Does anyone have unusual/interesting birds in their garden?

[angieh]

It seems to me where I live on the south coast that the birds have gone through the teenage "kiss chase" phase and are starting the serious courting/pair bonding part of the breeding season. The crows and rooks have been nest building for quite a while now.

I mentioned in today's daily thread that I have a pair of Long-tailed Tits who are visiting my feeders every day at the moment.

What's happening with the birds in your garden at the moment?

Sorry about the typo in the title - don't seem to be able to edit it!

Thanks for telling me how dandysmom - works a treat!

[EmmaG]

Only unusual bird we have is a green woodpecker :)

[Moli]

We have a spotted green woodpecker too...and beautiful gold finches.....

[dandysmom]

Stateside probably isn't what you're interested in, but the mourning doves are back! Tried to get a pic recently but they are so earth-toned that there was hardly any contrast as they were sitting on the ground...natural camouflage ......

[angieh]

Oh I am interested in Stateside - I have a particular liking for birds in USA ever since I bought a set of US bird stamps many, many years ago. I would LOVE to see a cardinal!

[angieh]

Just looked out of the window to see this chap on the peanut feeder - is this the same bird you get in your garden Moli?

http://www.highhallnursery.co.uk/resources/Woodpecker-bevelled.JPG

[dandysmom]

Oh I am interested in Stateside - I have a particular liking for birds in USA ever since I bought a set of US bird stamps many, many years ago. I would LOVE to see a cardinal!

Cardinals are lovely...I'll try to get a pic when mine are back; hopefully one when he is courting his mate by feeding her sunflower seeds! That is so cute and touching...

[angieh]

That would be really special dandysmom!

[pinklizzy]

I don't have a garden here but at my mum's house, just up the road we have a buzzard who comes down and perches on the veranada-after all the other birds in the garden!

[babycakes]

We get all kinds of birds here but I am not clued up as to what they are. I know the common ones and we get a wide range of them but as we back onto lots of fields we get all kinds close by. Hawks, kestrels, a pair of breeding owls and we have also had partridges. But when my head isn't full of so much other stuff I would like to get to know more about the wildlife living around my property.

[angieh]

I would thoroughly recommend it babycakes! Especially as it sounds you have some really wonderful birds on your doorstep!

[babycakes]

I may ask for some help from everybody nearer the time then

[Moli]

Just looked out of the window to see this chap on the peanut feeder - is this the same bird you get in your garden Moli?

http://www.highhallnursery.co.uk/resources/Woodpecker-bevelled.JPG
Thats the one Angie....:)

[Moli]

I have just discovered the stonechat, where I walk the dogs, its a tiny bird and never stops talking, quite tame too...

[MrsH]

This last week for the first time ever, we've had bramblings visit our feeders. If you don't know them, they're a bit like chaffinches but a bit paler.

[Moli]

This last week for the first time ever, we've had bramblings visit our feeders. If you don't know them, they're a bit like chaffinches but a bit paler.
Ah!! Thanks MrsH, I have seen them, but thought they were young chaffinches needing to colour up...:)

[Moli]

I have a Chaffinch which flies onto the side mirror of my car, they flies at the mirror....Anyone any idea why??

[angieh]

If it is seeing another chaffinch in your mirror ..... thought that was quite advanced behaviour, but budgies do it??? (something to ponder on)

I have never seen a brambling in the flesh. I am sad about that.

[angieh]

My OH has just confirmed for me that this is what I have been seeing in our garden today - a siskin!
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/photos/birds/siskin-3069.jpg

[dandysmom]

I'd read your siskin mention in the Daily thread before I saw this; was curious and looked them up. Lovely little birds; they remind me a bit of our American goldfinches!

[angieh]

Could you post a link to a picture of your American goldfinches Eileen? We have goldfinches here too, but they are completely different to siskins and I don't think anyone could confuse the two species.

[dandysmom]

Could you post a link to a picture of your American goldfinches Eileen? We have goldfinches here too, but they are completely different to siskins and I don't think anyone could confuse the two species.

Glad to! They're lovely little birds. We get them here in my area in late Summer; they breed late in the season and like to line their nests with the "silk" from thistles..

http://k53.pbase.com/v3/75/47975/1/47943174.AmericanGoldfinch_15906.jpg

[angieh]

Thanks Eileen, I can see the similarity with our siskin. Here is link to our goldfinch for comparison.

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/photos/jindra/goldfinch-8_25218.jpg

(Did you save your image first and then upload it to photobucket? When I tried copying the image direct in order to post the picture here I ended up with nothing to paste!)

[dandysmom]

Oh, very different bird from ours; love the splotch of red!

No, I just Googled till I found a pic I liked, pressed my Control key with my cursor over the pic so the Copy Image Location came up as an option; then just attached to the post ........

[angieh]

That must be a MAC thing again - I just tried that and nothing happened!

[dandysmom]

Maybe it is? That's how I copy with the Mac: when I do that I get several options: the only ones I use are Copy Image Location and Save To (I only use Desktop, don't use the others).

[angieh]

Might just be the Ctrl button - I think I probably get the same options with right mouse click! But the Copy Image option still didn't work!!!

[dandysmom]

It's definitely something with right clicking, I suspect: when I was new on here and asked how to do things, people kept saying "right click" and I had no idea what they meant.......different systems...

[tilly]

HI I haven't noticed anything very interesting here but at my parents they have partidges, pheasents, and a little owl.

I will ask them to look out and let me know if they see anything else.

I will keep an eye out to as I have two feeders for the birds.

Sally

[Donna]

In the last five years I can honestly say I have never seen a bird in my garden.... it is quite built up where I live, and lots of cats around...

The only birds I see locally are pigeons and magpies, as I drive around.

[yola]

We have a pair of large Jay birds that regularly visit. Being right in the town centre that's an unusual sight but I've seen them for a few years now.

We get the usual, robins, wrens, blackbirds, thrushes . . . sadly haven't seen sparrows for a couple of years now :(

Just down the road in Cookham there are hug colonies of parakeets (wild ones) that swoop down into people's gardens. I was at a friend's house once and the whole back garden was green with them!

[dandysmom]

Wow, I didn't know you had feral parakeets there too! There are huge flocks of them in California and Florida; too cold in the Winter where I am. I have once or twice seen an escapee here flocking with the English sparrows...of which we have multitudes!

[sammy]

We have a pair of large Jay birds that regularly visit. Being right in the town centre that's an unusual sight but I've seen them for a few years now.

We get the usual, robins, wrens, blackbirds, thrushes . . . sadly haven't seen sparrows for a couple of years now :(

Just down the road in Cookham there are hug colonies of parakeets (wild ones) that swoop down into people's gardens. I was at a friend's house once and the whole back garden was green with them!

I get parakeets in my garden, they're very noisy but beautiful to see!

[angieh]

Wow, I didn't know you had feral parakeets there too! There are huge flocks of them in California and Florida; too cold in the Winter where I am. I have once or twice seen an escapee here flocking with the English sparrows...of which we have multitudes!

Can we have them back please Eileen? They're getting quite scarce over here now!

[dandysmom]

Can we have them back please Eileen? They're getting quite scarce over here now!

Another thing I didn't know, what a pity! They are such cheerful little birds; they are about 90% of the visitors to my feeder!

About Yola's comment on jays...I believe the European jay is different from our common blue jay...thought you might enjoy a pic…they are large, very aggressive and extremely noisy!! You can hear them yelling for blocks!

http://www.50birds.com/images/bibluejayrbhywb.jpg

[angieh]

This is our jay, Eileen - quite a different looking bird but it is a cheeky creature and has many habits in common with jackdaws and other members of the crow family.
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/angieh_bucket/birds/jay-05a03038.jpg

(I had to save the image and upload it to photobucket before I could paste the actual image here - not sure why I can't do it like you do!)

[dandysmom]

What an attractive bird! I enjoy seeing yours. When I think of jackdaws I think of stealing... our jays do that too...take shiny trinkets and things and hide them away!

[babycakes]

We had a pheasant in ours this morning but as I opened the door with my camera it ran off like the road runner

[angieh]

Bad luck BC - could you tell whether it was a male or female? Usually the males are more likely to run away like a road runner! If it was brightly coloured, it was male, if sort of browney shades, a female.

[babycakes]

Think it was a female, it had colour on it and ran like the wind. I could hear it before I could see it, freaked Denis out:roll:

[dandysmom]

I had roast pheasant once, a little chewy and slightly gamey; not as much like chicken as I had thought it would be. But that would be really something to see one in your yard! We used to have bob white quail in the nearby woods, but haven't seen any in years; perhaps the resident foxes got them all .......

[angieh]

Poor Denis!
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/angieh_bucket/birds/Male_and_female_pheasant.jpg
Can he tell which it was - Mr C Pheasant or Mrs H Pheasant?

[angieh]

I had an Italian pheasant casserole once at an hotel I stayed at long ago and it was delicious, but then it had lots of veggies and herbs and wine, so it went a long way to disguise the gamey bird flavour!

[babycakes]

Definetly a male

[angieh]

I caught this sparrowhawk sheltering from the rain in our garden this afternoon. Please note - this is not my photo, but one I have "borrowed" from RSPB! Not sure whether it is male or female.
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/angieh_bucket/birds/sparrowhawk1.jpg

[angieh]

At the moment we are getting frequent daily visits from both Mr and Mrs Greater Spotted Woodpecker. The male has a red patch on the back of his neck (as this picture) and both male and female have red underparts. They are obviously feeding young nearby. Look forward to seeing young'un - evidently they have red heads!!!

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/angieh_bucket/Misc/GSWoodpeckermale.jpg

Please note above picture is not my own!

[dandysmom]

What a handsome bird, Angie! Are they common? He looks a bit like our downey woodpecker, which is small (about sparrow size) and not at all rare. This is a "borrowed" pic of mine also, the little rascal will never stay put long enough for me to take one!

http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg

!

[Mags]

That Woodpecker is stunning Angie, I wish I had visitors like that in my garden.:D .......

[pinklizzy]

We have woodpeckers like that in my mum's garden, the babies are total sweeties-it's always fun to see mum and dad teaching them how to hang onto the bird feeder!

[random]

Nothing really unusual, but have a jackdaw who keeps spilling all my seed of the table and loosening the screws, it's only made for wee birds!

[Alicat]

We don't have a garden being in an upper floor flat but we do get a lot of gulls and one cat with a headache when he lunges at the window to catch them and bounces off it. :)

I've seen an awful lot of starlings this year.

[random]

My OH has just confirmed for me that this is what I have been seeing in our garden today - a siskin!
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/photos/birds/siskin-3069.jpg

I have those too, also chaffinches, goldfinches, greenfinches, robins, house sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, thrushes, pied wagtails, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, and wrens. Think that's all the regulars.

Oh and Mr Jackdaw and Mr Woodpigeon who make a mess!

[angieh]

What a handsome bird, Angie! Are they common? He looks a bit like our downey woodpecker, which is small (about sparrow size) and not at all rare. This is a "borrowed" pic of mine also, the little rascal will never stay put long enough for me to take one!

http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg

!

This is strange Eileen - I didn't get your picture of the downey woodpecker but when using this "quote" I can see the IMG string, but can't access it. Don't know enough tech stuff to figure out why that is!

The Great Spotted Woodpecker is quite widely spread in UK and not a rarity at the moment. The bird book says that it is about the size of a blackbird, but I would say it is a bit bigger than that and more sturdily built!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the young ones!

[dandysmom]

Strange indeed, Angie; it was there earlier on my screen but has indeed vanished now! The mysteries of cyberspace...I will repost it and hope it stays this time....

http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg

[Moli]

Strange indeed, Angie; it was there earlier on my screen but has indeed vanished now! The mysteries of cyberspace...I will repost it and hope it stays this time....


http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg
I cannot see it DM....:(

[Mags]

Nor me :?......

[dandysmom]

:shock: How strange..it's right here on my screen ...and I don't know how to fix it. Sorry.
It's just a small little woodpecker that looks a lot like Angie's.

I would do it again, but one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.......:-D

[random]

Strange indeed, Angie; it was there earlier on my screen but has indeed vanished now! The mysteries of cyberspace...I will repost it and hope it stays this time....

http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg


I can't see it either but if I quote this post I get the wee broken image symbol...

http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg

[random]

[quote=dandysmom;484620]Strange indeed, Angie; it was there earlier on my screen but has indeed vanished now! The mysteries of cyberspace...I will repost it and hope it stays this time....

http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg

http://www.bobsteelephoto.com/Images/Species_Images/dowo/dowo_D2532.jpg

This is the link if you look at the source, but you can only check it when you are preparing a quote!

[dandysmom]

Thanks, Random! I don't really understand what you did, but nice that the little guy can be seen finally ........

[Moli]

:evil: :evil: :evil: It says I am forbidden to see that image....Whats it called DM, I will google it...;)

[dandysmom]

This is getting weird...Google downey woodpecker!

[Moli]

Female....


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Downy_Woodpecker02.jpg/180px-Downy_Woodpecker02.jpg
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Downy_Woodpecker02.jpg)


Male..

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Downy_Woodpecker01.jpg/200px-Downy_Woodpecker01.jpg
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Downy_Woodpecker01.jpg)

Downy Woodpecker..........

They are slightly more colourful than ours....beautiful birds...

[angieh]

Thanks Moli! I also got "Forbidden" on that link - so glad I can now see the downey woodpeckers. I think "downey" fits them well, they seem a bit, well, more "fluffy" than ours!

[dandysmom]

Thanks, Moli! I didn't know I was posting a "taboo" image...:-D; they are really cute perky little things.

Have you ever heard of the ivory billed woodpecker? It's an absolutely huge bird that frequented the Southern area of the country, principally in swampy areas; it has been supposedly extinct for ages but there have been some sightings in the last few years!! No one has managed to get a pic, but birders are still looking. Wouldn't it be great if this elusive bird has survived? :D
;

[Moli]

Its beautiful....just read all about it on google...


http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:EBp6cNdMj40zqM:http://whatbird.wbu.com/img/4/4776/image.aspx%3Fx%3D330 (http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://whatbird.wbu.com/img/4/4776/image.aspx%3Fx%3D330&imgrefurl=http://whatbird.wbu.com/obj/830/_/Ivory-billed_Woodpecker.aspx&h=412&w=330&sz=39&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=EBp6cNdMj40zqM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Divory%2Bbilled%2Bwoodpecker%253F%2B%2 6um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4HPEB_en-GBGB217GB217)

[Moli]

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory

[Mags]

.

Have you ever heard of the ivory billed woodpecker? It's an absolutely huge bird that frequented the Southern area of the country, principally in swampy areas; it has been supposedly extinct for ages but there have been some sightings in the last few years!! No one has managed to get a pic, but birders are still looking. Wouldn't it be great if this elusive bird has survived? :D
;

I had to see if I could find out anything about the ivory billed woodpecker and found this link ......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_billed_woodpecker

....it certainly is a big bird - 30" wing span!! :shock:

[angieh]

We had this little chap on one of our nut feeders just now. I looked him up, and it seems that in America a very similar bird is called the Red-Breasted Nuthatch. Ours is just called a Nuthatch!

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/angieh_bucket/birds/nuthatch_300_tcm9-142355.jpg

[dandysmom]

He's cute!
Here's ours..hope this isn't another "forbidden" link......

http://content.ornith.cornell.edu/UEWebApp/images/ISJ_040802_00437A_S.jpg

[angieh]

I've seen the GSW young - first time this morning!!! With mum and dad at the peanut feeder. They were both feeding it. Looks to be an "only child"!

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/angieh_bucket/birds/GREAT-SPOTTED-woodpecker-yo.jpg