O/T birds

[CAMiller]

Thought you were a fresh water angler.
Terns are usually salt water.

Talking of salt water and Welshmen, the two are often mentioned together here in the US, Is this racist?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taffy_(candy)

[CAMiller]

Just for you Exile as unlike anyone on MM, he/she was sitting on the fence this evening when I got back from walking the dog. Less tree in this one.

Attachment 16315

[wendun]

I live in a pleasant rural area where a foreign face still has the curtains twitching. I go for a long walk every morning at 06.10. Since the virus there has been no increase whatsoever in wildlife which was always present. There has been a significant increase in fly tipping and camping out by raging's beloved demographic who very kindly invariably leave their empty cans, bottles and used toilet paper for the villagers to make use of.

[millertop]

Just for you then here's the uncropped version

Attachment 16311

That’s a better pic of the owl on its side going down 😉

Seriously though it is a good pic Cam even though owls scare the **** out of me

[millersrus]

Seen a goldfinch in back garden, along with the resident doves, robins, blackbirds, blue tits and regular magpies.
Noticed increase in splattered hedgehogs as traffic has increased.

[wendun]

Seen a goldfinch in back garden, along with the resident doves, robins, blackbirds, blue tits and regular magpies.
Noticed increase in splattered hedgehogs as traffic has increased.

No mention of sparrows there, sir. Your mention of goldfinches is interesting. A few years ago these were a rarity here but now I regularly have groups of twenty or so in a tree. Perhaps my favourite bird. Sadly greenfinches are very scarce these days. I have jackdaws by the many dozen as they nest in a nearby crag. Wood pigeons and collared doves are increasing as are blackbirds and starlings. Our large hedgehog population has all but gone as have our badger set.

[millersrus]

Sorry, of course the sparrows are the most abundant. The robins, blackbirds, doves nested. The goldfinches were first I have seen, only the once, not seen since. Hedgehogs ( alive ones ) a bit rarer this year.

[wendun]

Sorry, of course the sparrows are the most abundant. The robins, blackbirds, doves nested. The goldfinches were first I have seen, only the once, not seen since. Hedgehogs ( alive ones ) a bit rarer this year.

Hedgehogs may be being affected by global warming. A few years ago we started seeing them on the lawn in Winter when they should have been hibernating. They also seemed to be having young later in the year which then lacked the fat reserves to survive hibernation. It's very distressing.

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

Don’t see many sparrows here, the usual blackbirds, collared doves, wood pigeon and magpies.

Pied wagtail, and chaffinches.

We get house martins also

Because there is a lake about 100 yards away we get a lot of geese, mainly Canada geese but some greylags. This year a Canada and a greylag mated and had a clutch of chicks, no idea if such hybrids are rare or not. There’s also the usual mallard ducks and swans.

Probably due to population numbers and food shortage the geese, swans and ducks often bring their broods up the road and camp out on my front lawn. I’m ok with them but Mrs Grist doesn’t like them because the geese **** on the drive.

We had a mandarin duck last year but he’s not reappeared, got coots and moorhens and a pair of tufted duck.

Black headed gulls are a pain this year because they **** on your car just after you’ve washed it

I’ve heard brown owls and seen a barn owl (and bats, not sure type)

We get raptors, sparrow hawk, kestrel and a buzzard that circles around.

But sparrows? No not many

[wendun]

Don’t see many sparrows here, the usual blackbirds, collared doves, wood pigeon and magpies.

Pied wagtail, and chaffinches.

We get house martins also

Because there is a lake about 100 yards away we get a lot of geese, mainly Canada geese but some greylags. This year a Canada and a greylag mated and had a clutch of chicks, no idea if such hybrids are rare or not. There’s also the usual mallard ducks and swans.

Probably due to population numbers and food shortage the geese, swans and ducks often bring their broods up the road and camp out on my front lawn. I’m ok with them but Mrs Grist doesn’t like them because the geese **** on the drive.

We had a mandarin duck last year but he’s not reappeared, got coots and moorhens and a pair of tufted duck.

Black headed gulls are a pain this year because they **** on your car just after you’ve washed it

I’ve heard brown owls and seen a barn owl (and bats, not sure type)

We get raptors, sparrow hawk, kestrel and a buzzard that circles around.

But sparrows? No not many

Yes, buzzards do have a habit of circling around. There is a healthy population here plus kestrels, sparrow hawks ( occasionally assassinating visitors to my bird feeders), many brown owls (but I've only ever seen one barn owl and one little owl) and peregrines nesting with ravens and jackdaws on the crag. Plenty of sparrows though I hear they are rare elsewhere. I envy your coots and moorhens. Starlings in Winter are a complete pain in the rrse. Plenty of geese, ducks and gulls but ours are better behaved than yours and do not so far sh*t on us!