Birding Year List

[twenty]

8 hours ago, JDog said:

Why did you have to spoil my day by mentioning Hawfinch? It is top of my list of birds to see and I fear I may never see one.

Sorry about that, but they are two a penny round these parts 😄

[JDog]

48 minutes ago, twenty said:

Sorry about that, but they are two a penny round these parts 😄

I will be in Gloucestershire on Sunday 23rd May. If you are so certain and they are indeed that common perhaps we could meet and you could show me the Holy Grail.

[twenty]

10 minutes ago, JDog said:

I will be in Gloucestershire on Sunday 23rd May. If you are so certain and they are indeed that common perhaps we could meet and you could show me the Holy Grail.

Latest reports of Hawfinch were at Woorgreens/Crabtree hill ,Speech House, GL16 7EH. Forest of Dean, on 11/5/21

and Parkend, four miles north of Lydney,on 5/5/21,  and Newnham on Severn, on 3/5/ 21, and Highnam woods 2/5/21

Obviously cannot guarantee a sighting, but these areas are your best bet,

Will keep you up to date with new sightings before your visit.

Probably be out of sorts on the 23rd, I have my 2nd covid jab booked for Saturday 22nd May at 3.45pm.

[Mice!]

On 12/05/2021 at 08:36, JDog said:

Why did you have to spoil my day by mentioning Hawfinch? It is top of my list of birds to see and I fear I may never see one.

Road trip 👍

[Mice!]

Just arrived home, my daughter is doing a great job of keeping the bird feeder topped up,  the blackbirds have figured out they can get at the seed, I could easily stop them with a bit of pruning but there are chicks everywhere so they are welcome to some easy food.

The feeder had young Goldfinch's on it then the Greenfich's came in🙂 birds everywhere. 

[twenty]

Drake Scaup on the Gloucester Sharpness Canal for the past few days,

Nightingales singing early mornings, Highnam woods

[Walker570]

Sad day yesterday. Found a cock chaffinch on our garden path. Not a mark on it and can only assume it had flown into the garden room window. You don't really appreciate just how beautiful these chaffinches are until you have one in your hand.

We are very short on any of the finch species around here(West Leics) so losing this one was a sad occasion.

I did see a pair of goldfinch flit across the ride in my wood last week and hopefully they will raise some chicks.

Lots of feeding activity from all tit species in the wood and one old ash tree is a like a multi storey apartment block with every hole nook and cranny housing nesting birds.

[twenty]

Following on from May 7ths sighting of Little Grebes nest building, yesterday there were 4 eggs, sparsely covered with rotting vegetation, ( indicating the clutch is not yet complete )

[twenty]

19 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Sad day yesterday. Found a cock chaffinch on our garden path. Not a mark on it and can only assume it had flown into the garden room window. You don't really appreciate just how beautiful these chaffinches are until you have one in your hand.

We are very short on any of the finch species around here(West Leics) so losing this one was a sad occasion.

I did see a pair of goldfinch flit across the ride in my wood last week and hopefully they will raise some chicks.

Lots of feeding activity from all tit species in the wood and one old ash tree is a like a multi storey apartment block with every hole nook and cranny housing nesting birds.

Sad to find a dead finch, but as you say, when in the hand they are beautiful to behold, I found a dead female Blackcap recently, (Traffic accident), and that was also worth studying close up.

[Mice!]

23 minutes ago, twenty said:

Sad to find a dead finch, but as you say, when in the hand they are beautiful to behold, I found a dead female Blackcap recently, (Traffic accident), and that was also worth studying close up.

I remember Bill Oddie saying just because a bird is only a few metres away still look with your binoculars because of the colours you will see, always a shame when you find dead birds but interesting as well.

51 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

Found a cock chaffinch on our garden path.

I'm still seeing regular Chaffinches at my feeders, hopefully they'll have a good year.

And the Bullfinch was just in the garden,  only saw the male hopefully the female is on the nest close by.

[gmm243]

I was fishing at the weekend and on Sat morning when heading out to the lough I saw a cuckoo fly past and land on a bush near the lough shore.There were 3 of us in the boat and we drove up and watched it.It was not put out at all by us and we drove off leaving it sitting in the same bush.

[oldypigeonpopper]

49 minutes ago, gmm243 said:

I was fishing at the weekend and on Sat morning when heading out to the lough I saw a cuckoo fly past and land on a bush near the lough shore.There were 3 of us in the boat and we drove up and watched it.It was not put out at all by us and we drove off leaving it sitting in the same bush.

Hello, I'm still waiting to hear one in the Vale, quite late this year, 

[gmm243]

We saw another further up the lough but only a fleeting glimpse. When we were getting ready in the mornings we could hear 3 separate birds.

[JDog]

White-tailed Eagle over the Lincolnshire Wolds today.

[ditchman]

see Ely catherdral has hatched 4 peregrine chicks...........wouldnt it be sensible to remove 2 chicks and hand rear and release them.....cause if you leave them ...no way will they all survive

[Smokersmith]

I guess if they were endangered then yes ... but the population seems reasonable healthy?

[JDog]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

see Ely catherdral has hatched 4 peregrine chicks...........wouldnt it be sensible to remove 2 chicks and hand rear and release them.....cause if you leave them ...no way will they all survive

The ones on Louth church have five. All looking good.

Two years ago the chicks all drowned in torrential rain. Their nest box now has a roof on it.

[twenty]

1 hour ago, ditchman said:

see Ely catherdral has hatched 4 peregrine chicks...........wouldnt it be sensible to remove 2 chicks and hand rear and release them.....cause if you leave them ...no way will they all survive

Peregrines are on the Bocc 4 Green list now, as birds of least concern.

Kestrels are on the Amber list, Merlin on the Red list.

[twenty]

8 minutes ago, JDog said:

The ones on Louth church have five. All looking good.

Two years ago the chicks all drowned in torrential rain. Their nest box now has a roof on it.

FYO, Hawfinch yesterday at Nagshead (RSPB reserve), Large car park, hides and visitor centre, See Nagshead-Wikipedia for info.

[JDog]

Did anyone see the video of the Ospreys somewhere in Scotland?

There were two very young chicks in the nest along with one, possibly two yet to hatch eggs. One parent brought back a large Perch which was very much alive and as it thrashed around it broke one of the eggs.

1 minute ago, twenty said:

FYO, Hawfinch yesterday at Nagshead (RSPB reserve), Large car park, hides and visitor centre, See Nagshead-Wikipedia for info.

Thanks but I will be knocking on your door for a guided tour Covid jab or no Covid jab.

I may just go to Highnam. The church there is pretty spectacular inside.

[twenty]

2 minutes ago, JDog said:

Did anyone see the video of the Ospreys somewhere in Scotland?

There were two very young chicks in the nest along with one, possibly two yet to hatch eggs. One parent brought back a large Perch which was very much alive and as it thrashed around it broke one of the eggs.

Thanks but I will be knocking on your door for a guided tour Covid jab or no Covid jab.

I may just go to Highnam. The church there is pretty spectacular inside.

Yeah, lovely Church, Good car park at Highnam reserve, Early morning Nightingales, and Hawfinch regularly reported.

[Mice!]

Male and female Bullfinches on the feeder two days in a row now, only ever the pair though unlike many other species I get visiting. 

[twenty]

Yesterday's storm brought a few unusuals up the Severn estuary on 50mph winds.

At Sharpness, a Pomarine Skua (with tailstreamers), a Fulmar, and a Gannet, were spotted.

Also at Coombe hill meadows reserve, a Red Necked Phalarope and a Wood Sandpiper were recorded yesterday.

Not seen by myself, but reported for interest.

All the best

[Smokersmith]

Managed to clock another Cuckoo on Thursday afternoon.

[marsh man]

First Swifts seen today plus a brood of Shelducks following there mother, and down the marsh their were two broods of Greylags in what was like a Winters morning , Blooxy freezing .