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  1. M

    Owl's this for a defence mechanism...

    How annoying.... copy and paste this into the address line :~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCgbYnNAbSM works for me ~ just tested it.
  2. M

    Owl's this for a defence mechanism...

    Be patient ~ it only lasts for two and a half minutes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCgbYnNAbSM .... aint Nature wunnerfull ~ apologies if this has already been highlighted on this site ... I was almost transfixed by this performance... Got a lot of 'bottle' that small owl... :clap:
  3. M

    Kites in the skies above M40 Motorway.

    Visiting the Amateur Entomologists' Society's Annual Exhibition at Kempton Park Racecourse on Saturday 17th October, on the return journey to Gloucestershire, I diverted via the M40 Motorway rather than the more direct route using the M4. The reason being to see if we could spot any Red Kites...
  4. M

    Hobby Thread 2009

    Hobbies appear to have had a good season this summer all over the UK with reports of successful breeding. Sightings in and around my neck of the woods ( Gloucester ) have been frequent. Reports on my local birder site of sightings and successful breeding even tonight :~...
  5. M

    Harrier roosts - a puzzle

    Can be a strange sight to see so many birds huddled together. About thirty years ago, a few small London Plane Trees had been planted right in the centre of Gloucester city. Not very tall then say 15 feet tops ~ ( they are now ) during mid-winter when trees had lost their leaves, walking...
  6. M

    Is it a Hawfinch winter near you?

    I have never knowingly seen a Hawfinch in all my 66 years. They are frequently seen in Gloucestershire as a perusal of The Gloster Birder website here will show: http://www.birder.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ Check the Sightings 2009 Jan-June where the latest updates for Jan 7th and 8th have pictures...
  7. M

    whats your fav bird

    The BLACKBIRD is my all time favourite Same here dafi ~ so many 'favourites'. One bird I will never tire of seeing and hearing, and praise be it's such a common and widespread bird in the UK ... is the BLACKBIRD. If I live to be one hundred I will always appreciate this most magnificent song...
  8. M

    Robin and Dunnock

    Could simply be that 'your' Robin is in fact more than one bird. One in my garden was often very approachable and rarely paid any other bird visitors much attention. Then one day there were two Robins in my garden and much aggression and chasing about took place..... Then there was only one...
  9. M

    As 2008 comes towards its end what were your birding highlights?

    What for me in 2008.....?..... Hmmm. How about finding out via the Internet just what a fabulous variety of both rare and common birds can be seen just about every day in my favourite English County: Gloucestershire. There are many eyes out there and the internet enables others quickly to be...
  10. M

    Sparrow Hawk at Garden

    That is one of the finest pictures of the Sparrow Hawk I've ever seen. Considering it was taken through a double glazed window makes it even more remarkable. Agreed ~ excellent pictures ~ well done to all and further confirmation that this little hawk is now a regular garden bird.
  11. M

    Skylarks

    Ther opening line of that summary exactly coincides with my observations where I live: I moved into my new house in the spring of 1972 when only a few dozen new houses were being built in the area. The surrounding open fields ~ although less than 2 miles from the centre of Gloucester City ~...
  12. M

    Sparrow Hawk at Garden

    I now regard the Sparrow Hawk as a suburban and city garden bird. Fifty plus years ago when as a small boy, the Sparrow Hawk was a rarely sighted bird of the larger more remote woodlands and except in very rural areas, garden visits were unheard of. Like most wildlife, Sparrow Hawks are...
  13. M

    Why do swifts leave so early?

    Possibly the earlier late summer rapid decine in insect density at the higher elevations usually frequented by Swifts who are far more specialised aerial feeders than the three hirundine species. The House Martins which have successfully nested under the eaves of my house every year since it was...
  14. M

    Hobby Observations & Nesting Dates

    I'm enjoying your observations halftwo ~ how far away from the birds and their pylon perches are you when making these notes? I assume quite a distance and using binoculars. However, in my limited experience of these birds, they are less inclined to take flight than all other Brit Birds of Prey...
  15. M

    Lancs Eagle Owls

    Lack of evidence is not proof positive.... Vagrant or previous Native species can occur without trace .... Funny old game .... I am old enough to remember media reports that there is no scientific evidence that smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer. There are numerous examples where 'lack of...
  16. M

    Lancs Eagle Owls

    That is a very astute observation..... When some butterfly species considered endangered were put on a protected list and made law by some Government Agency, another Agency handed grants, finance and other incentives to landowners to plough or fell sites containing those protected species to...
  17. M

    Birds & hurricanes

    What effect ~ probably quite a lot. About twenty years ago, whilst waiting for my train at the railway station in Newport South Wales, I was surprised to see a female Peregrine Falcon keeping low flying fast a couple of feet above the rails through that busy railway station. There was a huge...
  18. M

    Hobby Observations & Nesting Dates

    Prior to the wonders of communication via the internet, I believed sightings of Hobbys locally in Gloucestershire were rare and few. However, checking current daily Sightings 2008 and previous year's ones on the Gloster Birder website, sightings of my favourite bird are a daily occurance during...
  19. M

    No Difference?

    Yes, out of fashion long since and not simply because it's illegal although a few continue to break the law. Wiser youngsters of today armed only with a long lens and all that. More worrying for me is the continuing practice today of shooting or poisoning anything with a hooked beak. Numerous...
  20. M

    Birds and Sod's Law

    I am a great believer in Sod's Law. It operates in all aspects of life for me. I tend to go with the flow but, you can make your own luck. You can also try too hard and fail to see the forest for the trees .... |:(|
  21. M

    No Difference?

    I can appreciate the OP's train of thought and values here. Twitching is a relatively harmless modern substitute for the hunter and collector instincts which although frowned upon by some, is still there in most. One hundred years ago many households would have a display cabinet with stuffed...
  22. M

    Birds seen at airports

    Good topic! Not much to recall personally as I rarely travel by air nowadays ~ that's strictly for the Birds ~ ;) Back in June 1976, whilst waiting at Pisa AirPort (Italy) for the flight home, I saw a Harrier (not the Aircraft ...:) ) Patrolling along the side of the long runway about a metre...
  23. M

    Hobby Observations & Nesting Dates

    Bat wings ~ so late dusk hunting or maybe even later. Very interesting.
  24. M

    What birds annoy you?

    Not my favourites... Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls in and around the City of Gloucester. There's hundreds of them .... they nest on many City centre buildings and fly 24/7/365 .... Feeding from bits and pieces in roads even around 3am under street lights. On two occasions recently I...
  25. M

    My First Hobby

    I always enjoy reading the experiences of others ~ glad my observations were appreciated. Actually, maybe just well spread out, but like the insects and birds we look for, there's an abundance of them if you know where to look and their numbers are increasing....birders in Glos that is...
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