The Bird Thread

It's just a good thing it wasn't robin you. :)

Smart beer bottle holder too :)

Lol! Caught red breasted if so :)

This lady has been chipping away at the end of one of the ancient timbers holding our house up. Glad to see her having some peanuts.

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Shot.

Lovely pic, and chapeau for feeding her despite her destructive habit.

Very nice! Here's an American Kestrel:

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Thanks. We are wondering whether we need to do something to protect the timber. It’s quite alarming when she starts hammering on the outside of the room where I work.

And I have discovered that my 80-200mm lens produces much better pictures with no tele-extender.

Don't they dig for insects in the timber? Could be she's telling you you have an infestation, and actually doing you a favour.

My favourite bird 😍😍😍

That was my first thought when she started, that she could hear beetle grubs in the wood. But we have had the conservation builder back to look and he seems happy there is no live infestation. But we will watch.

Is there a woodpecker equivalent to orange peel for cats? Apply something that the smell/taste of puts her off?

https://view.email.rspb.org.uk/?qs=1dfba19711ac50f848fc7aaedfa7cf8ace79d0f997fe0887e8c1b75b4aa88c1ef6afd14209e841218b0ed473168b2d5fc99cedba539a87e82aa9d5abd6736720310370a14038fdf45281ba97ee5903243cabcf6d4bba36c4

Woodpecker on the feeder this morning

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Some Turnstone enjoying a bit of late winter sun on Sidmouth seafront earlier

Love Sidmouth.

It's going to take a few more of them to turn that slab.

^^ +1

My spirits were lifted by the sight of a flock of maybe 40-50 lapwings battling the strong south-westerly as I approached the final few miles of my 3 hour ride today. Lots of kestrels and red kites, plenty of redwings and big flocks of lbj - buntings?

On today’s walk we saw what I think were multiple (30-40 individuals) red crested pochard. Large to medium sized, strikingly russet head, white sides, and dark chest and tail.

My bird app (Collins British birds) gives them the classification V* /rB5 which I think means it is a vagrant with a small (<100pair) breeding population. Is that right? And does that mean it’s pretty unusual to see them in large numbers?

its the pink bill thats a giveaway, there is one on the pond in Finsbury Park and i have seen a couple at woodberry down wetlands but never a large group.

Was a bit surprised to see a cormorant giving it some cormorant wing action today on the River Crane.

The local coots and mallards were looking a bit out out.

Off to a good start for the year, hit 40 species yesterday and today without trying to hard, highlights being Goldcrest, Willow Tit, Ruff and Red necked Grebe

Two egret two marsh harrier thousands of geese . One kestrel . Just a normal high tide on the dee marsh.

Went to the London Wetlands centre today, lots of spots including a jack snipe, great crested pochards, a kestrel, teals, wigeons, Hawaiian geese, red breasted geese, lapwings and these mad fuckers (called Southern Screamers)

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