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    #76
    Great Tits

    Saw more great crested grebes in one go than ever before (half a doz) when walking the Thames path between Chertsey and Shepperton yesterday afternoon.

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      #77
      Great Tits

      Wow, grebe is the word.

      Comment


        #78
        Great Tits

        We heard the dog barking outside last night and went outside to see if she had stumbled upon a rodent or, heaven forbid, a snake. We got a bit of a shock when we found her chasing a fully-grown stork around the garden.

        We also get black kites dive-bombing the kids and screeching away.

        Comment


          #79
          Great Tits

          Lots of Purple Martins in town now, too, fleeing the harsh winter weather up north. (Though we're actually supposed to get a bit of it later today and this week. Possibly even some snow, which is rare this far south.)

          There's a company here that makes cool houses for Purple Martins, but they're far too expensive for me to buy.

          Comment


            #80
            Great Tits

            I can't wait for the summer to come along, particularly if we get a blackbird sunning himself in our garden now and again. Anyone else see this? Head turned slightly to one side, beak open, wings askance? It's quite a sight.

            Comment


              #81
              Great Tits

              I've seen that quite often too - it's glorious. I've never seen anything other than blackbirds do it, though. I wonder why.

              Comment


                #82
                Great Tits

                "Glorious" is the perfect word, Alderman Barnes. And if you can find a picture of this on the Net, I'd be grateful if you'd stick it on here.

                Comment


                  #83
                  Great Tits

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                  Comment


                    #84
                    Great Tits

                    The collared doves in our garden do something similar, but have a little bit more reserve and keep their beaks shut.

                    Comment


                      #85
                      Great Tits

                      Some birds adopt that sort of posture to allow ants to crawl over their feathers. It's thought that the formic acid has some beneficial effect.

                      Comment


                        #86
                        Great Tits

                        What's the general opinion on feeding birds during the summer?
                        I read one book that insisted that if you start feeding birds you should keep it up through the summer. Whereas Mrs K's dad is firmly of the opinion that there's no need around these parts, as there's so much stuff for them to tuck into.

                        I started feeding birds shortly after moving here, when I noticed blue tits kept arriving in the morning and tapping at the windows.

                        I took it as a hint, so made a feeding table from spare bits of wood. It hangs from one of the supporting struts on the verrière over our balcony, just outside the window where I sit and work. The table is open-sided, has hooks underneath to hang stuff from and a flat bit for the birds that can't hang on the side of stuff, as well as a roof to keep their grub dry.

                        I was quite proud of it and still like to think it's got a certain home-made charm; Mrs K insists it looks like it was made by someone with learning difficulties.

                        The good thing is that the birds are about four feet away from me, at eye level. (It's hugely distracting and probably a sad indictment of my dull life that I find it entertaining. I never thought I'd get so much pleasure from watching them tuck in to a fresh batch of goodies, put out on a snowy morning.)

                        There's a queueing system that's entirely in your eyeline, which you can watch from right across the far side of next-door's garden in their trees, that goes: neighbour's trees - our stone wall - rails of the balcony - verrière struts - feeder.

                        We've just had the old balcony replaced by a wooden one. We thought we'd leave the wood unvarnished and natural, but unfortunately this queueing system is already ruining it, thanks to their habit of having a relaxing shit while waiting their turn at the feeder.

                        Despite my attempts at keeping it clean, the balcony has great stripes across it beneath each strut where they wait, and someone's told me the acid will eat into the wood. I'm going to have to buy a feeder on a tall stand and put it in the garden, I think. It won't be the same, though.

                        As for the birds... I've seen Nuthatches, Great-, Coal-, Willow- and Blue-Tits, Robins, Doves, Thrushes, Blackbirds, Greenfinches, Golden-Crested Wrens, Chaffinches and Dunnocks. And two or three I've never been able to identify. If I'm alone when I see it, question-and-answer sessions to determine what the mystery bird was are largely fruitless, since I'm colour-blind.

                        Comment


                          #87
                          Great Tits

                          kuhsteiger wrote:
                          I read one book that insisted that if you start feeding birds you should keep it up through the summer. Whereas Mrs K's dad is firmly of the opinion that there's no need around these parts, as there's so much stuff for them to tuck into.
                          That's interesting. I read a book that said birds need to be resourceful and not keep looking for food in the same place. I wonder which is right?

                          Comment


                            #88
                            Great Tits

                            What's the best field guide for U.K. and/or European birds?

                            (For North America, I like the National Geographic and Sibley guides the best.)

                            Comment


                              #89
                              Great Tits

                              better than Peterson?

                              Comment


                                #90
                                Great Tits

                                The Collins guide is as good as any for British birds.

                                I still use my old Heinzel, Fitter and Parslow, but I think it's out of print now.

                                Comment


                                  #91
                                  Great Tits

                                  Amor de Cosmos wrote:
                                  better than Peterson?
                                  I'm a great admirer of Peterson, but they keep reprinting the same illustrations in new editions and they're really not as accurate or easy to use for identification as the ones in the National Geographic guide. (At least for me they're not.)

                                  Comment


                                    #92
                                    Great Tits

                                    I'll have to look into that. Part of the reason I use Peterson is because I thought the illustrations were better than other guides but I really haven't checked any for several years.

                                    Comment


                                      #93
                                      Great Tits

                                      That's interesting. I read a book that said birds need to be resourceful and not keep looking for food in the same place. I wonder which is right?
                                      It is interesting, yeah. I don't know who's right; I think this bloke's reasoning was that because they've already become dependent through the winter on finding food in a certain place, it doesn't help if you take it away later - particularly when they're nesting.

                                      I must admit I don't bother once spring kicks in - we're in the middle of the countryside, and food's pretty abundant.

                                      I must remember at some point to recount the tale of The Idiot Pigeons.

                                      Comment


                                        #94
                                        Great Tits

                                        I can't remember the last time I saw a bird that wasn't a pigeon.
                                        And in fact, I've barely seen any of them recently.

                                        Comment


                                          #95
                                          Great Tits

                                          I have about 8 feeders out during really poor weather, especially snow and ice but during the summer I'll maybe cut that down to 3 or 4, there is plenty of natural food for the bird's during this time.
                                          The Goldfinches I get at my feeders will often disappear for weeks on end as their natural food source from Teasel will be in plentiful supply.

                                          Comment


                                            #96
                                            Great Tits



                                            This is the wee fella that sat in the tree opposite the house for half an hour then dive bombed the kids' picnic and got chased by a dog half its size.

                                            We're cancelling the satellite TV...

                                            Comment


                                              #97
                                              Great Tits

                                              I know nothing about bird watching or specific types of birds, but the Radio thread in this forum, reminded me about an interesting piece on NPR about urban bird feeders. Perhaps it might be of some interest to some folks here.

                                              Comment


                                                #98
                                                Great Tits

                                                On my walk to the bus stop this morning, the blackbirds were serenading me. It's been quite a few months since that last happened. Come on, spring!

                                                Comment


                                                  #99
                                                  Great Tits

                                                  Yeah,same with me at six this morning, had a cacophony of them courting. Spring has sprung.

                                                  Comment


                                                    Great Tits

                                                    It's great the way blackbirds warble. Quite often at the end, they finish with such a flourish I think they impress themselves. You'd swear at times they're chirping, "Ha! What about that then?"

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