The Bird Thread

Come on specifics.

U liek Beardies.

i saw this nuts video on YT the other day of a sparrohawk attack

how the hell did they film it? it looks almost fake in places

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra6I6svXQPg&ab_channel=BBC

I think is legit. Seem to remember vaguely.

Would have thought either tame bird or known hunting territory with high speed motion traps.

Friend took this today outside his flat in Leyton, lovely stuff

Edit: probably less lovely for the pigeon

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Nothing fancy today, just an Egyptian Goose, a Canada Goose and a couple of swans.

Need to get back down the marshes.

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Just a bluetit here, scope for more exciting use in the wild maybe.

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nice setup!

over the moon today, had some long tail tits in the tree. My favourite of all the tits (fnar fnar). Photos are a bit dark, but you get the idea.

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White-fronted Goose in Hyde Park. There's been an influx from Russia in the last few days.

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Never thought I'd see that.

First time spotting a Grey Wagtail in the garden!

This used to be such a peaceful place ...

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until ...

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The magpie's hilarious. Great slapstick.

Don’t the parakeets drive you mad?

No but they are noisy flockers.
I watched one discover my sunflower heads and then put a shout out to all its mates to come and fill their boots.

Mega naff day for photos, super windy and drizzly, but lots to see at the marshes today. Including a Marsh Harrier that I didn't get a snap of. Lovely to see ringed plovers, Oyster Catchers and Godwits though. (along side forum favourite egrets).

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Theres Marsh and Hen harriers down the road from me in Slimbridge , the big news is Ring necked ducks not too far away - may become a twitcher tomorrow.

The mist made it hard to see much today, but these red kites made cool shapes.

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Brilliant image - really makes you look

@King_Saxlingham might have been a naff day, but cheers for posting, beautiful birds. Only ever seen one Oyster Catcher close up, but it’s orange beak was so bright and vivid it’s etched into my mind.

Had a Little Egrit and a Great White Egrit chilling together in the stream at the end of the road yesterday

Funny, I showed that video to my daughter the other day because I'd mentioned there's often a sparrow hawk lurking about behind our house. It was perched on the roof opposite my office window a couple of times last week. Often see it floating about being mobbed by crows and gulls.

In unrelated news I've attempting to bring back some garden birds by hanging a seed feeder in the one place I think it'll be safe from the gangs of neighbourhood cats. Its's on a bracket i've attached to the side of a flat-roofed extension just below my office window. Hopefully no catty fucker will be able to sneak up on it there. No birds have found it yet. As I don't want the seed to go off, I thought it would be a good idea to empty it after a week or so chuck the seed up the flat roof just above the feeder. I figured if the local population see pigeons, jackdaws starlings and magpies feeding there, some garden birds might come to investigate and find the feeder. That was the thought process anyway.

This morning I was on a call watching a couple wood pigeons (called BFPs in this house) and collared doves eating the seed while jackdaws, starlings and a few other characters lurked nearby. Suddenly everything exploded into flight and scattered as the sparrowhawk came belting across the fence tops, just missed a pigeon and disappeared through a tree at the end of a neighbour's garden.

I've created a trap!

We get peregrines here too. I'm only 5 min drive from coastal marshes and there are loads of starlings and sparrows in town (I assume taking advantage of the nesting opportunities in the medieval architecture). That means I quite often get to see a peregrine from my desk. Pretty special really.

I used to see them from my old London office in Waterloo as well. There's a pair nesting at the top of one of the high-rise flats on waterloo bridge road. I used to stand on The Cut watching them wheel about of a morning.

Blue Tits and Dunnocks in the garden on my 'coffee break' today.

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does "coffee" = scotch?

I love these pictures btw. Makes me want to take up photography.