Author Topic: Seen today (Read 1013861 times)

pcolbeck · « **Reply #925 on:** 20 December, 2009, 12:18:25 pm »

Quote from: Charterhall on 20 December, 2009, 09:40:57 am

Quote from: pcolbeck on 20 December, 2009, 08:24:56 am
A barn owl flying over our garden this morning. Beautiful against the snow.

I am so envious ! One of my favourite birds but I haven't seen one for decades Now in the space of two days both you and Chris S describe seeing them over your gardens !

Well it's not that surprising here, we are lucky as there are several pairs round the village. They hunt in the field opposite my house and roost in the tee. In the summer they tend to fly up behind me when I'm walking home from the pub then scare the hell out of me by shrieking.

Pingu · « **Reply #926 on:** 20 December, 2009, 01:16:43 pm »

Quote from: Charterhall on 16 December, 2009, 12:23:00 pm

I've been house bound with a cold for the past few days so wasn't expecting to see anything to merit a posting here. That was until a buzzard glided into view from the sitting room window this morning. In 10 years here that's only the second one I've seen from the house. But given that we're, as the corvid/buzzard flies, only 2 miles from Embra city centre that's not bad.

I've seen a buzzard flying over our garden and we're close the centre of Aberdeen

Rig of Jarkness · « **Reply #927 on:** 20 December, 2009, 05:18:57 pm »

Just a gentle walk from the house today, lots of robins, blackbirds and wrens, another buzzard, and a small group of fieldfares.

Moloko · « **Reply #928 on:** 20 December, 2009, 05:20:38 pm »

Heron standing on the bank of the small brook.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #929 on:** 21 December, 2009, 01:01:46 pm »

We had a good view of a nuthatch in Hockley Woods this morning. We heard it before we saw it and it was the unfamiliar call that made us look a little harder.

Bledlow · « **Reply #930 on:** 23 December, 2009, 08:08:30 pm »

A flock of what I think may have been redwings, stripping a couple of bushes of berries this morning.

And then some more (or the same lot?) about half a mile away this afternoon, stripping some trees.

Two weeks ago, those trees were rather colourful. Hardly a berry left now.

Bluebottle · « **Reply #931 on:** 23 December, 2009, 08:39:27 pm »

Redwings! Lovely wee things. Saw a few of them feeding on cotoneaster berries up Balgay Hill today. Also on the list:

Mistle thrush
Blackies
Chaffinches
Corbies
Greylag geese
Goldcrests
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Buzzard
Woodcock!
Sparrowhawk

Never known a woodcock to be up Balgay before but it was very close quarters and corroborated by a fellow twitcher. Seems to be the season for that sort of thing! Siskins also heard, but not seen.

border-rider · « **Reply #932 on:** 23 December, 2009, 11:26:35 pm »

A moorhen sitting on the wall outside the kitchen, boggling at me through the window.

Mrs Pingu · « **Reply #933 on:** 25 December, 2009, 11:04:17 am »

Quote from: Pingu on 20 December, 2009, 01:16:43 pm

Quote from: Charterhall on 16 December, 2009, 12:23:00 pm
I've been house bound with a cold for the past few days so wasn't expecting to see anything to merit a posting here. That was until a buzzard glided into view from the sitting room window this morning. In 10 years here that's only the second one I've seen from the house. But given that we're, as the corvid/buzzard flies, only 2 miles from Embra city centre that's not bad.

I've seen a buzzard flying over our garden and we're close the centre of Aberdeen

I too saw a buzzard flying over our garden yesterday, getting 'mobbed' by a singular corvid.

Bledlow · « **Reply #934 on:** 25 December, 2009, 07:06:03 pm »

A jay. A woodpecker (heard, not seen). And some very hungry ducks on the frozen lake at Reading University, who mobbed us when they realised we had food.

And an igloo.

Snakehips · « **Reply #935 on:** 25 December, 2009, 10:23:05 pm »

A small flock of Long-tailed Tits worked their way across my back garden several times in a most pleasing manner this morning.

Snake

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Rig of Jarkness · « **Reply #936 on:** 26 December, 2009, 03:52:16 pm »

We've just come across a little group of l-t tits too, in one of the gardens up the road. They really are the most delightful little creatures.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #937 on:** 26 December, 2009, 04:00:38 pm »

A couple of green woodpeckers, one greater spotted, a redshank and lots of geese: mostly grey lag, lots of Canada geese, and one snow goose! Very pleased about this last. I've only ever seen one before, and that was fleeting. Today's sighting was from quite close quarters. It was grazing with hundreds of grey lag geese. I could see its black wing tips very clearly as well as the brilliant whiteness of its plumage.

SteveC · « **Reply #938 on:** 28 December, 2009, 12:29:43 pm »

A first for us today. Male pheasant on the garden fence. They're quite common round here (lots of 'shoots'), but it's the first time we've ever seen one actually in the garden. Mrs C got a picture, but it had, of course, moved before I could get the big camera ready.

S

Rig of Jarkness · « **Reply #939 on:** 28 December, 2009, 04:33:06 pm »

A walk from Gullane Beach to the Aberlady reserve today. Saw hundreds of fieldfare, and what I think was a tawny owl hunting in broad daylight. (Never seen that before). Also roe deer, redwings, wigeon, eider, turnstone, oystercatcher and redshank.

Pingu · « **Reply #940 on:** 28 December, 2009, 06:13:27 pm »

Just remembered from Boxing day, in fields beside Brechin, hundreds of geese being watched by a buzzard sat on a fence post.

Tourist Tony · « **Reply #941 on:** 28 December, 2009, 07:18:02 pm »

Quote from: wowbagger on 26 December, 2009, 04:00:38 pm

A couple of green woodpeckers, one greater spotted, a redshank and lots of geese: mostly grey lag, lots of Canada geese, and one snow goose! Very pleased about this last. I've only ever seen one before, and that was fleeting. Today's sighting was from quite close quarters. It was grazing with hundreds of grey lag geese. I could see its black wing tips very clearly as well as the brilliant whiteness of its plumage.

Only ever had snow geese in Iceland! Usual front window stuff at the moment with flocks of long tailed tits working through, and a nice female great spotted woodpecker yesterday.

Noodley · « **Reply #942 on:** 28 December, 2009, 09:43:19 pm »

A blue tit hitting our utility room window. Followed by a Sparrowhawk trying to grab it off the window sill where it was holding on....the Sparrowhawk could not get to it due to being too large.

Mrs Noodley 'rescued' the blue tit and put it in a box, thinking it would die as it was in a bad way. A few hours later she went back to find it totally revived and released it

TimO · « **Reply #943 on:** 29 December, 2009, 10:49:56 pm »

Not very exotically, from my parents dining room in the rain, I saw these two, amongst others.

The seagulls do manage to land in the garden, just. There wingspan is so big that they can only just land and take off, but they do frequently check back to see if there is anything that they can nab from the stuff my Mum's put out for the garden birds.

We're not 100% sure what sort of Dove this is, although after hunting through the RSPBs website, and Wikipedia, I reckon it's a Eurasian Collared Dove, which explains why it isn't in my Dad's Observer book of birds, since it was published before that species of Dove was seen in the British Isles.

Butterfly · « **Reply #944 on:** 29 December, 2009, 11:20:24 pm »

It looks like a collared dove to me.
We saw a Female Great Spotted Woodpecker in the tree in our back garden. Also a flock of medium sized brown birds but we couldn't really see enough detail to identify them accurately.

border-rider · « **Reply #945 on:** 29 December, 2009, 11:25:02 pm »

Quote from: Butterfly on 29 December, 2009, 11:20:24 pm

It looks like a collared dove to me.

def. a collared dove.

longers · « **Reply #946 on:** 30 December, 2009, 12:00:55 am »

Quote from: Mal Volio on 29 December, 2009, 11:25:02 pm

Quote from: Butterfly on 29 December, 2009, 11:20:24 pm
It looks like a collared dove to me.

def. a collared dove.

An ex twitcher friend has given up on caring about pigeons and their ilk, is a dove a pigeon?

I did see my second bullfinch a couple of days ago. He was sat next to a very colourful Chaffinch and I thought it was a pair of them at first. Very bonny. It made me realise how few birds I get to see.

andrew_s · « **Reply #947 on:** 30 December, 2009, 02:03:26 am »

Quote from: longers on 30 December, 2009, 12:00:55 am

An ex twitcher friend has given up on caring about pigeons and their ilk, is a dove a pigeon?

Doves are the same family as pigeons.
On the whole, the bigger species are called pigeons and the smaller are called doves.

It's not a solid distinction though. For example the wild version of the Trafalgar Square type domestic pigeon is a rock dove.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #948 on:** 30 December, 2009, 08:49:18 am »

The wood pigeon is also known as a ring dove.

Pingu · « **Reply #949 on:** 30 December, 2009, 01:24:51 pm »

A first for our area (well, spotted by me anyway) - a flock of fieldfares

Author Topic: Seen today (Read 1013861 times)

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