Jump to content

Zim Girl's 2nd Big Year 2019


Zim Girl

Recommended Posts

Lovely garden sightings.

It is intersting we hardly ever get sparrows (house) in our garden. (Never Tree Sparrows!). I always find it interesting to see what birds are common in different parts of the country

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave Williams

Tree Sparrow is a great spot for the UK never mind your garden! I haven't seen a UK one in several years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to see the Tree Sparrow and even better to see that you saw it. Just shows what this Forum can do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, TonyQ said:

Lovely garden sightings.

It is intersting we hardly ever get sparrows (house) in our garden. (Never Tree Sparrows!). I always find it interesting to see what birds are common in different parts of the country

I agree, it is very interesting.  Would certainly swap you a few of our house sparrows for that lovely greenfinch of yours:)

 

20 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Tree Sparrow is a great spot for the UK never mind your garden! I haven't seen a UK one in several years.

See next post Dave.

 

16 hours ago, Galana said:

Good to see the Tree Sparrow and even better to see that you saw it. Just shows what this Forum can do.

You might want to revise that, see next post!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, so this is really cool but slightly embarrassing at the same time:ph34r:

 

For many years we have had Blue Tits nest in our main bird box in the back garden. Then four years ago it was taken over by sparrows, who have used it every year since.  After posting that tree sparrow picture above I got to thinking, and had a look back at some pictures I had taken of the nesting sparrows previously.  Guess what, they are Tree Sparrows!!!  I have some printed pictures from May 2014 when they first nested and also some from 2017.  I don't have the 2014 ones on my hard drive anymore but see below a couple from 2017.  They nested last year as well and I can't believe I didn't notice what they were, just not looking closely enough (well that's my excuse).  They do very well as they have at least 2 broods every year and last year they had 3.

July 2017

P1130786c.jpg.b08a867309273c7659a3c27ab7e2cbba.jpg

 

P1130803c.jpg.45bcc0f0a5993f3b7c013a87a78b8101.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sad about the Blue tits but how nice the Tree Sparrows are thriving

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wonderful pictures of the Tree Sparrows nesting.

(Amazing what you learn when you are in the BIg Year!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How wonderful to have tree sparrows nesting in your garden!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Zim Girl said:

You might want to revise that, see next post!!

No. I stick by my comment. @TonyQ puts in the same context which is BY has now got you looking closer at what you see.

OK, so it took a while for the penny to drop but the big thing is it did.

As Dave says. "wow" indeed. These birds suffered a severe decline 'last century' and are only now just recovering.

To have a pair nesting in your garden is fantastic for you. You should sell tickets!:o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know. I am actually quite over the moon about it.  I will be waiting anxiously to see it they nest again this year and will keep you posted.

 

18 hours ago, Galana said:

To have a pair nesting in your garden is fantastic for you. You should sell tickets!:o

Anyone wishing to see them would be more than welcome!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So I need to start bringing this up to date.  First, a bird that is extremely numerous locally with many, many nests in the trees around here. But they are very skittish and tricky to photograph.  We sidled up to this one in the car and snapped a quick pic before he flew off.

 

25.  Rook

P1120578c.jpg.4ca10f1541e02abaf48dd76bae6020fb.jpg

Roadside near home  -  03/02/19

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A duck from earlier in the year but I had been waiting to get the female as well.

 

26.  Gadwall

 

Female

P1120917c.jpg.37e8a401d7ebaf67f103e4aed60e354e.jpg

 

Male

P1110604c.jpg.f6b6f160b2ce8b58d4602e1c969c2c8a.jpg

Stanley Park  -  17/01/19

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was a beautiful blue sky day last Friday, so I hot-footed it up to Leighton Moss to see what I could find. 

The estuary pools always look glorious early in the morning on clear days, with the sun behind the hides.  The first Avocet has already arrived and was mingling with the lapwings. (No pics yet, there will be lots more arriving in the coming weeks).

 

But first this Little Egret very kindly came and fished very close to the hide.

 

27.  Little Egret

P1120963c.jpg.b0d0bbb9ab583c856635d1927c0ed0d6.jpg

 

P1120975d.jpg.3a4a9c409ea12062cf1fd01a09366dae.jpg

Leighton Moss  -  15/02/19

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Then in the main reserve the much bigger version.

 

28.  Great White Egret

P1130016c.jpg.6cb11837f0204bd5e191e2d88d37d8e3.jpg

Leighton Moss  -  15/02/19

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From one of the paths between the reed beds I could hear a Water Rail calling loudly.  It took a while to see in among the reeds but eventually I was able to pick it out.  Later on in the day I found it again on the other side of the path still doing it's best not to be photographed!

 

29.  Water Rail

P1130003c.jpg.e872337c447b45d18eb2eb8adb33192b.jpg

 

P1130006c.jpg.3f33a657f436b1039b07c953da962bca.jpg

 

Picture taken later in the day.

P1130239c.jpg.8d1aef22eaf4ea5a8f0df2135852a5c4.jpg

Leighton Moss  -  15/02/19

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A splash of colour flitting around in the trees.

 

30.  Blue Tit

P1130145c.jpg.cedb80716b19815de11f6c1e4dc4968a.jpg

Leighton Moss  -  15/02/19

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to the pools and a flock of geese had just landed.

 

31.  Greylag Goose

P1130188c.jpg.dac797f4ee45882f191a6a91c5593f0c.jpg

Leighton Moss  -  15/02/19

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lots of these about in the pools.

 

32.  Eurasian Teal

 

Female

P1130199c.jpg.9bc36c0948d88b76e30068c105216b78.jpg

 

Male

P1130184c.jpg.022f10a90452f98a2a243efe78837e77.jpg

Leighton Moss  -  15/02/19

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Finally, the highlight of the day.  It is an appalling picture but a great bird:)  I tried all last year to find one of these and failed miserably.

I had only just sat down in this particular hide when the shout went up  -  Bittern!!

It just appeared on the edge of the reed bed at the far side of the water, a really long way off and still very camouflaged so hence the rubbish picture but a Bittern is a Bittern and a new bird for me so well pleased!!

 

33.  Eurasian Bittern

P1130072c.jpg.9f5b88467db79542dfe8803e2b4bc48a.jpg

 

Last year Bitterns bred successfully at Leighton Moss for the first time in over 10 years.  They have always had Bitterns there but they had stopped breeding.  The RSPB had been making changes recently in the way the reed bed was managed and this resulted in last year's success.  See this report for details.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/bitterns-bouncing-back-at-rspb-leighton-moss/

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great sighting of the Bittern. I have heard them quite often but only ever seen a few.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As you say, a Bittern is a Bittern. Not a bad days outing either. Bittern and Water Rail.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave Williams

Indeed, the Bittern is especially valued! Never taken a decent picture of one, nothing as good as yours for sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Dave Williams said:

Indeed, the Bittern is especially valued! Never taken a decent picture of one, nothing as good as yours for sure.

 

Not sure I can believe that Dave, but I will gladly take the compliment, thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Catching up with a couple more.

 

34.  Cormorant

P1120654c.jpg.f0d35d150c7b6765c17db32e4050c546.jpg

 

P1120667c.jpg.16f3c67294498c067a30e66fc1a1f71a.jpg

Stanley Park  -  06/02/19

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy