Back yard birding thread... (Corona virus restrictions)

[xelas]

Still nice photo, @pomkiwi. And ISO eek starts at 6400 !

[pomkiwi]

35 minutes ago, xelas said:

Still nice photo, @pomkiwi. And ISO eek starts at 6400 !

Not when you start cropping !!

[Caracal]

@pomkiwi- I'll be on the lookout for more photos and updates on your local barn owl. Fascinating.

[xelas]

Dunnock is a rare visitor and if coming, it stays on the ground. This one makes me happy by having a brief stop on the branches of the linden tree.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by xelas

[mvecht]

Luckily we are still allowed to go for walks in the local area

Wagtail

 

and the four Tawny owlets are still doing well. There are four in the picture although it is not easy to tell

 

 

[Towlersonsafari]

In the last year or so House Sparrowss have returned to the garden-they are very fond of the fatballs we put out These were taken on my birthday-I am now very old-and instead of a long weekend in Buxton, we had a longer weekend in Northamptonshire

[Towlersonsafari]

a couple of others taken on the same day

[TonyQ]

@Towlersonsafari  lovely photos.

Happy Birthday.

[kittykat23uk]

I'm not entirely restricted to the back garden, as we have some nice river and recreation ground that is not too busy that we can enjoy safely. So here are a few highlights so far.

 

P4040768 Song Thrush by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

I was delighted to find a pair of kingfishers who seem to be holding territory at a local pond. I wonder if they will attempt to nest there?!

 

P4040419 (2) Kingfisher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P4040492 adj copy Kingfisher against the light by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P4040534 Kingfisher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P4040604 adj copy Kingfisher by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

A couple of weeks ago I had some displaying buzzards

 

P3220435 adj Buzzards displaying by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Butterflies are emerging now

 

P3220381 Comma by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3190203 Grape Hyacinth by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3220513 adj Great-spotted Woodpecker by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3270809 adj Grey Heron by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Always love seeing these, they have been visiting my garden every day.. 

P3220640 Long-tailed Tit by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

This poor muntjac is missing a foot..

P3270885 Stumpy the Muntjac by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3220493 Mute Swan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3270744 Mute Swan by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

We have a breeding colony of these now, they are pretty but not so welcome..

P3270953 adj Ring-necked Parakeets by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

Nesting again

P4040198 Ring-necked Parakeets- at nest hole by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

P3210258 (2) Flying Pheasant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3210267 (2) Flying Pheasant by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3220336 (4) Sparrowhawk by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

And finally..

 

P3310070 (2) Wren by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

P3190116 (2) Treecreeper by Jo Dale, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by kittykat23uk

[marg]

@kittykat23uk..another fortunate one with good birding nearby.  Nice photos!

[kittykat23uk]

1 minute ago, marg said:

@kittykat23uk..another fortunate one with good birding nearby.  Nice photos!

 

Yes, I'm very glad we chose this house all those years ago. We did consider moving closer to my work, on the other side of the city last year but it didn't happen. I'm quite relieved now TBH as the options for wildlife walks would have been more limited. 

[TonyQ]

@kittykat23uk what a wonderful collection of local wildlife 

[xelas]

@Towlersonsafari great photos of your garden birds. And Happy Birthday !

[Bush dog]

Pictures of the last days, always taken from my kitchen :

 

Great tit

 

 

Eurasian blue tit

 

 

 

European starling

 

 

European robin

 

 

 

[xelas]

Since the boundary of the backyard has been extended. From a daily walk, still within eye contact with my home.

 

[pomkiwi]

An interesting hour's exercise today. A crow and a buzzard were disputing airspace above one field:

 

 

Just as I approached home I was able to watch a kestrel hunting - it then turned to watch me watching it!

[janzin]

Since I live in an apartment, and have no yard, we consider our local park (right across the street, and very large) our backyard. In addition, we have a very large and old cemetery within walking distance and during these time, it is a pleasure to bird there because (unlike in our park) they don't allow runners, joggers, or dog walkers, but they do allow and encourage birding. Even during normal times it is a birding hotspot.

 

anyway, here are a couple of newly arrived spring migrants from Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn (its quite an historic cemetery with several famous people buried there.)  Hopefully we will get out again soon as more migrants arrive.

 

Pine Warbler

 

 

Palm Warbler

 

 

[xelas]

Another one from my "extended backyard". A Nuthatch in its signature pose.

 

 

[Towlersonsafari]

just out of interest my first Swallow of the year seen on 7th April- which is a bit later than usual-and first Sand Marten seen yesterday-which is a lot later than normal for us. and  i thought this was interesting- birders restricted in their birding because of the lockdown but keeping in touch with each other by twitter etc have helped show the significant nocturnal migration-that had previously been guessed at-of the common scoter duck -through the UK -birders were out in their gardens at night listening to the calls-

a link to the story is here

https://www.birdguides.com/articles/migration/citizen-science-reveals-nocturnal-scoter-migration-routes/

[xelas]

@Towlersonsafari that is interesting as I have noticed my first swallow in Barje also on the same day!

[Peter Connan]

I call foul! Not.allowed out of my yard! 

 

Anyway,  enough sour grapes...

 

Edited April 9, 2020 by Peter Connan

[xelas]

36 minutes ago, Peter Connan said:

I call foul! Not.allowed out of my yard! 

 

Put a ladder up the fence and look into the park, @Peter Connan. I remember seeing some interesting birds on the trees in the park.

[xelas]

I have seen this guy stalking around , probably from that other birding thread .

 

[Peter Connan]

39 minutes ago, xelas said:

 

Put a ladder up the fence and look into the park, @Peter Connan. I remember seeing some interesting birds on the trees in the park.

 

Done that. And photographing birds flying high overhead. Still just 24 birds...

[Zim Girl]

3 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

 and  i thought this was interesting- birders restricted in their birding because of the lockdown but keeping in touch with each other by twitter etc have helped show the significant nocturnal migration-that had previously been guessed at-of the common scoter duck -through the UK -birders were out in their gardens at night listening to the calls-

a link to the story is here

https://www.birdguides.com/articles/migration/citizen-science-reveals-nocturnal-scoter-migration-routes/

Interesting - I had noticed there were a lot of noc mig common scoter reports on our local bird sightings a few days ago.