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."

[Coffee]

"H&P, you're a good fellow, but is there anything about which you're not an expert?"

[Hammer and Pickle]

"If we’re talking about gannets, puffins and other fish-feeders, it will be the low stocks due to overfishing and climate change. Sea is too warm so krill-rich cold currents fail, leading to a collapsing food chain."

[Coffee]

"the exile 3:28 Tue Apr 30 Agree about bee eaters. Stunning birds, loads of different colours."

[lab]

"the exile , I think it‚Äôs down to bird flu . I noticed the same in the Channel Islands ?üôÅ"

[the exile]

"Just back from a trip to northern Spain with a bunch of geologists. Fabulous birdwatching in a number of places. The stand-out site was an area of kind of heathland about half way between Le??n and Astorga. It was absolutely covered with wild lavender, broom and rock roses with the odd orchid. First we saw a hobby, then a pair of black kites followed by the stars of the show - a group of about half a dozen bee-eaters - spectacular birds. All of this while listening to three nightingales simultaneously. On a different note, we visited quite a few sites on the north coast of Galicia right in the north-west corner. We were struck by the almost complete absence of sea-birds. Apparently they have had a few oil spills along there over the years but it all looked clean enough. A mixture of cliffs and beaches but almost no marine avians. Just very low numbers of gulls and waders. Anyone got any idea why?"

[Hammer and Pickle]

"Easter was too hot. Then April has been generally cold and wet, which has meant the spring flowers have stayed around much longer. Warming up again now but still no swallows or swifts. Instead we were visited by three Goat Moth caterpillars yesterday (must have come with the bark mulch for the conifers) - look them up, they’re impressive beasties."

[Tomshardware]

"It's been a cold wet spring so far, the swallows must be thinking why the hell did I bother flying here for this."

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Yep, I can’t remember a stretch of miserable weather lasting for this long before. “Tomorrow there will be outbreaks of dour, in between heavy showers” for six months."

[Nurse Ratched]

"WHU(Ex) I know you mean regarding this Spring. Awful dull and damp show. Earlier today I was sitting with a coffee in my sitting room. I had the patio door open, to welcome the robins and great tits inside to have their worms, and to watch the bright green parroty chaos on the feeders outside. It was so damp and cold. Found myself remembering that beautiful Spring of 2020 when human activity and machine noise all but disappeared, even in London, but the Spring weather was exquisite. Birdsong everywhere, no longer drowned out by vehicle and aeroplane engine din."

[WHU(Exeter)]

"I’m just so glad I took notice of the repeated messages on the BBC gardening programmes last year, and have replaced loads of plants in my garden with ones more capable of coping with global warming. It’s a shame they’re not bleating out the same message every 15 minutes this ‘spring’."

[Mex Martillo]

"Nice one Aalborg. Yep, spring is here too. The swallows are back. Cool birds. That flying looks a lot of fun."

[Aalborg Hammer]

"About three years ago, our Kiwi son-in-law set his cameras up to record a great spotted woodpecker's nest in our old cherry tree..see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=godR1K7bcNk The same cherry tree ,this year ,appears to be housing a couple of Green Woodpeckers only this time they've decided to be sociable and burrow a hole in the side of the tree that we can see..I can see a project starting up again! This year we've seen a redpoll , linnets ,nuthatch and goldfinches - good to see the greenfinches back but not in the same numbers as 10 years ago. The Merlin app has detected goldcrest ,blackcap ,lesser spotted woodpecker and yellowhammer songs Spring is indeed sprung"

[Cony Tottee]

Spent the weekend in Arundel and managed to see a Mandarin duck and a few Egyptian geese along with the normal water birds.

[Nurse Ratched]

"Nice one, Pickle. Looks like you're first lookout for 'Swiftwatch'."

[Nurse Ratched]

"Nice one, Pickle. Looks like you're first lookout for 'Swiftwatch'."

[Hammer and Pickle]

"Sitting on the terrace with a beer about to spark the new grill up. It really is a lovely warm evening, the garden is a riot of blooms and the blackcaps are warbling it out with the blackbird. They need to get into their stride as the blackbird has got them on the back foot a bit. Nice to be expecting the first swallows and swifts any day now. Not seen any storks yet. Did you know, the first stork of the year is considered a strong omen? Generally storks in flight is a good sign - the more the better. Storks walking in the field indicate a year of setbacks while nesting storks are a portent of family issues…"

[zebthecat]

Nurse Ratched 12:51 Fri Apr 5 Red Kites were reintroduced in the Chilterns and have been spreading outwards ever since. I did see one in Turners Hill (a few miles away) last year but it is cool that have made it here at last. No ring-necked parakeets yet eirher.

[BeauLarkyBuff]

"Had a red- legged partridge in the garden today. Not seen them for while. Usual pheasants on the ground and goldfinch on the feeders. A rare sight now, the lesser spotted woodpecker, again not been a visitor for a while. Regularly get the cousin green or common woodpecker. Kites circle all day, collecting nesting stuff. I am in rural Bucks!"

[Hammer and Pickle]

Heard a Scopes owl when on an evening stroll at the foot of the Acropolis the other day. It was a POIGNANT moment. Highly recommend Athens for an off-season break.

[WHU(Exeter)]

"I had the opposite with magpies. There is normally a big family of them in one of the neighbours huge pear tree, and they would always leave the smaller birds to it when it came to the bird feeders. Was only when wood pigeons turned up that they'd get involved and bully them off, which was a good thing, as otherwise the pigeons would always scoff themselves until there was nothing left for others. sadly had to stop using the bird feeders now, as no matter how high up I put them, there would always be spillage and then the ground feeders would become regular victims of a couple neighbourlly cats who developed a very high 'hit rate'."

[Nurse Ratched]

‚ò?Ô?è @ 'very fighty'. I try not to think about it. Isn't it odd that I see red kites in urban North London much more frequently than you do in rural Sussex?

[zebthecat]

"I have wrens nesting in the hedge and saw a dunnock the other day and a Red Kite for only the second time here. The Buzzards will have have to be on point to get the roadkill first. Highlight of of the week has been the bats waking up at last. Wathcing them at dusk darting all over the place on the hunt always cheers me up; it feels like Spring at last. If only it would stop raining remorselessly Also had pair of Tawny Owls swoop over the garden at dusk this evening which is rare as they are heard rather than seen. Shame about Bullet Nurse. Life is tough as a male Robin, they are very fighty."

[joyo]

You missed one ....the ugly old bitter and twisted man hating fat bird....you only need a mirror

[Nurse Ratched]

"My greenfinches and bluetits have paired up for the season. Goldfinches, too. I haven't seen Bullet for a very long time now, so I assume he either passed away or found a different 'hood. I haven't started putting out live mealworms yet, so when I do I expect that's when I'll see robins. Parakeets still terribly polite. I have a magpie who cannot bear to see everyone feeding mostly happily alongside each other, so he swoops down just to strut about and make the others nervous. The only outright aggro I've seen other than the teasing magpie is territorial disputes between woodpigeons and collared doves and between established pairs of woodies and collars and their own kind who interlope."

[Tomshardware]

"I do like a pied wagtail, brighten the mood in usually desolate suburban landscapes."