Wildlife November 2010

[ArnoldT]

I once went to Sotherby's Auction House in Manhattan to see the entire collection of Gould's Birds.  The humming birds and toucans were stunning.  I think he used real gold leaf in some of the prints.

The prices were equally stunning.

[Stephenb]

I always thought that a Norwegian Blue was a parrot - at least that was the description in Monty Python "dead parrot" sketch !!

You shouldn't believe what you see on television, TC! Well, I'm sorry to disillusion you. John Cleese got it wrong; we don't have parrots over here!  It was a canary suffering from parrotisis.

[Stan da Prato]

Four photos of Waxwings taken today in East Lothian.
Stan

[Ragged Robin]

Wow what a fantastic sight, brilliantly captured 

[Maggi Young]

Super photos, Stan, of these delightful birds. Who could resist their cheeky little faces and chatty calls?

[Paul T]

How COOL are those birds!!!!    I know we have our own share of beauties (parrots, finches, etc), but the waxwings are so very cool. 

[Stephenb]

That's where they arè! I haven't seen a Waxwing for almost 2 weeks now here. The strange thing is that there's still plenty of berries around. So what is the mystic force that has driven them southwards, I wonder?  I was going to ask for them back, but today I saw a flock of 30 Goldfinches which are much rarer here and they have a similar colour scheme, so we're all happy then!

[Graham Catlow]

so we're all happy then!

Not quite Stephen. I still haven't seen one - ever.
Would someone direct them towards Corstorphine in Edinburgh please!

[mark smyth]

In the programme I'm a celeb .... trials. What are those spiders that appear almost daily? They are like giant house spiders

[Armin]

So what is the mystic force that has driven them southwards, I wonder?

Stephen,
maybe Waxwings and other birds can feel bad weather fronts and flee early enough?
Just saw in TV evening news temperatures will drop to -15°C tonight in Norway. Brrrr...cold.

Stan, great shots

[Stephenb]

So what is the mystic force that has driven them southwards, I wonder?

Stephen,
maybe Waxwings and other birds can feel bad weather fronts and flee early enough?
Just saw in TV evening news temperatures will drop to -15°C tonight in Norway. Brrrr...cold.

Yes, I'm sure they can sense weather changes to a certain extent, but these are birds that can overwinter in areas with regular winter temperatures lower than -30C given sufficient food. However, these irruption years are well known - Scandinavia can completely empty of Waxwings in such years despite there being masses of rowan berries available. It seems that the birds have this collective genetic impulse to take a holiday in considerably warmer areas (I know another species which also responds collectively to a similar impulse  ) ...

We're having the coldest November for about 60 years here it seems and it's now about 3 weeks since the snow fell and not a single day above 0C since. The forecast for the next week is maximum temperatures of between -15 and -20C (with almost no sunshine that's also the minimum temperature). There was an article in the newspaper today that it is believed that these last two cold winters could be a permanent change caused by the thinning and disappearance of the sea ice in the Arctic resulting in changes in the atmospheric circulation. It is too early to prove or disprove this theory, but it certainly is worrying... I understand a Polar Low (Arctic Hurricane) is on its way south towards the UK and the North Sea....

A picture below showing the year's first serious sea smoke, a sure sign that it is below -15C

 

[annew]

Waxwings arrived here yesterday, but haven't tempted them into my garden yet.

[Armin]

Stephen,
thats indeed a very cold November. If there is enough food and you have the joice... probably for the Waxwings and other species it is more convienient to overwinter in a warmer areas rather then to endure -30°C.

The polar low front arrived here too with a smackof snow and with night temperatures of -2°C. But this is actual +10°C above what was predicted by the weather frogs 2 days ago...
To forecast exact weather is a real science of its own!