Category: VERY BIRDY: birdwatching and birding nattering

Smart bird, eh? The Champions of the Flyway project is raising money for Steppe Eagle conservation – see here. No species added to my day list in a mid-afternoon watch so I’m still on 28 species for today. But I’ll have one more look and listen as it gets dark.

The late morning birdwatch produced a good clutch of species. First was a Chaffinch followed by a couple of Buzzards. Then Long-tailed Tit and Goldcrest. A Common Gull flew over and then so did a female Sparrowhawk and, rather late in the day, a Red Kite. Blackbird Gadwall Robin Dunnock Wren Woodpigeon Jackdaw Collared Dove…

That’s another watch done – this time from indoors looking out while drinking tea and eating porridge. I was expecting to see a Chaffinch around the birdfeeders – but none yet. The four species I would expect to see today which are so far eluding me, are Chaffinch, Red Kite, Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. I’ll probably…

Another birdwatch, up to 0730 takes the list from 7 to 21 species. All of the species below are regulars except for the early watch’s garden lifer Gadwall and the sighting of a single Greylag Goose (3rd ever record). Blackbird Gadwall Robin Dunnock Wren Woodpigeon Jackdaw Collared Dove Greenfinch Goldfinch Starling Greylag Goose Rook House…

OK, so east Northants isn’t quite Eilat as a migration hotspot, and I’m restricted to my house and garden, but I’m supporting the Champion of the Flyways (cancelled) event by promoting their cause through the day (and I’ve donated). The cause is the conservation of Steppe Eagles in Kazakhstan and Uzbekhistan – a good, no…

Four years ago I was participating in the Champions of the Flyway Bird Race in Israel with the three gentlemen above. It was fun and we raised a lot of money for bird conservation in Greece. But Israel is not the country in the world with the best moral credentials (nor is the UK!) and…

I agree with regular commenter here, murray marr, that Greenfinches seem more numerous and obvious songsters this year than usual. But, there isn’t a lot to the song of the Greenfinch really; But I’m glad to hear them and see them more often – I find I’ve missed them. Greenfinches rather live under the shadow…

In 1984, from pretty close to this time of year, and for a two-week period, I helped a fellow post-doc at the Zoology Department in Oxford carry out a field experiment in the University Parks on song recognition in Great Tits. We studied 13 male Great Tits holding territories for at least the second year…

It’s easy to see why the Robin is our favourite bird. They are common, occur in towns and gardens as well as the countryside, are confiding to the point of appearing friendly, easy to identify, have a nice orange patch on their breast and have beautiful dark eyes. Haven’t you ever looked deep into a…

Male Great Tits react more strongly to the playback of Great Tit song if it is broadcast to them from the centre of their territories than from the edge. That’s not surprising, but it is interesting. And it opens up the possibility that one can measure something about song recognition by individual Great Tits through…