Garden Birds and wild birds thread.

[snorky]

This probably sounds a bit pervy, but we had a Shag on the local pond recently, stayed for about 3 or 4 days. Not sure how rare it is for one to be inland?

Are you sure it wasn't a cormorant mate?

 

[Centurions]

All the twitchers out in Pickering due to a influx of visiting Waxwings :-)
Nice to see them again.

Yeah, we've had the local park (in Scotland) crawling with twitchers looking for them. We had an irruption a few years back and the little buggers are like locusts on the Rowan trees.

 

[cpa]

Had either a Peregrine or a Sparrowhawk eat a Pidgeon in our back garden
Not sure which as im not a twitcher

 

[plongo]

Parakeets in numbers here in Poynton. Bright green they are, I don't mind them bu they freak out Mrs P

 

[big gaz]

Had either a Peregrine or a Sparrowhawk eat a Pidgeon in our back garden
Not sure which as im not a twitcher

The Peregrine has a black eye Sparrow Hawk orange eye.seen a few Sparrow Hawk attacks in the garden back in Failsworth and now up her in Pickering. However if you're back garden is the size of Castle Howard it may be that pesky Falcon ;-)

 

[big gaz]

Yeah, we've had the local park (in Scotland) crawling with twitchers looking for them. We had an irruption a few years back and the little buggers are like locusts on the Rowan trees.

Better than having the M.I.B.'s running riot ;-)

 

[laserblue]

Had either a Peregrine or a Sparrowhawk eat a Pidgeon in our back garden
Not sure which as im not a twitcher

We have at least one pair of sparrowhawks around regularly and they particularly like taking collared doves. They're more common than peregrines but are also a bit smaller. With both species the female is bigger but the female sparrowhawk is brown while the male is blue. Both male and female peregrines are blue. Peregrines tend to swoop down from high while sparrowhawks (at least in our experience) don't attack from above tree height. Their favourite mode of attack is to hedgehop just above the bushes or fence and swoop in on birds on the feeders or in a bush or tree.

 

[shemnel]

Parakeets in numbers here in Poynton. Bright green they are, I don't mind them bu they freak out Mrs P

I always see parakeets when i go to south manchester now, completely habituated and in numbers, like you say.

Saw my first pair of parakeets up here in Morecambe over the summer, repeatedly for about 4 months, but not since it went cold....remains to be seen whether this is too far north. They strike me as very opportunistic and hardy birds though.

 

[snorky]

We have at least one pair of sparrowhawks around regularly and they particularly like taking collared doves. They're more common than peregrines but are also a bit smaller. With both species the female is bigger but the female sparrowhawk is brown while the male is blue. Both male and female peregrines are blue. Peregrines tend to swoop down from high while sparrowhawks (at least in our experience) don't attack from above tree height. Their favourite mode of attack is to hedgehop just above the bushes or fence and swoop in on birds on the feeders or in a bush or tree.

I'm amazed how loud it is when they actually hit the songbird. You would think they would damage themselves.

I am starting to see almost as many kites as buzzards here in the Shire.

 

[The Stockport Iniesta]

Are you sure it wasn't a cormorant mate?

Pretty sure, I've got a wildlife book and had a good look at the bird through binoculars. I also read that a Shag inland is likely to be solitary while Cormorants tend to be in a group if they come inland. It was also doing the wings outstretched thing to dry them, while perched on the small wooden fence that surrounds the pond.