Last spring I wrote series of blog posts, 50 in all, about bird song – we were all in lockdown and people were listening more. The blogs went down very well. Well, now is a good time to revise, or simply start, listening to bird song and getting to recognise the species involved. Of course,…
Category: VERY BIRDY: birdwatching and birding nattering
Here we go again…
An immature White-tailed Eagle from the Isle of Wight reintroduction project has spent a few daysin Northants recently, at Pitsford Reservoir, before continuing its wanderings southwards into Oxfordshire and maybe back to its release site on the IoW. Here in Northants we don’t really consider ourselves to be within striking distance of ther IoW but…
BGBW 2021 – how was it for you?
A fairly average BGBW with 29 individual birds of 13 species; Starling (6), House Sparrow (7), Chaffinch (2), Dunnock (1), Goldfinch (3), Collared Dove (1), Robin (1), Blackbird (2), Blue Tit (2), Coal; Tit (1), Woodpigeon (1), Reed Bunting (1) and Jackdaw (1). Our regular Blackcap(s) wasn’t seen yesterday and didn’t turn up today despite…
Snow birds
Sunday’s snow has lingered but it will soon be gone as it is raining now. But the snow always brings a few more birds into our garden although the Song Thrush and Redwing seen today were next door, not chez nous. I doubt that either will be around at the weekend for the RSPB Big…
Birdwatch?
Comments Off on Birdwatch?
The Guardian reports that Twitter will trial a means of allowing users to flag and annotate misleading or inaccurate tweets – this will be called Birdwatch in an attempt to piggy-back on the respected profile of the UK’s premier birdwatching magazine. A spokesperson for Birdwatch magazine may have said ‘We’re touched that the small inconsequential…
Spain votes Swift as their bird of 2021
Comments Off on Spain votes Swift as their bird of 2021
Swift has won the vote to be Spain’s bird of the year. This video is a welcome reminder of the fact that spring is coming closer, the days are lengthening, there is more bird song every day and that Swifts will return to our skies in three months. And it’s just a good video! For…
Not all white birds are (sea) gulls
I’ve been listening to the cricket commentary of the match between Sri Lanka and England over the last few days – it’s going very well for us. The commentators are all still based in the UK but they are doing their best, and doing pretty well, to bring the match to life for us all….
Interesting paper
I came across this paper partly because it cites a paper I co-authored on Roseate Tern conservation many, many years ago. And the Roseate Tern is a species very close to my heart (see Fighting for Birds Chapter 3, In the pink – roseate terns). It’s a fascinating study which unlocks some of the facts…
Blackcap in the garden
The Blackcap which was seen in my garden on 6 December didn’t show up again until yesterday, 4 January, when it (or another male Blackcap) spent a large part of the middle of the day on the fat balls. We were given this rather flashy fat ball feeder and this Blackcap seems to love it…
Spain’s bird of the year
Comments Off on Spain’s bird of the year
The excellent SEO (Sociedad Espanola de Ornitologia, the Spanish partner of BirdLife International) is having a vote for their bird of the year and the choice offered is between Iberian Grey Shrike, Common Swift and Montagu’s Harrier. Last year the successful species was Quail (which was also up against Montagu’s Harrier and Iberian Grey Shrike)….