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Where have all our garden birds gone?


DDolfelin
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Not a bird but at least it has wings:

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Can anybody positively Identify it?

 

Looks like a type of Hawk Moth to me but I'm not too good on Moth recognition!

It's about 5cm across the wings and the body is about 3cm long

 

Cheers

 

Keith

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I know this isn't going to sound that big a deal to some (and I didn't get a photograph) but we had a nuthatch visit the peanut feeder in our garden. It's colours were muted and not well defined so I think it was a juvenile bird. Only the second nuthatch we have ever had.

 

Chaz

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I know this isn't going to sound that big a deal to some (and I didn't get a photograph) but we had a nuthatch visit the peanut feeder in our garden. It's colours were muted and not well defined so I think it was a juvenile bird. Only the second nuthatch we have ever had.

 

Chaz

It's very likely to be a youngster, they do sometimes have a couple of broods in the year. In my neck of the woods they often go for the peanuts. This is one that was in our garden the other year.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The annual cycle continues.....Three chicks for our local seagulls who live across the road ...

 

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To the victors the roof..... No seagulls, no chicks. No doubt inside the bellies of Crows for the second year running. We all hope the messy squatters get the picture....

 

post-6680-0-98393400-1501020456_thumb.jpg

Edited by coachmann
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Not a bird but at least it has wings:

attachicon.gifmoth.jpg

 

Can anybody positively Identify it?

 

Looks like a type of Hawk Moth to me but I'm not too good on Moth recognition!

It's about 5cm across the wings and the body is about 3cm long

 

Cheers

 

Keith

Alder Moth?

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Not a bird but at least it has wings:

 

attachicon.gifmoth.jpg

 

Can anybody positively Identify it?

 

Looks like a type of Hawk Moth to me but I'm not too good on Moth recognition!

It's about 5cm across the wings and the body is about 3cm long

 

Cheers

 

Keith

Possibly an old lady moth. There various darkness variations, size seems right and flies during July and August

Link

https://www.ukmoths.org.uk/species/mormo-maura/

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We've had the Buzzards back this weekend...all 4 of them, I assume 2 pairs although that might mean there are competing families but they seem reasonable friendly with each other. Apologies for the quality is they didn't get very close and when one did I took the picture through the a bush so I had to do a lot of faffing in photoshop.

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post-5014-0-51687600-1502038802_thumb.jpg

post-5014-0-94698700-1502038814_thumb.jpg

post-5014-0-64977600-1502038827_thumb.jpg

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Possibly a family? Two adults and two Juveniles? Maybe even 4 Juveniles? Great to see these birds soaring like that. So many people never look up and see things like this going on day in, day out.

Great shots really.

Phil 

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Possibly a family? Two adults and two Juveniles? Maybe even 4 Juveniles? Great to see these birds soaring like that. So many people never look up and see things like this going on day in, day out.

Great shots really.

Phil 

I did think that that might be possible but all the birds look about the same size. Mind you I only see them from far away so they all look like dots in the sky

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I did think that that might be possible but all the birds look about the same size. Mind you I only see them from far away so they all look like dots in the sky

I would expect a family to all look the same size, the differences with juveniles are generally the colours of the plumage.

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Juvenile Common Buzzards are supposed to be distinguishable by their narrower "hand" (see for example here). Additionally, adults can look tatty at this time of year due to moulting of flight feathers. On that basis, jetmorgan's photos do appear to show a mixture of adults and juveniles.

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We often have Buzzards and Red Kites soaring together in the same thermals, and occasionally being mobbed by crows and gulls - and frequently hear them calling "Keuw - keuw!" which makes us look up and see them - wonderful to see them, and a pox on the game-keepers that poison them!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Another mystery:

After feeding a host of house sparrows (about 60 at a time) for many months, they have suddenly disappeared.

This means that a full feeder lasts half a day instead of 15 minutes.

All the other suspects still visit.

It has only been the last couple of years that they have learned to eat peanuts from the feeders.

I wonder where they are feeding now? 

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Another mystery:

After feeding a host of house sparrows (about 60 at a time) for many months, they have suddenly disappeared.

This means that a full feeder lasts half a day instead of 15 minutes.

All the other suspects still visit.

It has only been the last couple of years that they have learned to eat peanuts from the feeders.

I wonder where they are feeding now? 

 

They'll be out in the fields where foodstuffs are plenty this time of year, They're seed eaters and lots of plants will be going to seed at this time.

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The vacuum caused by the vacating seagulls (thank goodness) was filled by Crows so there will be no more seagull nests on roofs hereabouts and the resultant noise and crap on cars. Now we have peace and quiet apart from the occasional raucous crowing. But it's neat to see they have settled in feeding peaceful on our lawns even while pedestrians walk past. Strangely, the seagulls return around teatime and make wailing sounds around their ex nesting site, but they always fly off afterwards.

Edited by coachmann
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have just started to feed the birds put up a seed feeder on the 24th of August had our first visitor today a blue tit

Yay! Well done for joining us. Onwards and upwards, but it may take some time for lots of birds to find you.

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Local update.

The Swifts seem to have had a good breeding season and have left.

A Red Kite has taken to actually perching on a fir tree in the garden.

Several Wood Pigeons appear to be crazy and wander round on the lawn or sit on the corner of the roof and let you walk round them and show no sign of trying to fly off.

Not in the garden but a few minutes walk away I saw this fine fellow.

Bernard

post-149-0-67647500-1504030747.jpg

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It's been an impressive year for elderberries in our back garden but the bonus is the birds are eating them. Blackbirds in particular seem very attracted to the fruit.

 

steve

But don't put your washing out while they're eating the elderberries.

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