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Post by fenedgeexile on Jun 20, 2023 19:08:38 GMT
Yes, used to give me something to watch in stationary traffic on the M40 in Oxfordshire 😁 Not aware they've done a reintroduction of kites in Derbyshire, so they must be spreading up from there or down from North Yorkshire. Back in the late 1960s I was in a birdwatching group when I was in the RAF at Hereford. One winter weekend we went away down to Tregaron in mid-Wales to try and see a red kite - the UK population was less than a dozen then - two days in mind-numbing cold for the privilege of seeing one for about twenty seconds. 2003, and I was back in the UK for work. I had a few days visiting family in the West Country and was driving back towards London on the M40, and the best part of that trip back was seeing ten or so in line abreast soaring on the thermals over the Chilterns. I remember seeing a red kite for the first time in around 2003 when driving through the Scottish highlands on holday and being amazed because they were so rare. Today I see several of them most days floating over my garden in Cambs. There are huge populations now across Cambs, Beds and Northants, that you see driving around. I remember the highlight of one of our early games at Brackley being a kite hovering over the pitch, the "crowd" was far more enthralled with the bird than the rather dull antics on the pitch! Lots of them around Corby when we played there too. White egrets are also pretty common around Cambs waterways these days.
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Fez
Frequenter
Posts: 473
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Post by Fez on Jun 21, 2023 3:08:05 GMT
Love to sit in the garden in the evening this time of year, Usually with a glass of wine or a nice ale. We get plenty of songbirds and as the evening draws in the last one singing is always the blackbird. Sometimes it's the most simple things that make life good. Exactly the same here. A glass of something on the porch or in the back garden of an evening, and the sight and sound of the birds. I miss the songs of those twilight blackbirds very much; we have American robins here, which are a very close relative, but their song is more half-hearted. However, we have an amazing variety of birds considering we're only five miles from the city centre, and ever-changing with the seasons: from wrens and finches nesting in the porch, through chickadees, goldfinches, cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds and five types of woodpecker, to swifts and nighthawks chasing flies overhead, and turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks circling above. And plenty more. Also, at ths time of year, hummingbirds. Plus fireflies, cicadas and crickets. A simple but delightful pleasure.
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Post by timberwolf on Jun 21, 2023 7:08:19 GMT
I’ve been busy. With Kate 😮 There should have been a yellowboard prize for the first person to alter the thread like a week on salfords board. Was waiting for someones tits being chased by next doors pussy.
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Post by hedleyverity on Jun 21, 2023 7:19:17 GMT
Love to sit in the garden in the evening this time of year, Usually with a glass of wine or a nice ale. We get plenty of songbirds and as the evening draws in the last one singing is always the blackbird. Sometimes it's the most simple things that make life good. Exactly the same here. A glass of something on the porch or in the back garden of an evening, and the sight and sound of the birds. I miss the songs of those twilight blackbirds very much; we have American robins here, which are a very close relative, but their song is more half-hearted. However, we have an amazing variety of birds considering we're only five miles from the city centre, and ever-changing with the seasons: from wrens and finches nesting in the porch, through chickadees, goldfinches, cardinals, blue jays, mockingbirds and five types of woodpecker, to swifts and nighthawks chasing flies overhead, and turkey vultures and red-tailed hawks circling above. And plenty more. Also, at ths time of year, hummingbirds. Plus fireflies, cicadas and crickets. A simple but delightful pleasure. I was working at industrial estate on the edge of Grimsby about 15 years ago when a lost American robin turned up, so did thousands of twitchers, to the point where it became difficult to get to work through the crowds. Then a sparrowhawk had it for lunch and they all went home.
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fb
Contributor
Posts: 721
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Post by fb on Jun 21, 2023 17:39:02 GMT
It is bee city out there tonight! On the birdage front, the swifts are havin it large, a bird that could have been a Cormorant or a Shag (pauses to chortle) was following the Goyt upstream, the usual assortment of finches, corvids and other garden birds were chorusing away and I do believe I saw an early bat or maybe I need to check for cataracts. Another month and it will be warm enough to imbibe late enough in the garden to watch the bats, which are something to behold.
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Post by HTC on Jun 21, 2023 21:56:20 GMT
Best place for bats I’ve been to locally was the lake at Platt Fields
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Post by Waldorf on Jun 21, 2023 22:03:30 GMT
Best place for bats I’ve been to locally was the lake at Platt Fields I have them every night in our garden swooping for the midges. About 20/30 of them. It's cool to watch, but if you go out they're not put off - you can feel them fly past your head. Our garden backs onto a field with lots of huge trees, so we get loads of different types of birds, bats, foxes, dormice etc.
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Post by HTC on Jun 21, 2023 22:09:45 GMT
Occasionally get some pipistrelles in the back garden, but it’s only ever 2 or 3 unfortunately…
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Post by topcat99 on Jun 22, 2023 6:12:24 GMT
There's an app called Merlin by Cornell University which can help identify birds through sight or sound. Highly recommended if, like myself, you are not yet adept at discerning the different songs. I have downloaded this app. It’s absolutely brilliant. Put sound on this morning on Abney Hall. It picked up 10 species within 60 seconds.
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Post by orkneyhatter on Jun 22, 2023 8:45:43 GMT
There's an app called Merlin by Cornell University which can help identify birds through sight or sound. Highly recommended if, like myself, you are not yet adept at discerning the different songs. I have downloaded this app. It’s absolutely brilliant. Put sound on this morning on Abney Hall. It picked up 10 species within 60 seconds. Have heard from people who have trialled it its good but not always 100% right.
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Post by orkneyhatter on Jun 22, 2023 8:51:56 GMT
Learning birdsong helps you find more birds. Start with the common ones like tits, Robin etc. Find that seeing the bird actually making the noise helps me remember more easily. Have seen lots of birds just by hearing the song then looking for it, especially when one flies over.
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Post by benji1984 on Jun 22, 2023 20:01:40 GMT
Loads of the ring necked parakeets in abney as well
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Post by oldroader on Jun 23, 2023 10:51:42 GMT
I have downloaded this app. It’s absolutely brilliant. Put sound on this morning on Abney Hall. It picked up 10 species within 60 seconds. Have heard from people who have trialled it its good but not always 100% right. I gave it a try the other day. It seemed pretty good, but I'm almost certain the starling it identified was actually being mimicked as part of a song thrush song! It takes up a huge amount of space on your phone too, unless anyone knows a way to move the database to your SD card?
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Post by herbiedumplings on Jun 23, 2023 12:46:58 GMT
It’s just occurred to me that you never see Nelly Furtado and Demi Moore together in the same place.
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Post by Sina on Jun 23, 2023 12:52:19 GMT
It’s just occurred to me that you never see Nelly Furtado and Demi Moore together in the same place. I wish it was at my gaff (I get the joke..)
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