Very busy at the bird feeder today! (1 Viewer)

[Bananafishbones]

very wet over here in the UK at the moment, would gladly swap some of your heat in the States and Oz.


Sparrowhawks visiting regularly now but still not seeming to catch anything, at least I havent seen any evidence. Was good to see 2 Rooks in the Oak tree yesterday afternoon. Everything else as usual but the food getting blitzed so having a day off the topping up ...... going to make em wait today!! OK its my excuse for not venturing out into the driving rain.

Only a few birds risking the early morning weather.... Blackbirds, Great tit and a dozen BH gulls

Dave

 

[SPINNEYGAL]

I have been looking at some of the photos taken of our garden birds you have all posted and we are so lucky to get these wonderful creatures in our gardens. A lot of people especially in towns don't realise that feeding the birds can give so much pleasure and help the birds survive.

We have all the usual vistors but numbers vary on a daily basis. The long tail tits are slowly coming back but not on a regular basis yet. We still have the nuthatches on regular visits.

A few years ago we went to view a house and they had huge bird feeders filled with sunflower seeds and the birds were flocking all over them, chaffinches, greenfinches and a few others. I had never seen so many in one place.

 

[Azzy]

very wet over here in the UK at the moment, would gladly swap some of your heat in the States and Oz.

Not much of that here at the moment I'm afraid, in fact in the South East, I believe we're getting one of the wettest winters we've had in 10 or 15 years. Which is fantastic, the amount of water around the place is absolutely spectacular. Though admittedly, I'm also looking forward to summer, I love the warm weather. My bird bath might get a bit more action then too

Wasn't home today, but I'm told the diamond finches were around again, despite the fact that the lawn was mowed yesterday. The red wattlebird however, found it to be in his best interest to chase them off though.

 

[captaincarot]

quiz time

a native british bird.

just the only one i've ever seencan you work out what it is?

 

[Shirley Roulston]

An albino Blackbird I think, I have more and more Greenfinches coming to the garden and its a total frenzy when there eating, that is at 11.00am, my cat is sick and tired of being indoors.:cat:

 

[theconstantwalker]

Goldfinches seem to have disappeared just one juvenile under the feeders yesterday (left behind?) none today although my viewing was 6.30am to 7.00am then 6.30pm to 7.30pm but the sunflower hearts in the feeders appear to be untouched.

 

[Bananafishbones]

Oh No

Is this growth on this Greenfinch a form of Trichomonosis?
As you know I get at least a dozen or so Greenfinch daily but this is the first one I have ever seen in the garden with this, I hope it isnt Trichomonosis:-C.

Its behavior seemed normal, IE feeding, Drinking Fighting and flying, however it did let me get closer than I normally would get as it was drinking before it flew off, maybe I was just a bit more stealth than normal.

 

[ChrisKten]

I'd say no, Dave; The trichomonad parasite lives in the upper digestive tract of birds, so it's not something you'd be able to see. This looks like either a foreign body or a Tick, or other insect. To me, the bird looks healthy.

 

[Azzy]

That definitely looks like a very fat and healthy tick to me Poor bird, surprised it hasn't picked it off yet.

I got a great chance for birds today, I volunteer on wednesdays at a native plant nursery that's a couple mins away and it's in the middle of scrub so there's always plenty of birds. Today we had a real treat, a flock of roughly 80 yellow-tailed black cockatoos, eating the seeds from the introduced pines. They were all calling and eating and circling etc. Was spectacular. Also saw the grey shrike-thrush, scarlet robin, grey currawong, red wattlebird and heard fan-tailed cuckoo, grey fantail, white-winged chough, white-browed babbler, magpie, and I think it was buff-rumped thornbill. I'm not too great on my thornbill calls. I know the yellow-rumped thornbill call. I know that I always get the yellow and striated call confused, and it was different to that, so I think it was buff-rumped, I know we get them at the nursery.

 

[captaincarot]

An albino Blackbird I think, I have more and more Greenfinches coming to the garden and its a total frenzy when there eating, that is at 11.00am, my cat is sick and tired of being indoors.:cat:

not a bad guess especially considering there is nothing in the pic to give you a gauge of size.

it does't look like anyone else is going to have a go so here it is with it's mates.

it's a white jackdaw

dave that's a tick on the greenfinch. once had to take 50 out of my dog when i lived in oxfordshire, poor pooch was being sucked dry

 

[SPINNEYGAL]

What A Brilliant Picture, I Would Never Have Guessed A Jackdaw.

 

[captaincarot]

What A Brilliant Picture, I Would Never Have Guessed A Jackdaw.

that log is in the spectacled bear enclosure in chester zoo, the bear is about 20 feet to the right while it was taken, couldn't believe my eyes when i saw it.


i've also got a 3 pic sequence with a lilac breasted roller which i really like but it's a captive bird so i'm not putting it on this site.

he flew down and picked up a dead locust, went back to his perch then started playing with it tossing it up and catching it again.

 

[SPINNEYGAL]

We Should Set Up A Site Where We Could Post Those 'other Pics' (not That I Know How To Do It). Then We Could All Ooh And Aah At Some Brill Pics Which Are Not 'in The Garden'.

I Liked The Quiz Bit But Am Not Red Hot At Identifying Birds Out Of The Norm.

 

[Bananafishbones]

We Should Set Up A Site Where We Could Post Those 'other Pics' (not That I Know How To Do It). Then We Could All Ooh And Aah At Some Brill Pics Which Are Not 'in The Garden'.

I Liked The Quiz Bit But Am Not Red Hot At Identifying Birds Out Of The Norm.

Good Idea
I have a quality portrait of a Bald Eagle when I took the youngest to the Raptor centre..... just got nowhere to show it off yet

 

[Bananafishbones]

Sorry CC i missed your rare Jackdaw. Great capture mate.

 

[Bananafishbones]

I'd say no, Dave; The trichomonad parasite lives in the upper digestive tract of birds, so it's not something you'd be able to see. This looks like either a foreign body or a Tick, or other insect. To me, the bird looks healthy.

Cheers Chris

A little less worried now

 

[Shirley Roulston]

A white Jackdaw, good one that. My cat had a tick of they corner of its eye and I had one hell of a job getting it off, if it hadn't been a Sunday I think I would have popped her over to the vets. She waited until I got if off and then scratched me, then wanted me to feed her to get over the shock. Then I dropped the tick on the kitchen floor and couldn't find it and spent ages hoovering.

 

[Hobbes2]

A white Jackdaw, good one that. My cat had a tick of they corner of its eye and I had one hell of a job getting it off, if it hadn't been a Sunday I think I would have popped her over to the vets. She waited until I got if off and then scratched me, then wanted me to feed her to get over the shock. Then I dropped the tick on the kitchen floor and couldn't find it and spent ages hoovering.

:-O Great story Shirley. I hope your hoover picked up the offending critter.

 

[Bananafishbones]

With the Autumn well and truly set in, I thought I would go back a season or two and show the list of Juveniles to visit this year and the date I first saw them:

Robin May 11th
Greenfinch May 26th
Dunnock May 27th
Starling May 29th
Goldfinch May 31st
Housesparrow June 3rd
Coal Tit June 6th
Magpie June 8th
Blue Tit June 12th
Great tit June 14th
Carrion Crow June 17th
Blackbird June 18th
Swift June 19th
Woodpigeon June 24th
Jackdaw June 24th
Rook June 30th
Herring Gull July 4th
Lesser Black Backed Gull July 6th
Chaffinch Aug 8th
Bullfinch Aug 24th
Wren Sept 1st
Sparrowhawk Sept 4th
Collared Dove Sept 5th

Dave

 

[bongofury]

Lovely pic of the White Jackdaw. I know NO-ONE will believe me, but Jackdaw was my 1st guess. It was probably better than any of the zoo's exhibits!