West Ham Online

"I thought you might like this video.



It's a compilation of different birds singing. Beautiful photography. If you expand the 'title' under the video it gives a list of species and the times they pop up in the video. Most of the species are familiar to us in the UK, but there are some 'exotics' (the cranes - wow, what a noise!) It was filmed in Belarus. The guy has a channel you can subscribe to. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and maybe it'll take your mind off you-know-what for a few blessed minutes."

"bruuuuuno, don't eat that fucking bat"

Bazil the bat is back in my garden

"There is a lovely bird watching spot in the centre of Bristol near where I work. In a square mile of bland office after office, there is a waterway with a few canal boats, a little bridge and a terrace to sit and watch the world go by. Had been walking over there every working day, since working from home, could sit down there, see one or two swans taking half the afternoon to swim one way and then the other past, under a willow tree that droops right into the water....when the sun shines through the willow tree and the swans are right underneath, it's like you are thousands of miles away from a soulless block of office after office. To the right there's some trees that are home to a host of bluetits and a pair of blackbirds. Both the blue titis and the blackbirds ruling the roost and providing the entertainment and beautiful song, depending on what time of the afternoon it is, It's lovely down there and so quiet..was about half a dozen or so sat there each day, usually there are a hundred plus, but with everybody working from home... Dead quiet and in that could hear a pin drop for an hour, the few there could just watch the swans and the blackbirds and almost every day down there, could drift off and actually forget about this lockdown. One of the half dozen people there, I recognise from being one of the all day, everyday crowd from the nearby wetherspoons. bloke in his mid-sixties, sat on the 'ferry stop' seats with sandwiches and a bottle of cider, watching the bird life and the water flowing slowly by. Few days in you could tell that a kind of set of unwritten laws establishing themselves on the terrace, the swans would come really close to the side and nobody would break that silence then with some inane mobile call. It was unusual to hear a single telephone conversation at all after 3 weeks of it down there. Really beautiful spot and with hardly anybody around, what with most heading to more popular parks, a real oasis in all around it physically, and a real break from everything else happening. Went there on Thursday and the terrace has been taped off. There are some things in modern Britain that I fucking detest."

Where do you live pickle? Toe rag I saw a weasel chasing another weasel the other day along a country lane.

Swallows arrived today about a week late. I attribute their tardiness to the prevailing northerly winds and lack of rain (therefore lack of breeding insects to feed on) this spring.

Been a good day on the wildlife front today. Working out in the sticks About 08.20 spotted a barn owl quartering a field and about 14.30 this afternoon spotted a Marsh Harrier swooping low by the roadside. Never seen a Marsh Harrier before and I’ve seen 2 in the last 3 days. Also had a stoat run out in front of the van. I missed the little ginger twat luckily.

"Hermit Road 3:07 Wed Apr 2 I get it. I suppose I am just an old softy for Pigeons having recued and bonded with a few, would do the same again. Nothing against Hawks, they are magnificent creatures and do what comes natural to them. Seeing them up close is special. One other time I was near the window when a Sparrow Hawk attacked a Pigeon, but this Pigeon was smart, it came hurtling towards my window with the Sparrow Hawk on its tail, at the last split second the Pigeon dived down, but the Sparrow Hawk was unable to conduct such a manoeuvre and went head first straight into my window pane at some force. I admit I had a little chuckle, Pigeons are notoriously fast flyers and good at acrobatics, probably why they have been around since 3000 BC."

Hermit Road 3:07 Wed Apr 22 I grew up fascinated by the peregrine falcon (stories of medieval falconry probably helped) and was a budding eco-warrior with the DDT stuff back then. Wrote a couple reports on it in school. Still peak in on these every once in a while https://www.ab-conservation.com/wildlife-cameras/peregrine/genesee-power-plant-peregrine-camera/

"Kestrel today hovering above the fields in Abridge, and what looked like another pair of red kites."

J.Riddle 12:35 Wed Apr 22 My reaction would be the complete opposite. I love seeing birds of prey at work. They are incredible things.

You can't getting all anthropomorphic with a hungry bird of prey. Bird eat bird world out there. Feed the birds and you are inadvertently providing a sparrowhawk feeding station as well. All good.

Fair enough. I expect the hawk just went to the nearest BP garage and bought a ham sandwich and a bag of crisps for his dinner instead.

"About two years ago, put some seed out for the Pigeons, Hawks hide and wait when they see food for them to turn up. A flock of Pigeons came down to feed, a few minutes later I heard the birds fly off as if spooked and glanced out the window, saw a bird on the ground flapping about, looked again and I could see a hawk had pinned a white dove Pigeon to the ground (white birds stand out more). I ran outside and the hawk had the dove by the neck. I approached and shouted at it and calm as you like it let go looked me in the eyes with an evil stare and flew off. The dove was in shock, took it in and nursed it for a couple of weeks. It was lucky it had blood a small cut to its neck and wing. Found other pigeons occasionally too late, the hawks pluck them alive and eat the head, return later for the carcass."

Corvids

Corvid are birds of the crow family.

"In London I've seen woodpeckers picking at the grass and watched them for about half an hour on Hampstead heath, some corvids (peregrine falcons?) in Regents park and a cracking pair of tits in Prince Albert Rd. Seen more rats in London than I have ever seen and all the wildlife looking as generally chilled as I've ever seen them. Even the pigeons look less dirty and the African Geese in the park are far less aggressive. Proof that if we all fucked off and died the planet would be actually lovely."

"The last couple of evenings, just after sunset, I’ve seen a bat flying round in circles in the back garden. Don’t worry I won’t try to eat it."

i hope that the lack of activity has kept the football pigeon good condition.

I wouldn't give those cunts a penny.

I spent two weeks in Malta and Gozo at winter time and the only type of bird I saw was a sort-of-not-absolutely-sure-it-was-a sparrow. Even at the coast I didn't see gulls.

I spent two weeks in Malta and Gozo at winter time and the only type of bird I saw was a sort-of-not-absolutely-sure-it-was-a sparrow. Even at the coast I didn't see gulls.

"simon.s 2:13 Tue Apr 21 I’ve seen loads of Red Kite in that area. Beautiful looking birds. As for the bird killing fields, I think the Maltese are the main culprits. No bird is too small or too beautiful for them not to pop a cap in its arse and mount it on a bit of cheap wood in the living room."

"I shouted out to Mrs Riddle this morning Swallow, but she spat it out."

ROBIN Friday

Frank Swift was an excellent goalie