Fetch Birdwatchers
165 watchers
Mar 2020
11:33am, 31 Mar 2020
1,557 posts
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flyingfinn
Rounded a corner on this morning's run to find a Buzzard sat 20 feet away on a low fence post. Stopped and we watched one another for a couple of minutes before it languidly rose into a near-by tree over hanging the path and I plodded on my way. What beautiful birds they are close up 
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Mar 2020
11:38am, 31 Mar 2020
1,558 posts
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flyingfinn
Also lots of Goldcrest activity here at the moment. Along with LTTs their numbers seem to have benefited from the mild winter we've just had.
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Mar 2020
12:32pm, 31 Mar 2020
2,912 posts
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jacdaw
Jackdaws have suddenly found my feeders too. Must be the time of year.
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Mar 2020
1:28pm, 31 Mar 2020
4,818 posts
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The Scribbler
Heard and saw a blackbird singing from a roof top as I went to pick up a food order at lunchtime. Then turned the corner and a goldfinch flew off a bush right across my path. What a treat!
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Mar 2020
2:31pm, 31 Mar 2020
1,983 posts
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um
Couple of updates - yes, I think the birds I saw & heard were skylarks. Have been past a few more times and the song is as described. I do have photos, but a bit blurry & the still shot doesn't really capture the frantic/energetic hovering. They seem to continually gain height rather than a true hover, till I lose them. I have yet to see them 'parachute' Saw a probable wheatear the other day - is there anything else I should x-checkl to be sure? And in my garden, just saw a giant rat. Well, a very big one. About the same size as the pigeon, as they quite happily hoovered up spilt food off the lawn. Any recommendations to dissuade rat & friends? Or if not that, more radical poisons? I'm not sure I want to encourage rats near the house, but know there's a lot of bird food around. Thanks! |
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Mar 2020
2:51pm, 31 Mar 2020
2,915 posts
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jacdaw
If you really do need to use poison, use one of the waxy ones that you put in a special box. They tend to only kill target species, but probably some mice as well as rats. It is a pretty nasty way to die, though, and owls and birds of prey accumulate the poison after eating dead and dying rodents. You could try traps? |
Mar 2020
3:02pm, 31 Mar 2020
2,689 posts
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J2R
um, yes, they don't hover as such, so much as climb higher and higher. It's not skylarks which 'parachute', it's meadow pipits - fun to watch.
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Mar 2020
9:13pm, 31 Mar 2020
43,451 posts
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alpenrose
I went for a walk today and saw the pair of eagles for the first time this year. (In Austria)
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Mar 2020
9:31pm, 31 Mar 2020
34,567 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
I'm on BTO site trying to work out kestrel or merlin. We are in 26 acres of our own farm land, with several hundred acres more of other farms around us. But we are also 1 mile for railway, motorway and village/town, so not super remote. We get deer, badgers, a stoat, foxes, pheasants. And yes, rats, I'm afraid. Inevitable with barns! Oh and barn owl, pair, with 3 chicks last year and at least one or possibly 2 this year. My wife did all the Bird Identifier stuff and is convinced it's not a sparrowhawk or a kestrel. So we're going on colour and size. Very distinct orangey brown back of wings, black tips, small fan tail, also distinctly black. Swoops and dives beautifully, very nervous, doesn't hover. Ever. I'll keep looking. It's absolutely beautiful and I'm fascinated. G
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Mar 2020
9:39pm, 31 Mar 2020
34,568 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Hm, that video definitely suggests kestrel. But as I say, it doesn't hover. And it doesn't have that broad fan tail. But it's def chestnut brown. My wife thought the female merlin was brown, but that video said def not chestnut. Hmm. bto.org I'll keep enjoying watching "it" anyway! G
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