WHAT'S BUZZING OR FLYING NEAR YOU 2020

Discussion in 'Wildlife Corner' started by strongylodon, Jan 5, 2020.

  1. hydrogardener

    hydrogardener Total Gardener

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    I am glad you liked it @Sheal, right after I "shot" it an immature Herring Gull came by doing basically the same maneuver. This is the only way to shoot birds in my opinion. :smile:

    Herring Gull.jpg
     
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    • Scrungee

      Scrungee Well known for it

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      Greenfinch

      gfinch1.jpg

      Blue Tit

      btit1.jpg
       
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      • Jiffy

        Jiffy The Match is on Fire

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        Scrungee, Miss Jiff would like to know what camera you've got please, she's visually challenged but those pic's are so very good.
         
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        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          @CanadianLori This is the robin on our side of the pond in a typical Christmas card setting.

          [​IMG]
           
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          • CanadianLori

            CanadianLori Total Gardener

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            Thank you for sharing @shiney This spring I'll make a point of getting a picture of one of our robins. :)
             
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            • Sheal

              Sheal Total Gardener

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              You must have a good eye @hydrogardener. I only seem to catch shots of their rear as they pass me by - I'm never quick enough. :biggrin:
               
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              • strongylodon

                strongylodon Old Member

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                Northern Shoveler.
                Shoveler 4.jpg

                Shoveler 2.jpg

                Chiffchaff.
                chiff 1.JPG

                Bullfinch.
                Bullfinch.JPG
                 
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                • shiney

                  shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                  This is one of my front garden robins that supervises my work. The other one helps me with the digging. One of the four back garden robins sits on my shoulder when I'm working but the others just keep their distance and dart in for any tasty morsels.

                  P1470372.JPG

                  Lewis, who has been pruning the fruit trees for us, said he had a tree creeper hopping around in the Conference pear tree whilst he was working on it. It stayed with him all the time. I must confess that I didn't know what a tree creeper looked like so I may have mistaken it in the past for another bird.
                   
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                  • strongylodon

                    strongylodon Old Member

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                    @shiney do you get the same number of Robins all year round? Many come here from the continent for a milder winter and are not always as tame as resident birds, some could be migrants.
                     
                  • CanadianLori

                    CanadianLori Total Gardener

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                    There's been a hawk hanging around for a few weeks so the bird feeder wasn't seeing much action but he seems to have gone on to happier hunting grounds because there's lots flying about today. My favourite in winter is the cardinal. Such a pretty display!
                    20200208_170513.jpg 20200208_170509.jpg
                     
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                    • CanadianLori

                      CanadianLori Total Gardener

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                      Just had at least a dozen robins land in the buckthorn tree and eating the berries. They must know something I don't as they are mostly fair weather friends and this is early for them to show up. Lots hang around in the summer and it is fun to watch the line up for the bird bath. The attendant puts in new clean water each morning and that is perhaps why it is so popular. :heehee: I'm not able to get a pic as the light is behind them. I'll try tomorrow.

                      I'veposted a grainy pic of my cardinal in the 2020 thread too :)
                       
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                      • shiney

                        shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                        @strongylodon We usually have about six robins in the garden all year round. There were three on the bird feeders at the same time yesterday. They never seem to fight when around the feeding area.

                        I have a feeling that they originate from the same family as they have similar markings. Of course, it could be that all robins have similar markings but some seem quite distinctive.

                        The one above has a very thin white feather the full length of his right wing and the other front garden robin has the same on either side. The nearest picture, from the internet, is this one that has just a short white feather
                        [​IMG]

                        One of the back garden robins (the one that sometimes sits on my shoulder whilst I'm digging) has a similar long feather on his left wing with the very fine end of the white feather curling upwards. He has been with me for at least four years.

                        All three robins are the typical chubby birds but two of the back garden robins are taller and slimmer. As we have so many possible nesting places I'm assuming they all tend to stay in the garden. They have nested in the ivy on the house. One year there were two nests in the ivy - on different walls. One of our conifers is a favourite place for them in its tightly packed foliage
                        P1410602.JPG

                        and this frequently has them nesting in it
                        P1410598.JPG

                        I keep a very beady eye on the conifer and if I haven't seen any activity in February (can see the tree from the kitchen and lounge) it gets it's early trim. Otherwise it waits until late summer.

                        The most awkward place for one of them to nest was in the top of a 70 litre compost bag in the greenhouse, in 2016. So we left them to it and got another bag to use. They didn't seem to mind us going in there but we banned anyone else from entering. They, and the chicks left the nest two days after Open Day that year.

                        We had signs up to keep people away but didn't mention the robins otherwise they would have got too nosy!
                        P1260431.JPG
                         
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                        • shiney

                          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                          Some of our girls are back :blue thumb:. The pheasants are usually around in the winter but up to recently we have only seen one regular one and one occasionally. Yesterday there were five females and one male.
                          Only four in this picture
                          P1470421.JPG

                          Pheasants have always been around our garden and come in every morning to tidy up under the bird feeders. Some of them also eat from the feeders.

                          Since Oscar the cat died we have had a lot less pheasants around. He was the cat that was a bird lover and always was friendly and looked after them. The pheasants got used to him
                          P1030527.JPG
                          Their babies used to play with him as well. They would run around him whilst he was sunbathing (haven't got a picture of him with them but they were always playing on the patio where he sunbathed)
                          265_6566.JPG
                           
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                          • luciusmaximus

                            luciusmaximus Total Gardener

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                            We used to have pheasants too, some of them became quite tame and would run across the garden to take food from me. Predictably they all disappeared and I imagine it didn't end well for them :wallbanging: :cry3:. Haven't had any in the garden last year or this although I see lots in the fields and along the lanes.
                             
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                            • Scrungee

                              Scrungee Well known for it

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                              See this thread Tele Macro Using a long telephoto prime lens, rather than a zoom lens, takes a bit of getting used to, but the image quality is better and it has a bigger aperture. The 40-150 zoom is great for butterflies.

                              But sometimes it's still not long enough. Images below taken of birds across field from a local pond, the Peregrine (according to Google Earth measure function) was 640m (0.4 miles) away and the Lapwings were 660m (0.41 miles) away. Both taken handheld because I was expecting Kingfishers and Wigeon on the pond (Curlews turn up next month and maybe some Cranes in May), didn't bother with tri/monopod.

                              Peregrine at 640m

                              peregrine1.jpg

                              Lapwings ay 660m
                              lapwings1.jpg


                              Wigeon

                              wigeon1.jpg
                               
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                                Last edited: Feb 9, 2020
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