What's been in your garden today? (1 Viewer)

[Larry Lade]

Rose-breasted Grosbeak at Our Feeder Today

The Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were a "little spooky" but I managed to take a few shots through double panes of window glass. The photo is not very good, but gives you some idea of this special visitor to our yard.

Edit Note:
The bird on the other feeder is a female House Finch. I did not get a photo of the male and female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks together!

 

[Tim42]

For the past couple of days in my yard I've been seeing a yellow bird that has me torn between a Yellow Warbler and a Yellow-throated Vireo. The head looks that of the warbler and the rest of the body like the vireo. Any help is appreciated!

I saw the yellow bird again just a moment ago and it turns out that it is a Yellow-throated Vireo, another life bird, YEAH!!! Happy birding! :flyaway:

 

[david2004]

Today has been a great bird day so far. Had the first Jackdaws and Rook today - prettty common around here, they just took ages to find me! The Blue Tits were taking food into the House Sparrow Terrace - have the eggs hatched? I saw my first Starling fledglings (really noisy little things!), a beautiful female Yellowhammer, and an amazing (but unidentified - I need some new bins!) bird of prey was thermalling above the house. Oh yeah, had a Kestrel out the front as well.

So not bad considering this was well before 11.00am!

 

[Euan Buchan]

a Magpie sunbathing

 

[helenol]

Excellent news Tim, always good to see a new bird in the garden.

Couple of dunnock juvs, a jay, and two jackdaws.

Had 2 kites chasing each other, one was just about to come down on the roof for a chick, when another appeared and chased it away. These birds can move, and I mean fast!

 

[snapper]

9:30 am this morning house sparrows 2 male 3 female 2 collared doves 1 robin 2 dunnocks 1 female blackbird 5 starlings 1 wood pigeon some on the table some on the floor some on the patio table & chairs the female blackbird was on the fence & she was the first to fly off then they all fled. 1 male sparrowhawk swooped over the fence to the patio floor, I must admit he looked very clumsy on the floor he missed all the birds I think because the bird table is covered & quite close to the fence the angle of attack was wrong for him plus the fencing is trellis thats how most of the birds got away. I was really pleased to see the sparrowhawk as this was a first for me in the garden but also pleased it went away empty handed or clawed I should say. So thats another garden tick, by the way this was the first time I have had more than 2 house sparrows in the garden don't get them around here.

Regards Snapper.

 

[Nerine]

The Mallards arrived as usual at 6am. They wait under the bird feeders to collect what they can find, then settle under the trees. Starlings were very active, feeding from fat balls vigorously and squabbling with one another. They are busy collecting nesting material including fresh leaves from my plants. Collared doves on the bird table and also Herring gulls and a Crow came down to demolish the remains of grandchildren's birthday tea! Robin singing most of the day and 2 male Blackbirds fighting over territory boundary (my fence).

Sunny with a fresh west to north west wind.

Nerine

 

[lvn600]

Goldfinches,cardinals,RW Blackbirds,grackles,cowbirds,song sparrow, house finches,mockingbirds, downy wp, , Flicker, Blue Jays, house sparrows,Robins and Ivory- Billed Woodpeckers(o.k. maybe it was a red-bellied wp)

 

[Bill@dwp]

I've got my regulars at the moment.
We have several pairs of house sparrows, can't be too sure of the exact numbers but from my garden I can see at least 8 nests in my surrounding neighbours gardens and houses and I have two as well. There are others I'm sure.

Again there are a similar number of starling nests as well.

We have two pairs of blackbirds visiting.
A pair of collared doves with two young they raised in a nest in a tree at the front of the house.
At least two pairs of greenfinches.
A pair of blue tits
A pair of great tits
A pair of dunnocks
There are a pair of wood pigeons as well but they dont seem to come everyday.
I think I have a wren nest as well.
The swifts are back and I'm waiting for them to take over the sparrow nest in the corner eaves. Unfortunately they seem to attack the sparrows second brood to get in and we have found small chicks and broken eggs under the nest some years.

Unfortunately I've still got about a dozen pigeons as well that hoover up the feeder spillage but trample over everything in the process. Disappointed the sparrowhawk isnt around much.
I've got a nyger feeder trying to get the goldfinches back into the garden.
Regualrly get a family of long tailed tits passing through although they dont stop to feed that I've seen anyway.

 

[Stewart J.]

Woke up to chaos at 7am this morning, Nyger feeder (biggy) knocked to the ground and seed everywhere over the decking, a proper mess. Had me wondering then found remains of a male Siskin ie cleanly nipped off head, wings, legs and tail with a little bunch feathers in middle all exact shape of a bird. Obviously the predator must have held Siskin down and nipped off the bits?

Then I noticed the imprint of a birds body and wings on the kitchen window which suggests local Sparrowhawk (frequent visitor) had a mishap. No corpse so must have flown off. My wife heard a loud thud about 6 am.

Couple of pics attached showing imprint, first from outside looking in second looking out. Interestingly after a couple of hours marks had faded and are very difficult to pick out as I write.

Sorry about quality of pics but what is also interesting is it appears the bird collided sideways as imprints of both wings show to left of whitish scuff left by body contact. Presume it must have attempted to veer off but overcooked it.

Stewart

 

[Richard W]

ouch!

once found an "oven ready" Robin in a similar state only I disturbed the Sparrowhawk, it came back for its meal after I had backed off.

sat in on a ringing session at work this morning but very quiet around the feeders, pair of GS Woodpeckers (both retraps), Song Thrush, few Blue/Great Tit, Robins, Dunnocks and Chaffinch, single Swallow.

checked the Owl boxes....
4 occupied by Jackdaws.

1 Little Owl +four eggs.

1 Stock Dove (in the box were a clutch of four Barn Owl eggs, old & very cold), and 2 empty boxes.

One old Jackdaw nest contained several cigarette ends they must have collected :h?:

last box I know has a Barn Owl in it but someone had borrowed my ladders :C so didn't get checked.

also found first Hornet of the year warming itself up on a tree trunk.

 

[helenol]

Had my owl box checked a couple of days ago, zilch!

Male & female GSW around, two nuthatches.

 

[Richard W]

Had my owl box checked a couple of days ago, zilch!

hope they take to it eventually, some of mine were empty for a while, my long & thin Tawny box which looks like the one you posted of a pic of hasn't been used by anything.

the A-frame box I hoped had a Tawny in it was full of ugly baby Jackdaws :C

The Little Owl was nice, was on the ledge as we approached & got right in front of it, didn't seem bothered by us at all.

 

[walwyn]

Mostly sparrows, starlings, a few great and blue tits, collared doves, robin, wren, blackbird particularly moth eaten and threadbare one, greenfinch. A first for today was a very passive nuthatch which sat hunched up, looking like a large feathered ball at the back of the ceanothus for 30+ minutes and hardly moving as some black clouds passed over, large eyes too I'd not noticed that before.

 

[Richard W]

think I saw a female Goshawk this afternoon, normally have my bins with me while I work but had left them in the workshop (doh!) and gone back to pick some Spinach before heading home, saw what I can only describe as a huge Sparrowhawk fly in front of me, turn and looked like it landed in the top of a Cedar.

needless to say the Spinach went flying as I legged it back to my bins but didn't see any sign of it again.

was a Sparrowhawk circling at the time, the other bird was much bigger, and very slow wing beats,

not 100% sure, shame I hadn't been able to pick it up again on the Cedar as the nearby very agitated Rooks would have made a perfect size comparison. See the Sparrowhawks (both sexes) all the time and can't say I ever been shocked at the size of either bird, this one actually made me say "bloody hell that's huge" to myself o

would have been the perfect 100th work tick, but not sure...

not much else around, 20+ Swallows over, and a very tame Coal Tit on the feeders.

 

[helenol]

Was watching a songthrush in the garden, when two huge mistlethrush's came along and perched in the tree. First time I've really appreciated their size compared to a songthrush.

 

[Richard W]

very surprised to see a Common Sandpiper on the margin of the ponds early this morning, often see them here but previously only in late summer/autumn.

 

[David Pedder]

Brilliant! Have never seen a common sandpiper! This morning I have had the usual Magpies, Collared Doves, Wood Pigeons, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Robins, Dunnocks, Blackbirds, Greenfinches (3 pairs) and a pair of Bullfinches that have been here for a week or so, and of course my grey squirrel who looks as if he will soon need to enrol at Weight Watchers! Nothing out of the ordinary but all very beautiful and helping to keep me sane!

 

[helenol]

The kite swooped down this morning to take a mouse I had placed on the garage roof. One of my cats was sat on a wall, about 6 feet from the garage when the kite came down, nearly had heart failure it did! (The cat).

 

[Wan2caTanager]

Wow, that must have been a site to see! |=)|