ChatterBank1 min ago
Birding
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No best answer has yet been selected by burnhal. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I don't go out birding as such, but wherever I see birds I am interested in knowing what I am seeing. I regularly feed the garden birds with wild bird seed, peanuts and fatballs (it costs a fortune). I normally see just the usual common or garden birds! The rarest garden visitors have been redwings after holly berries, long tailed tits about once a year on the feeders, and waxwings about 12 years ago. This winter I saw waxwings in our local pedestrianised high street. Last year a young buzzard got lost and landed on our next-door neighbour's shed roof where it was dive-bombed by seagulls. I can't really count that as a garden visitor since it was about 5 metres outside our boundary.
BTW I find The Bird Forum to be a very useful site for information and identification, not just for birds, but for all aspects of nature.
http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/reserves/norfolk.htm
Burnhal, it must be great being a voluntary warden. On our doorstep we have a wetland preservation area which has over recent years been taken over by the Birds of Prey Trust and improved tremendously. We are able to walk our dogs along the area and often see Marsh Harriers amongst other birds.
Shaneystar, Cley is lovely - perhaps we have met each other and don't know it!
At the moment the most common garden bird visitors we have are young ducks who keep wandering over from the pond over the road. We also seem to attrack partridges who love to nest under our front window. Our garden is kept relatively wild just for the birds (well that's my excuse for an untidy garden!!)
Cetti, Robinia and Smudge should be along to this thread shortly!!
I do most of my birding from where I am as I type this which is by the window in my dining room.(Derbyshire) Over the past 15 years I have planted 3 trees & many shrubs to attract the wildlife & I've certainly been rewarded. Regular feeding has attracted so many different birds that visit on a regular basis including blue,great & coal tits, chaffinches, blackbirds etc. At the moment I'm inundated by lots of young greenfinches, they're so pretty. And I've noticed a rather bossy looking young robin who is obviously intending to make this his winter residence.
In the spring I had a little group of reed buntings (which I'm told is an honour!) & I'm hoping they return again.
Like you FP my garden isn't too tidy either!! Well I can't go disturbing the frogs & toads!
Hello everyone. I hesitated in posting as you all seem to attract such a wonderful array of garden birds � and because of continual uprooting of trees and bushes for housing my garden visitors are few and far between. I do have moments of 'WOW!' though. A Spoonbill flew over the house in February and Buzzards harassed by crows and gulls are a regular sight.
The Poole Harbour inlets are good for Avocets, Mergansers, Little Egrets in abundance, migrating Osprey - and every wader in between! Radipole is the stronghold of Cetti�s, whilst Bearded Tits and Bittern make regular appearances. All around Chesil Bank are nesting Terns under the watchful eye of Wardens. A couple of weeks ago I saw a solitary Brent Goose at Stanpit Marsh. Obviously didn't want to go with the others as apparently it had been around since January. Now rarities would be Tawny Pipit, Corn Bunting, Honey Buzzard and of course the Spoonbill. There is a Great White Egret around but I don't chase after birds just for 'the tick' preferring to just go out for a country walk keeping my eyes and ears open - not only for birds, but for butterflies, bugs and anything else interesting.
Hubby drags me to a disused airfield regularly for exercise (bike, don't laugh!) and this year we've noticed the increase in Skylarks and Hen Harriers. So things are looking good for some of our birds on the red/amber list.
This is my favourite bird site as it gives a BirdMap to pinpoint exactly where the rarities are, sends emails for your area or the UK if you wish, and everything to help in ID.
http://www.birdguides.com/default.asp
I shall stop now......;-)