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."

[Crassus]

"Apparently so Geep and egg shell but beer here goes the way intended I’ve adjusted my planting and find the birds do the rest Had very few last year, I’ll see how it goes before getting them ‘Pickled’"

[gph]

"I thought beer worked for slugs, without risking poisoning other animals"

[Crassus]

"Ex They are wonderful creatures chap, misunderstood, persecuted yet inherently responsive Don’t worry about your feline pal, foxes and cats get on fine, plenty of vt of them mutually feeding and even hunting rats ! I kid you not, one flushing the other laying in wait We are fortunate to back on to open countryside but with that comes rodents. Had several bouts of rat arrivals in the garden, problem being we can’t go ‘Putin’ on them because of our dogs initially and then an increased awareness of collateral damage to birds of prey and of course foxes, hedge hogs etc I’ve gone full Greta now, sacked off all the usual pest removal pollutants from slug pellets north and leave the garden to do its thing from autumn to late spring after nesting ( we have no grass fortunately) The result? Rats gone, birds flourishing, insect life balanced with plenty of bees, even saw a weasel at the tail end of the last rat incursion Anyhow, embrace your foxes mate, they are rewarding"

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Gph, think on winter watch they mentioned that because of changes in average temperatures we'll be seeing a lot less of it in years to come? One more free parrot in the south east = 10 less black caps in my garden in Bristol :("

[gph]

"""They are migratory, and most spend the summer in Germany."" Looks like they are elective migratory, only flying thousands of miles when they feel like it. ""Shall we go to Spain this year?"" ""Nah, I fancy catching the Oktoberfest..."""

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Crassus, have had foxes more and more in my garden over the last few months, can stand outside a couple of times each week and do a ‘stare out’ (nicely!)/with one of them from just a few yards away…they usually win when I get bored. Hoping that they haven’t completely scared away a cat whose also been visiting every day for circa 10 years who first ventured in as a kitten."

[Crassus]

"Thanks Nurse, lovely thread this Plenty of bird activity and rapid feeder emptying Our foxes, fed nightly since May, now come to the call, you can see their eyes reflecting light as they scamper across the field. If they arrive at the ‘drive thru’ before us at the fence, they sit patiently waiting and are not beyond calling us, we can identify individuals Important time now, our vixen is doubtless with cubs, so feeding is vital and we expect her to disappear soon as she gives birth and rears Not long before we have more of the buggers to feed and as we look out, get to see the little ones take their early steps of exploration In troubled times such a natural thing offers increasing pleasure"

[gph]

"Blackcaps may be splitting into two species. They are migratory, and most spend the summer in Germany. But some fly to Spain for the winter, and some to the UK. Spain for the warmth, and the UK because soft-hearted Brits boost their food supplies. https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2015/01/08/readers-wildlife-photo-and-an-evolutionary-lesson-speciation-in-action/"

[Nurse Ratched]

"Yeah, that is officially weird as eff."

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Nurse, no, I’m pretty certain it’s a female black cap, it goes back to when there was the annual birdwatch in your garden weekend and normally I’d just watch what was going on and take no notice of who was who, but because you had to take a bit more special notice whilst ticking them off, I pulled up lots of images and it’s 99% a female black cap. They’ve been in and out at exactly the same times in/off about a dozen times over the last few weeks. I think it’s a genuine anomaly kind of thing?…"

[Nurse Ratched]

"Crikey! At the risk of irritating you, are you absolutely certain that's a blackcap and not oossibly a robin of variegated/unusual colouration?"

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Thank you!! I went back 4 pages of threads for this but couldn't find it, I reckon it went in the twighlight 'in between' pages bit, anyway.. I have spotted in my back garden a robin and female black cap (who is actually dull red capped as opposed to black) visit my gargen at least a dozen times together. Today the pair jointly chased another robin out of the garden, and after those exploits ate and then flew off together. Do birds do this sort of thing? Where one from am entirely different family just hang around for quite a while with another and even fight others off together? From what I've read blackcaps are supposed to be solitary and not hanging out with other birds, but no word of a lie or exaggeration, these 2 have been teaming up for a few weeks now."

[Nurse Ratched]

"Bumped for WHU(Ex) p.s. I have a song thrush! Heard, so far, not yet seen."

[Nurse Ratched]

"Bumped for WHU(Ex) p.s. I have a song thrush! Heard, so far, not yet seen."

[zebthecat]

I forgot too and would have upped the sparrow count as I had the lot in an apple tree. Have some visiting common gulls as well doing their stamp on the grass thing (worm charming). Never seen them here before.

[azel senior]

"Raven calls are unmistakable, and yet they do differ from day to day. Always a type of ""Gronk!"", but differ in length, intensity and pitch dependent on their mood! Pointless me doing Big Garden Birdwatch, unless there is a tick-box for ""Fuck All!"""

[Hammer and Pickle]

"Walking in the local forest yesterday, I noticed something that seemed to be a black bin-bag about 30 yards up the path. My son and the dog, who were ahead, had not noticed the shape and disturbed the bird before I got a better sight in the glasses but no matter, once it took off there was no doubt for it was massive, and a raven it was. Later it circled around as we walked, making it's characteristic call. A raven is unmistakable - the size, the call and the long-tailed silhouette when in flight."

[WHU(Exeter)]

"That's understandable given the events of yesterday, away win for the COO and the weekend becomes an adrenalin fuelled blur."

[Nurse Ratched]

"Feck, I forgot!"

[WHU(Exeter)]

"Anybody do the RSPB bird watch? One robin, three blue tits and a female black cap. Dissapointing, especially that the Jay never featured in the hour. Plus side was I sussed out what the bird was who is a regular visitor, never bothered before (thought it was some kind of finch), but as it was for the survey went the extra mile with my 'research' to pin it down as a female black cap."

[Mike Oxsaw]

"Yes, Sock. I understand what is likely to happen to all the global warming fucknuts, but what about the original parakeets?"

[riosleftsock]

"Mike Like most invading species, if you feed them they will stay. I guess they will eventually evolve to the terrain and climate and morph into some kind of amazing pigeon/seagull/parakeet mutant that begs, steals and fucking caws its head off at you as it does it, and accuses our birds of parrotphobia if they complain"

[Mike Oxsaw]

"riosleftsock 11:49 Mon Jan 24 I'm quite surprised that their presence in Europe hasn't been jumped upon by the global warming faction - when I was growing up in the 60s, parakeets were only associated with tropical jungles and real pirates of the Caribbean. And zoos."

[riosleftsock]

"Been working over in Teddington the last month or two so staying away from home during the week which I hate. But the site is right on the edge of Bushey Park and the place is absolutely over run with parakeets, I've seen them before in big numbers in some strange parts of London, but never in this quantity, its insane, they completely dominate the avian gangs round here."

[Nurse Ratched]

True enough.