The Bird Thread

Mad Fax.

Falcons are closer in relation to Parrots than the Hawks or Eagles.

Bats are out over my garden. Maybe the winter is finally over in the west of Scotland?

I have a pair of these pesky critters causing mayhem locally in SW Scotland...

3 Attachments

Kookaburras?
Or is there a large European member of the Kingfisher family?

They're kookaburras? What or who are they laughing at in Scotland?

Yep Laughing Kookaburras. V Noisy early doors on the lamppost out front.

They commute from the wildlife park other side of golf course down to the river to cause mayhem amongst the local rodents. The wildlife park is long closed but the owner lets them roam as they come back every night.

Shame they don't eat golfers, they're less appealing than rodents.

ha ha the golfers hate them as they quite often start cackling just as they are about to bat a ball. i quite like them for that.....

If you listen very carefully they're saying 'you sliced that you useless Pommie wanker'.

Tbf I dont have a problem with golf up here in this part of Scotland. Its silly cheap to play, the course is well maintained, dog walkers and golfists are pretty chilled and work around each other. The locals all trundle past in their buggys on the way to the course. A world apart from the SE. Anyway we digress!

Kites are being noisy today

2 Attachments

@Ludd Is that 2nd pic them doing the death spiral thing? I only saw it once, very strange and quite rare to see apparently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJedjMC1UO8

That’s pretty much what these two were doing. A third kite came along and it got less stylish.

wow, that must have been incredible to witness!

we came downstairs to see an explosion of pigeon feathers on the lawn this morning, went for a closer look and a sparrowhawk flew out from behind a bush with what was left of a carcass!

Heard my first swifts of the year yesterday, saw my first swifts of the year today

Good times

Relatively dull fledglings hanging out here, also nest box still has plenty of activity

3 Attachments

Heard a cuckoo for the first time this year. Better late than never.

Our local sparrow hawk has been very active lately, poor blackbirds are getting chased daily.

Simon is being woken up by a woodpecker this week sounding like it's pecking the shit out of the house first thing in the morning

Starlings are noisy, especially when emptying mealworm feeder for the fledglings. Great to see.

Flawed Theory: If I put out enough mealworm we'll get murmurations on the doorstep.

1 Attachment

Love that middle pic.

So unimpressed with 2023!

Also @Ludd lovely spiral capture.

Love that middle pic.

Cheers, it's a popular perch

1 Attachment

Great shots. Went out today with the big lense and didn’t get a single snap, at least it didn’t spoil the walk.

Got recommended the free bird app merlin today . Its really helpful if like me you only know the usual birds.