Garden Birds and wild birds thread.

[dennishasdoneit]

Had a nice walk alongside a river yesterday ,spotting a Little Egret ,
A Mallard with 4 remaining ducklings...2nd brood I presume..
A Lesser Black- Backed Gull..and I watched this rather large bird negotiate the air thermals as it descended slowly and deliberately to take two beakfulls of water ...before taking to the air once more and off on its journey....and a Kingfisher,flying at seemingly 5000 mph ,does this bird ever ..take its time ?

 

[Tuearts right boot]

I have been worried at the lack of martins which are normally abundant here. Then today a whole flock arrived at the back of the house to nest under the eaves. Leaning out the window, I was surrounded.
Meanwhile, where are the moths, butterflies and insects? We have a garden full of roses and normally have to battle the greenfly. Not a single one this year. Baffling. Important to me as I can’t get out and about now, so the garden is my only source of wildlife.

I've also noticed a lack of flying insects, moths and butterflies. We used to have one bat in particular who would fly out of the eaves, circle the garden a few times then off into the woods....not seen it this year.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

I've also noticed a lack of flying insects, moths and butterflies. We used to have one bat in particular who would fly out of the eaves, circle the garden a few times then off into the woods....not seen it this year.

The lack of flying insects is worrying .
The butterflies moths Dragon flies damsel flies ,the honey bees hornets bumble bees wasps ladybirds..all in serious decline in large areas..
So..the birds decline with them.
What is the reason for the decline. Nobody seems to want to discuss this in msm ..why not ?

 

[Tuearts right boot]

The lack of flying insects is worrying .
The butterflies moths Dragon flies damsel flies ,the honey bees hornets bumble bees wasps ladybirds..all in serious decline in large areas..
So..the birds decline with them.
What is the reason for the decline. Nobody seems to want to discuss this in msm ..why not ?

I think about things like this on my dog walks and there are plenty of birds about up and down our river and in the spring you can hardly hear yourself think in the mornings. Plenty of damsel and dragon flies around the pond although I do tend to catch their larvae and feed them to the birds as they can clear a pond out without trying. Got loads of newts in the pond and around the garden together with frogs and toads but last month ran over a slow worm with the mower. They say the river is dead but there are loads of Goosanders, ducks and herons galore, otter sightings and quite a few young but dead, road kill, badgers......used to see lots of Cormorants but they're a bit thin on the ground at the mo. Not seen a ladybird for years, plenty of wasps in the autumn though not seen many so far.......I blame El Nino.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

Had a great day walking along Formby beach.
Saw my first ever Hooded Crow. Loads of them just relaxing sunbathing or occasionally feeding on the sand dunes, the hinterland by the sea.
I'd often wondered as a kid why they were a separate spec is to The Carrion Crow , and never really studied then much ,....today , after 5 decades of bird watching and observations .I can now appreciate The difference
This will send me back to my books! ..it's fantastic to learn something new in later life ...The Hooded Crow,for those interested, is a totally different bird to The Carrion Crow, how could I ever have dismissed it as fake ? Lol

The size and noise of The Herring Gull dominated the landscape, but i did manage to spot Larks,Reed Bunting..and there was a raptor flying low...which was probably a Marsh Harrier ....but I didn't get a good view
So can't be certain...but it was a good size,slim looking fast movimg ariel member of the universe so my brain thinks Harrier ..


A small frog hopped across a sandy path. And soon after I saw..the fenced off pond it was heading to.
I was looking out for grass snakes and Lizards but didn't spot any .

There were large gulls with dark heads,not black headed gulls , I'll have to check these out ..too large to be black headed gulls which are quite delicate compared to the big gangster gulls who dominate certain areas.....
The lesser black backed Gull was a common sight today, and I could see it's yellow legs quite close up .....

Most,if not all, of the birds I spotted today didn't appear to have a care in the world..just enjoying the sun the sand and the solitude
Ignoring the chem trails, but hey no...you can't have everything.

I did not see any signs of dead mammals on my 7 mile walk ...
There appear to be plenty of scavengers to keep the land clean .


All in all an invigorating day with much food for thought.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

I think about things like this on my dog walks and there are plenty of birds about up and down our river and in the spring you can hardly hear yourself think in the mornings. Plenty of damsel and dragon flies around the pond although I do tend to catch their larvae and feed them to the birds as they can clear a pond out without trying. Got loads of newts in the pond and around the garden together with frogs and toads but last month ran over a slow worm with the mower. They say the river is dead but there are loads of Goosanders, ducks and herons galore, otter sightings and quite a few young but dead, road kill, badgers......used to see lots of Cormorants but they're a bit thin on the ground at the mo. Not seen a ladybird for years, plenty of wasps in the autumn though not seen many so far.......I blame El Nino.

Great to here reports of nature in abundance .
Was on Formby beach yesterday and did see vegetation with a load of ladybirds on them ,quite a few butterflies ,one dragon fly i heard a Cricket ,and saw a few bees ....not a lot but they were there.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

6 seagulls in 2 groups on the verge of fledging across from our garden.

Really like watching them grow and start to find their wings. There's always 2 pockets of them every year.

The downside is that when on the verge the adult gulls start making a fucking racket at 2.30am.

 

[NorCalBlue]

The downside is that when on the verge the adult gulls start making a fucking racket at 2.30am.

We have a lot of mockingbirds here in Northern California. Beautiful birds with amazing song variety, but during mating season, the males sing loudly all night!

 

[Tuearts right boot]

Great to here reports of nature in abundance .
Was on Formby beach yesterday and did see vegetation with a load of ladybirds on them ,quite a few butterflies ,one dragon fly i heard a Cricket ,and saw a few bees ....not a lot but they were there.

Just got in with the dogs and a mate of mine has just shown me 2 sea trout in the river

 

[J.G.Blue.]

Bit weird this year here in rural shropshire, no shortage of Birds nesting, Blackbirds, Thrush, Sparrows, wrens etc even saw a beautiful little goldcrest, but very few insects, quite a few European Hornets which we dont usually get but hardly any flies, wasps, bees, ladybirds, greenfly or butterflies?
Just hope its an odd year and not a sign of things to come?