For WHO's birders

[Nurse Ratched]

"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."

[Nurse Ratched]

https://youtu.be/__Gs_vMXMlY

[Fo the Communist]

The mob of goldfinches who frequent the park outside my office returned this week. Nice little sign of spring being on the way. Lovely little birds are goldfinches.

[WHU(Exeter)]

"That's brilliant, something about gaining a bird's trust to the point they do something like that."

[Crassus]

https://twitter.com/Gambit59830470 I don't have Twitter (how apt in this context) so have tried to lift a link - it's worth it! Scroll down to the third image Beautiful vt images of a tit upon a Ukrainian serviceman The plumage colouration adds to the moment God bless them both

[Tomshardware]

Driving home yesterday at dusk I saw a lonesome heron flying over the road and across the fields.

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Crassus, can vouch for them storing food. Occassionaly have them 'rooting around' right outside the bedroom window in the early hours. Really wish they could stash their supplies further up the f'ing garden..."

[Crassus]

"Blimey No bears here, Christ knows where that came from"

[Crassus]

"Blimey No bears here, Christ knows where that came from"

[Crassus]

"Zeb We have owls too, wonderful listening although that’s as far as it goes, never seen one in flight here Have you tried hooting back? I kid you not, I regularly set mine off for some distance too on a clear quiet night Read about a while back and one night after a drink may have been taken, the kids got me at it - got a bear instant response An unexpected one from my lad too, he captured the moment and whacked it on SM much to his mates amusement!"

[zebthecat]

Sound wise it all about the sparrows during the day and owls at night. I did have a Robin following me while I was doing some weeding last weekend. He gave me a Paddington hard stare while I was wrestling some brambles up.

[Crassus]

"Toms Yes they can dig - apparently they do so to cache food Ever wily, when times are plentiful they will bury excess Conversely, in times of limited food they dig for worms, may be that a cultivated and well kept garden has an abundance Another less savory habit is defecating in their food bowls. Apparently scent marks their feeding station We don't bother with such niceties, just fling it out into the field behind, chicken pieces/eggs and wrapped loose offerings in rice paper to a tangerine size"

[DaveT]

Haven't had the variety of birds we had last winter but have got a pheasant that makes hell of a noise until I take some more feed or to him. Also got a robin that comes to the doorstep each day as I open up and then pops in as I put the seed tray down for him. Noticed more whooper swans though in the fields this year

[J.Riddle]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/magpies-birds-tracking-devices-remove-b2021264.html Magpies teaming up to remove tracking device harnesses.

[Tomshardware]

I like foxes but they can do a lot of damage in a garden. Someone I work for in Colchester had one regular fox visitor which kept digging holes everywhere which was a pain in the arse.

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Crassus, completely agree. I live in a part of Bristol where back in the 70s the BBC (I think did a mini series or maybe just one~off) about urban foxes, literally a stones throw, so these are ones who are more or likely descendant right from ones I was watching on the TV over 40 years ago, they lived here on this street before me! If I’m working from home and get wound up with it can be looking right at a fox within seconds if I’m lucky and they have that other worldliness and intelligence about them and it’s genuinely calming. Their colours aren’t so obvious either, a lot of them have more brownish and silvery colourings to them rather than the usual red/orange white. The cat is so skittish and weird it would either a) attack a whole pack of them on it’s own daily, b) scared off the rest of its life c) dead (I’m hoping b and coming back)""……"

[Crassus]

"Apparently so Geep and egg shell but beer here goes the way intended I’ve adjusted my planting and find the birds do the rest Had very few last year, I’ll see how it goes before getting them ‘Pickled’"

[gph]

"I thought beer worked for slugs, without risking poisoning other animals"

[Crassus]

"Ex They are wonderful creatures chap, misunderstood, persecuted yet inherently responsive Don’t worry about your feline pal, foxes and cats get on fine, plenty of vt of them mutually feeding and even hunting rats ! I kid you not, one flushing the other laying in wait We are fortunate to back on to open countryside but with that comes rodents. Had several bouts of rat arrivals in the garden, problem being we can’t go ‘Putin’ on them because of our dogs initially and then an increased awareness of collateral damage to birds of prey and of course foxes, hedge hogs etc I’ve gone full Greta now, sacked off all the usual pest removal pollutants from slug pellets north and leave the garden to do its thing from autumn to late spring after nesting ( we have no grass fortunately) The result? Rats gone, birds flourishing, insect life balanced with plenty of bees, even saw a weasel at the tail end of the last rat incursion Anyhow, embrace your foxes mate, they are rewarding"

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Gph, think on winter watch they mentioned that because of changes in average temperatures we'll be seeing a lot less of it in years to come? One more free parrot in the south east = 10 less black caps in my garden in Bristol :("

[gph]

"""They are migratory, and most spend the summer in Germany."" Looks like they are elective migratory, only flying thousands of miles when they feel like it. ""Shall we go to Spain this year?"" ""Nah, I fancy catching the Oktoberfest..."""

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Crassus, have had foxes more and more in my garden over the last few months, can stand outside a couple of times each week and do a ‘stare out’ (nicely!)/with one of them from just a few yards away…they usually win when I get bored. Hoping that they haven’t completely scared away a cat whose also been visiting every day for circa 10 years who first ventured in as a kitten."

[Crassus]

"Thanks Nurse, lovely thread this Plenty of bird activity and rapid feeder emptying Our foxes, fed nightly since May, now come to the call, you can see their eyes reflecting light as they scamper across the field. If they arrive at the ‘drive thru’ before us at the fence, they sit patiently waiting and are not beyond calling us, we can identify individuals Important time now, our vixen is doubtless with cubs, so feeding is vital and we expect her to disappear soon as she gives birth and rears Not long before we have more of the buggers to feed and as we look out, get to see the little ones take their early steps of exploration In troubled times such a natural thing offers increasing pleasure"

[gph]

"Blackcaps may be splitting into two species. They are migratory, and most spend the summer in Germany. But some fly to Spain for the winter, and some to the UK. Spain for the warmth, and the UK because soft-hearted Brits boost their food supplies. https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2015/01/08/readers-wildlife-photo-and-an-evolutionary-lesson-speciation-in-action/"

[Nurse Ratched]

"Yeah, that is officially weird as eff."

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Nurse, no, I’m pretty certain it’s a female black cap, it goes back to when there was the annual birdwatch in your garden weekend and normally I’d just watch what was going on and take no notice of who was who, but because you had to take a bit more special notice whilst ticking them off, I pulled up lots of images and it’s 99% a female black cap. They’ve been in and out at exactly the same times in/off about a dozen times over the last few weeks. I think it’s a genuine anomaly kind of thing?…"