very slow for the time beeing
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Butterflies a very British Obsession
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00wwbm4/Natural_World_20102011_Butterflies_A_Very_British_Obsession/ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00wwbm4/Natural_World_20102011_Butterflies_A_Very_British_Obsession/)
featuring Butterfly World in ?north London
http://www.butterflyworldproject.com/ (http://www.butterflyworldproject.com/)
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Re food for birds: I have recently started giving my hens rolled barley as a supplement and find the wild birds love it. At around 8 euro per 25 Kilo it is very good value.
Paddy
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Re food for birds: I have recently started giving my hens rolled barley as a supplement and find the wild birds love it. At around 8 euro per 25 Kilo it is very good value.
Paddy
A farming friend rolls his own for cattle and there is always a lot of chaffinches in his yearyard - goodness that was a terrible spelling mistake> what was I thinking
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(http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z264/plantsnobin/IMG_4539.jpg)
I grow many plants just for the butterflies, and often bring caterpillars inside so the kids can watch the life cycle-two years in a row I had a butterfly emerge in February. I felt bad about it, with nothing for it to eat. As you can see here, there was snow on the ground, but it was a warm and sunny day, so I let it flutter away, to at least live a free life, if short.
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A farming friend rolls his own for cattle and there is always a lot of chaffinches in his
yearyard - goodness that was a terrible spelling mistake. What was I thinking!
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Mark I have just read your item on the death of the golden eagle. If only the person who did it sees the report and realises what he has done may save others in the future from the same death which must be horrific.
This thread has reminded me that a few weeks ago there were quite a few bee eaters flying around. The most I have ever seen in our area. I had thought that they were the usual barn swallows that roost here.
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Not lucky enough to have such bird-life at home, but fortunate to live so very near from two of the most important wetlands in Spain: La Albufera de Valencia, and the Marjal de los Moros - Moorish Marsh (sounds like a tonue-twister in english!), this last one extending from Puzol (where I work) and Sagunto (where I live). It is always worth visiting, but winter is a good time as hundreds of birds come here avoiding colder temperatures from centre and north Europe.I love to go there as often as I can, as you find almost eveyday some surprise: on saturday, a lovely white medal bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) will never know how happy it made me. A small flock of flamingoes (Phoenicopterus ruber) stood, as elegant as only they can be, in a distant shallow pool. A group of more than ten purple gallinules (Porphyrio porphyrio) hid suddenly, like rioters in an unauthorized, illegal meeting when police is seen And lagoons were full of life: coots (Fulica atra), moorhens (Galinula cholorpus) and lots of ducks, mainly mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) but also many shovelers (Anas clypeata) with their showy and distinctive white and brown sides, and wigeons (Anas penelope) with their untirable whistling calls.
Sorry for the awful qualty of the pictures: not a very good camera (nor cameraman, I should say...)
Pics are: a) white medal Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica), b) Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), c) and d) various ducks and moorhens (see how distinctive male shovelers are).
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Mark, Iīm very sorry about the death of the Golden Eagle. Here in Spain every year we read of raptors, vultures and carnivores poisoned. Even bears suffer from illegal deaths: todayīs population is app. 100 bears. In 11 years, more than 8 bears dead poisoned and a few were found killed or injured by weapons or traps. Wolves are hunted and lynx (Lynx pardinus) finds his territory more deteriorated. Thereīs still a lot to do, too many minds to open.
I watched your link to swifts. Great page! Iīll try to put some nest at home and see if they like it. Every year, especially at the end of their season, we find some almost fully grown chicken on the street. Fortunately, you ust need to pick them up, climb to the highest place you can and cast it as high as you can. Then, invariably, they begin to fly in circles, everyone higher than the former until they dissappear.
Have you seen Alpine swifts (Apus melba)? Their flapping is so strong, you can hear them approaching even if you are not seing them!
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Sorry: I forgot to include a pic of a fully grown chick of comon swift (Apus apus) just before being released.
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Juan so good to live beside a fantastic place for wild birds. Male shovelers are very well dressed.
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&off=280757&r=1&st=0&q=0 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&off=280757&r=1&st=0&q=0)
They have a very distinct sound from their wings when they fly
Pat and Juan 10% of our reintroduced birds of prey, sea eagle, golden eagle and red kite, are killed every year. The first golden eagle chick to hatch and fledge in 100 years was killed when only 10 months of age.
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Sorry: I forgot to include a pic of a fully grown chick of comon swift (Apus apus) just before being released.
Juan,
I hope you didn't take the lemur up as high as you could and throw it into the air. ;)
Perhaps you chose the wrong photo?
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A real disgrace your golden eagle chick then...
Well, about my last pick, itīs not an endemic subespecie of common swift as you might have thought ;), but a picture of a Red-bellied lemur (Eleumur rubriventer) I took in Biopark (Valencia)
Send the correct one.
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One of our golden eagles has been poisoned. People who do this should be poisoned too!
[url][http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/News/PoisonedGoldenEaglefoundinCoTyrone/tabid/1159/Default.aspx/url]
Sorry to hear that .
Magnificent bird.
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Very good pics Juan!
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The swift is one of my favourite birds
Juan it is very easy to attract swifts especially if they already nest close to your house. You need to have your nest boxes built and put up before April and play the CD, I can send you a copy, in early May.
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I saw an otter today which is a rare sight at 2 in the afternoon
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Fox take away:
As the fields around our garden were planted with wheat this year it has been a bumper year for rats and mice. As I have hens and ducks I don't like using poison to kill the rats and so use traps instead. However, I have to tie the traps to stakes so that when the fox comes to take away the dead rats and mice he doesn't run off with my traps as well.
It's working well, I'm killing the rats and feeding the foxes - hopefully, they will leave my hens and ducks alone. So far, they have failed to get into them.
Paddy
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photos of some of my goldfinches taken through the window today
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A nice group Mark (& serious feeders 8)). We have 2-3 goldfinches regularly but greenfinch numbers are well down on previous years, presumably due to disease. Goldcrest numbers have also collapsed since the harsh weather last January :(
A group of 9-10 long-tailed tits passed through in the last few days but never come to the feeders. We've also seen our first blackcap of the winter (male), but no siskins yet.
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Ashley I have 9 feeders that have a total of 35 places for the goldfinches to feed from. I have only one siskin and one greenfinch. They have eaten 5kg of sunflower hearts in the last week. What are you feeding yours?
I had a party of long-tailed tits come through last week but they didnt recognise the food
Down my estate someone has masses of linnets feeding at Nyger feeders but no other finches.
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I tried to buy some rolled barley from the internet. It was Ģ4 for a 25 kg bag, very reasonable I thought, but the postage was Ģ20. So I didn't. There are no agricultural suppliers in my neck of the woods and it still impossible to get out as the hills are frozen.
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Mark! An otter! I would be trembling of emotion all day if I see one!
Iīll do my best to put some nest for swifts this winter, but Iīm afraid all buildings around are new, and I havenīt any sign of breeding... My mother has a nest in her balcony in the narrow gap beetween the door and the blind. Every year I get down on my knees to beg for their pardon, as my family, at the begining of their breeding season, want to cover the gap. Fortunately, I always win (mainly because in fact they also love them...). Pity they are so shy they are always hidden inside...
Arykana: thank you for your compliments, but their quality can be compared with yours...
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I saw an otter today which is a rare sight at 2 in the afternoon
Wow, good sighting! Are they not diurnal there, as they are here?
I've only seen river otters on a couple of occasions, playing in a couple of streams in Prince Albert N.P. in Saskatchewan. (Err, and a few sea otters out on the coast, also during the day...) (Or did I misread your comment... that the otter that you happened to see at 2pm would be rare at any time... ???) Well, whichever... must have been nice to see!
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Dear Arykana: I meant that my pictures CANīT be compared with yours. Mine are almost invariabily out of focus. Gosh, I must have sound quite like a
pedantic jerk...
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Juan when I started attracting swifts there were none in my area
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Dear Arykana: I meant that my pictures CANīT be compared with yours. Mine are almost invariabily out of focus. Gosh, I must have sound quite like a
pedantic jerk...
;D ;D ;D ;D relax and praktice
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The swift is one of my favourite birds
Juan it is very easy to attract swifts especially if they already nest close to your house. You need to have your nest boxes built and put up before April and play the CD, I can send you a copy, in early May.
Mark,
Are there any reports about attracting sparrows by the same way to nest ? They became very rare here and it was told that the recent hard winter will reduce the population here severely.
Gerd
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Gerd some people in England have found that sparrows will readily use swift nest boxes.
The local sparrow population was in serious decline but over the last few years their winter roost grew to about 200. In the last freeze a few weeks ago I had many coming to my garden to feed on spilt seeds but now none come.
I dont know where the numerous collared doves have gone
Today I saw a wood pigeon fly over the house with a foot hanging below the body encased in snow and maybe ice
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I dont know where to put this link but I think here is OK
Eggs to put a smile on your face
http://www.nipoultry.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8679703 (http://www.nipoultry.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8679703)
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lol Good place to post it: if you would have posted in Cookīs corner, eggs would have got even more scared about their future...
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Gerd some people in England have found that sparrows will readily use swift nest boxes.
Thank you Mark. I'm going to hang up a special 'sparrow-nest-box' - called in German 'Sperlingskoloniehaus'. Its a combination of three boxes with a special entrance.
I hope there will be sparrows here after this harsh winter.
Gerd
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I dont know where to put this link but I think here is OK
Eggs to put a smile on your face
http://www.nipoultry.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8679703 (http://www.nipoultry.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=8679703)
Good for an eggtra laugh.
Thanks
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Uhm I think we must have all the sparrows in Australia - that is if they are the same as your sparrow.
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Gerd, I know people with the 3 chamber sparrow box and all they get is one pair. Maybe other forum members have experience with the sparrow terrace
Pat, yes they are ours. Can we have them back, please
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These pics were taken through the kitchen window,and yes I know I need to Clean the windows but it is too cold outside.
Feeding frenzy
Male blackbird=Turdus merula
Redwing =Turdus iliacus & Common starling = Sturnus vulgaris
Female blackbird=Turdus merula
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Gerd, I know people with the 3 chamber sparrow box and all they get is one pair. Maybe other forum members have experience with the sparrow terrace
Pat, yes they are ours. Can we have them back, please
Mark, I'will be lucky with one couple - better than none! We'll see.
Gerd
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1.4 million small birds trapped in Cyprus to make a controversial dish of pickled or boiled songbirds
http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/267412-cypriot-bird-trappers-flock-to-british-military-base (http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/267412-cypriot-bird-trappers-flock-to-british-military-base)
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Michael I have been feeding chick crumbs to the thrush family in my garden
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Just heard on a bird report that hundreds of skylarks are at a site beside the sea in County Down. At least 600 are at a site near Portrush on the north coast.
Lots of
bramblings being reported http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=281083 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=281083)
woodcock in gardens
and short-eared owlshttp://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=279445 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=279445)
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Michael, good to see different species through your windows!
Mark: same problem as with Cyprus happen with Malta: it is such a good spot for the birds to stop in the middle of their Mediterranean cross during Spring/Autumm migrations... Hunters kill thousands birds every year: raptors, insectivores... And nothing is done.
What a sight must be those larks...
Tjhis early morning I went to see the marsh, and I was rewarded by the sight of
- common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) picture 1 and 2 (fishing in one of the channels)
- The rare Squacco heron (Ardeola ralloides), and even rarer as a wintering heron (picture 3 and 4)
- Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) picture 5
- Great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) resting and drying on o wall after fishing (picture 6)
Also there were some Crag martins (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) wich I couldnīt photograph, the only member of the Hirundidae wintering here.
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And some pics of Sterlings. In Spain there are two species of Starlings: the sedentary Spotless Starling (Sturnus unicolor), wich inhabits mainly villages and towns (they have increased their territory, and now occupies almost all the Iberian Peninsula) and the Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and almost unknown breeding here until the ī60s, now counting some thousands pairs, but a very very abundant wintering, offering impressive shows when roosting in cities. Pictures were taking of birds coming to roost in the huge Ficus trees of Valencia. Iīve tried to post video without success.
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Juan I like your proverb
It is strange seeing your starling without spots http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=226457 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?v=1&f=226457)
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Very nice picture of the Spotless Starling Mark: thank you for your search!. Itīs indeed a lovely bird, with very beautiful reflects on its feathers. Every year we find some almost fully grown chicks on the street (relax: Iīm not going to post a pic of another lemur to be cast up in the air... ;D). Iīll try to take some picture of them next year. Itīs very funny to hear, above all in Spring, "frogs" singing from the tv antenna on the roof .Well, frogs or whatever you can think of: any interesting sound suceptible of being imitated, will be imitated by these bird.
I, again, have failed in posting pictures: the grey heron (Ardea cinerea) was missing (wich should have been picure 5), sorry :-[. There must be a black hole in my computer (well, in fact the black hole must be in my head...)
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Some pictures of winter wildfowl from the East Lothian coast. There is a wildfowling ban in operation now to help birds through the severe weather so it is important not to disturb them as they then burn up what reserves they have. First wigeon flying over frozen saltmarsh where they would normally be grazing. Next teal which would usually be in among reeds. Third drake mallard on ice showing how colourful this common species is in sunlight. Then two mallard feeding by upending. Goldeneye drake and then two ducks which are less vulnerable as diving ducks do not feed on land. Person feeding hungry birds - note that some are better able to benefit than others. Greylag geese on ice -these are feral birds now increasing in SE Scotland but at least they are a native species. Canada geese are also increasing and a concern as they interbreed with greylags to produce odd hybrids as in the last picture.
SdP
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Great set of photos
The river that runs through my town was totally frozen over right out a couple of 100m in to Lough Neagh. No-one to feed the ducks and swans there. I met a couple in Asda who were buying multigrain bred for them. Hopefully crowds arrive tomorrow because of the fast thaw that is happening now
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I told you about a field over here with 600 skylarks. The number grew to c800 :o.
http://nibirds.blogspot.com/2010/12/impact-of-cold-weather.html (http://nibirds.blogspot.com/2010/12/impact-of-cold-weather.html)
I also read that the guy who reported the huge numbers on the coast bought mixed seeds to feed them
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Stan: nice pics! So showy the Goldeneye male! Itīs a very rare wintering bird here in Spain, and mainly in the north. Hybridizations between native and foreign birds can sometimes be a real problem. We have a hard case here in Spain: the very rare White-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala), a very curiously billed duck wich has very often its tail held in vertical, and has in Spain their only european distribution- Census in 1977 showed as few birds as 22, but due to different projects (mainly thanks to the "Amigos de la Malvasía" (friends of the white-headed duck) group), numbers increased to more than 1,000 and then in the year 2000, 4,500 birds were counted. Now, one of the worst problem is that they hybridize with the Ruddy duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), wich come as an allien bird from introduced birds in Europe, and spreading their range in Spain since 1980īs. When will we learn to respect nature, and let her do her work as she has been doing for over 4,500 million years...
Mike: sorry to hear your cold problems keep causing so many problems. 800 larks together... what a sight it must be! Great for the people helping!
Edit:for information, the photo below of the white headed duck is from the internet.
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Juan you will be happy to know that N Ireland has almost removed all of out wild Ruddy duck. It's estimated that only 10 are alive
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Are you ready to laugh?
http://www.funvid.eu/index.php?page=videos§ion=view&vid_id=105541 (http://www.funvid.eu/index.php?page=videos§ion=view&vid_id=105541)
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Mark,
I showed this to my son about a week ago and he thought it wasn't funny at all. Eighteen and sensitive!
He was also a little upset on Christmas Eve when I decided that "Big Frank" a cock Jersey Giant was getting a little too much for some of our older hens. We had tolerated him when he was younger but he was passing into adulthood and was stamping his authority on our group of hens. Big Frank, had started life as "Tulip", hatched from eggs received from friends, but showed his true colours after some weeks but we were living in hope that he would not be too much of a bully. He was a very big cock but now no longer with us.
Paddy
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Mark, itīs a really good new to know that you are getting rid of Russy ducks! I forgot to say the pic of the Malvasía, white-headed duck was not mine-this is the only picture not being shot by me: I thought the link was not sent. And those little ducks, mmm, I think they could get injured.
Paddy: Iīm very fond of hens so would you have by a chance any picture of your "Poor Saint" Jersey Giant?
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More snaps from the local coast. Waders feed in the intertidal zone so are less affected by snow than many other birds but they do need to take in more food to keep functioning. Oystercatchers preparing to roost over high tide. Curlew with the longest bill of the lot so it can probe deeper. Bar-tailed godwit probably from northern Russia. Redshank probing in mud. Grey plover - short bill means it looks for, then grabs prey at the surface of the mud rather than probe; also from the high Arctic. Skylarks driven to look for seeds on the beach. Male reed bunting looking for seeds in the snow. Female blackbird eating the last berries on a hawthorn. Fieldfares on sea-buckthorn (Elaeagnus rhanmnoides) sometimes called the baked bean bush. In hard weather there can be thouands on the buckthorn.
SdP
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Hmm, the weather station says another major storm for January 3rd - a Monday. That will be 5 Mondays in a row.
Calm here, sun trying to peak through, the latest storm was somewhat of a non-event in the city.
johnw - +4c
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More wonderful photos, Stan...... I wonder why I feel the watery ones are actually "colder" than the snowy ones? No sense in that, is there?
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Great set of pictures, Stan! Mediterranean sea has no appreciable tides (the less appreciable the further you get from the Gibraltar Strait and the influence of the Atlantic Ocean), so those rich intertidal places do not exist where I live though they can be found in southwest and above all up in the north of Spain, where birdwatching is said to be very exciting in winter with many rare birds being recorded each year above all coinciding with the worst winter storms (by the way John: good luck with your announced storm...)
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Great pictures, Stan which brought back memories of when I was a student in Edinburgh and winter bird watching cycle rides to Aberlady from Balerno where I lived from 1977-81! Am I right that you were involved with the Scottish Orniothological Club in Edinburgh - used to go to meetings in the Grassmarket I think (or was that RSPB)?
Nice to see the Reed Bunting - I'd forgotten they were around all year - a summer visitor here...
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Juan,
I've looked and can't find any photographs of my "Jersey Giants". I will have to take some and post some other time. For now, here are some of the other hens.
Paddy
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Thank you Paddy! Your birds look great (and the enviroment! By the way: you wonīt need a spanish, dwarf hen-keeper,will you ;)) I know hens are not the most elgant bird you can think of, but there is something about them that makes them as totally cool for me... My partner gave me as a present a hen for our 7th. anniversary (some 14 years ago...time is really running!) a hen very similar to those in your picture (thatīs why I have remebered this), and we called her "Seven". She stayed with us until a "lovely" neighbor told us to get rid of it, because her clucking disturbed her too much... Even though I donīt live there anymore, that has been my last experience with hens. However, I try to know native varities. In La Vecilla, Leon province, north of Spain and the villages around them, they have particular varieties, "Pardo" and "Indio", wich are very sought-after to make the wings of insects to fish trouts. The cocks are fabulous, and the hens are very very special. Thank you again for sharing!
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Stan
Thank you very much for pictures of pretty birds! Most of all I like the one with long nose.
Our woods are still frozen after icy rain. I go for feeding birds every day.
(http://cs10288.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_13b6d25e.jpg)
(http://cs10288.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_f5574a1e.jpg)
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Beautiful pictures Olga! Lovely contrast the colourful spots of the tits with the naked enviroment.
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Paddy your duck is very clean. Do you have a stream in your garden?
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Mark,
When I leave them out of their run they make straight for the pond and spend lots of time there ducking and splashing.
Paddy
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Nothing worse than a dirty duck
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Our woods are still frozen after icy rain. I go for feeding birds every day.
Olga, thank you for your pics of the great and blue tit!
I have the two of them here together with tree- and house sparrows, robins, yellowhammers, blackbirds and some more. I too feed them every day. I tried to take some pictures but I can't get near them. They are afraid due to many cats here.
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I've just been down to have a look at the frozen Lough Neagh. The ice is as far as I can see and even further with binoculars. I spoke to someone who could see the lake from their house and they said all they could see was white (snow) as far as they could see. They river through the town is higher than normal and it's crazy to see lumps over ice coming down from up stream. Out in Lough Neagh lumps of ice are collecting like a beach strandline.
Because Lough Neagh is so badly frozen water is going to rationed. We get our water from it.
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Here is the line where the river has dumped ice on top of ice. What looks like water is ice covered with water
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Masses of hungry mallard and swans at Antrim marina recorded by me this afternoon
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmFmL_5sdBE[/youtube]
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Mark,
Even the idea of L. Neagh being frozen is such an affront to our expectations. Did we ever imagine we would see a frozen river or lake in Ireland?
The collection of swans and ducks is amazing. Obviously, somebody is feeding them for them to be there in such numbers.
I was in Limerick for Christmas and saw large numbers of redwind and fieldfare in the city, feeding on hawthorn and rowan.
Paddy
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Mark,
An article from the Irish Independent re ice threatening a bridge in Co. Donegal:
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/alert-as-glacierlike-ice-flow-threatens-bridge-2475710.html
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My father told me that in the 60s people drove across Lough Neagh and Lough Beg.
One more video from today
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctUIjWLghfM[/youtube]
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That's bad Paddy. I just checked Youtube for videos but no one has posted any
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Because Lough Neagh is so badly frozen water is going to rationed. We get our water from it.
Our water is taken from a frozen lake (2700daa) too - from 60m under the surface. It's not necessary to ration the water here!
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I've just been told by family friends that someone drove a quad 1.5 miles / 2.4km on to the ice on Lough Neagh. Lough Neagh is about 10 miles 15km across
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I am obviously getting older and even more grumpy but the thought of someone driving a quad out onto a frozen lake, or people walking onto frozen lakes/rivers, strikes me as the perfect example of idiocy, total lunacy. How often do we see the rescue services being called out to deal with the results of this foolishness and people putting their lives at risk in order to rescue them.
Paddy
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Very true Paddy.
A friend who went down to Antrim marina yesterday estimated ice to be 6-9 inches deep
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Nothing worse than a dirty duck
A grubby goose? :D
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maybe a dirty drake muscovey
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Very true Paddy.
A friend who went down to Antrim marina yesterday estimated ice to be 6-9 inches deep
Twice when I have lived here the fjord has frozen over. Both times people drive cars on to the ice. 6 - 9 inches won't break for a car!
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Hoy,
It is a very new experience for us and 6 - 9 inches of ice is simply something I have never experienced. In the last few years we have had colder weather and some thick ice and have had people getting into difficulties by going out onto the ice. I suppose, I treat it with a certain caution.
Paddy
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Hoy,
It is a very new experience for us and 6 - 9 inches of ice is simply something I have never experienced. In the last few years we have had colder weather and some thick ice and have had people getting into difficulties by going out onto the ice. I suppose, I treat it with a certain caution.
Paddy
Paddy, that's quite understandable! Although we should be used to icecovered lakes and tarns some people drown every year because they do not pay attention when walking (or rather skating or skiing) onto the ice. Outlets and inlets are always dangerous indeed.
At the west coast where i live now almost all but the deepest lakes are icecovered but that don't happen every year. In the east and north however lakes freeze over every winter.
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I don't know whether I should be putting wildlife pics in here, as it is most definitely NOT winter here. If they should be elsewhere, could Maggi please move them? Thanks. 8)
A common brown butterfly (no idea of the name, it is just brown and very common here). Very big year for butterflies this year. They're everywhere!! Rain makes such a difference.
A few pics of some damsel flies that I managed to capture on camera in the last couple of days. So rare for the little blighters to hold still long enough to photograph them. ;D
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Hello Paul,
Nice to see some butterflies and damsel flies! Although some butterflies and a lot of moths usually are out in winter here, this winter has been too cold for them.
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Lovely flutterby. It must have recently hatched because it is perfect condition. A quick Google brought up these
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/nymp/nymp.html (http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/nymp/nymp.html)
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Are you teasing by saying it's a common brown ;) I think it is a Common Brown
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Mark,
If you're saying that that is it's official name, then someone obviously had no imagination. ::) Yes, it is common, and yes, it is brown, but they could have come up with something a bit more distinctive couldn't they? ???
I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. Like I said, they don't often stay quiet long enough for me to photograph them. I too was amazed by just how pristine the butterfly was. 8)
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No butterflies but hoards of dinosaurs!
Here are some pics of the wildlife through my window. I can't go out, the birds are too afraid due to lots of neighbour's cats lurking in the bushes.
The window pane makes the Pics not the best quality.
Flock of sparrows and yellow hammers.
Yellow hammer, house and tree sparrows.
Yellowhammers in the "fuglenek" (bunch of oat).
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Paul can we have more shots of butterflies please.
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Paul can we have more shots of butterflies please.
I'd expected something "harder" than butterflies from a Forrest supporter :P
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Paul can we have more shots of butterflies please.
I'd expected something "harder" than butterflies from a Forrest supporter :P
David that fair made me chuckle. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Davey,
If I can get some of the little blighters to hold still long enough to photograph them, I'll happily post some more butterfly photos. ;D It is the getting them to hold still for my crappy camera skills that is the problem!! ::) Flowers are generally easy as they tend to "mostly" cooperate and not move around..... unless it is windy of course. :o Unsettled weather the next couple of days so I don't know what the butterfly masses will be doing, but I'll see what I can come up with. 8)
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Mark,
If you're saying that that is it's official name, then someone obviously had no imagination. ::) Yes, it is common, and yes, it is brown, but they could have come up with something a bit more distinctive couldn't they? ???
I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. Like I said, they don't often stay quiet long enough for me to photograph them. I too was amazed by just how pristine the butterfly was. 8)
I agree Paul. No imagination, but then we do have the 'common blue' hear in the UK!