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Author Topic: Birds you saw today  (Read 1675 times)

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Offline lutra

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Birds you saw today
« on: July 22, 2017, 04:46:51 AM »
Or.. tell something about the birds you see in the area you live in. Maybe post a picture (nice photo found on the netz perhaps.. ).


Thusfar today I only saw the blackbird (Turdus merula) and the Eu. turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) but that's because I've hardly been outside yet. Yeah, heard them (males mostly) make sounds too.


Easy to see the difference between the male and female. Male is black and has a yellow beak (yellow ring round the eye as well). Female is more brown (sometimes a more fox-red-ish colour).



Um, the couple in my garden aren't as pretty as this one though. The two turtle doves I often see here are a bit more boring (-ish) grey.

More bird shite :laugh: later..
« Last Edit: July 28, 2017, 06:35:20 AM by lutra »
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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2017, 04:13:57 PM »
Always have Cardinals in the yard despite them being the cats favorite food


"Eat it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without." 

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Offline Gopher Gary

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2017, 06:53:59 PM »
Sugarbutt has three bird feeders in the back yard, so there's always all sorts of birds around. I hate the woodpeckers because they're bastards. They'll empty half of a feeder in one day just sitting there flinging and tossing the seed out onto the ground for no reason. Sugarbutt doesn't mind because he says the woodpeckers feed the doves because the doves won't land on the feeders and they only eat from the ground. I still hate them and I don't think the doves eat all that.  >:( I have to buy more bird seed this weekend, so maybe I'll try to find something woodpeckers like so they'll chill out on scattering so much seed.
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Offline Phoenix

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2017, 09:20:05 PM »
lots of male goldfinches at the new place which I love. I didn't have them where I used to live.

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Offline lutra

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #4 on: July 23, 2017, 05:20:52 AM »
Not as often as the first two (blackbird and turtle dove) I see these two but they're there also. In the garden, in my proximity..

The hedge sparrow (Prunella modularis), also known as the dunnock and the Eu. robin (Erithacus rubecula).


Appearance-wise not the most flamboyant but I like the little fella. Cheerful the dunnock is, imo. His song is short and he only sings it a couple of times and then he's silent again. Um, maybe an ornithologist can tell the difference between the sexes but I cannot.



The Eu. robin is also a small bird and you could think; aaah, sweet.. but the males can be quite aggressive amongst each other too. In Winter, in my garden, he chases away the dunnock also. His song is a bit metal-like sounding and 'waterfally', if that makes sense. Thought it was voted the National bird of the English.. but the robin is quite quite common throughout Europe.
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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #5 on: July 23, 2017, 05:52:35 AM »
Groups of turkeys are called a rafter and we have a few of them in the neighborhood.  This morning it was just two hens and a chick but some days there are over 20 of them walking around.

"Eat it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without." 

'People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.'
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Offline Gopher Gary

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2017, 08:33:09 PM »
I bought some peanut suet for the woodpeckers. I'll report back later once I see if the bastards like it.  :zoinks:
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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2017, 09:00:12 PM »
Always have Cardinals in the yard despite them being the cats favorite food



The first time The PR saw a cardinal she called it a Red Jay.
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Offline lutra

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2017, 02:23:22 PM »
Um, then there are some members of the corvid family also.

Jackdaws, crows and magpies mostly. The first are everywhere and in great numbers too at my whereabouts. They are social birds and 'work' in family groups. Crows, not nearly as many as jackdaws and I only sometimes bump into one and think hey, that's a deep black coloured and quite a big bird. Cool bird, I'd say. Magpies you see quite regularly here. And/or hear them. Corvids tend to be loud and noisy often and they even fall into the group of song birds. All the members of the Corvidae family are somewhat larger birds with strong beaks and both sexes look alike. I think they're probably one of the smartest birds on the planet.

Jackdaw (Corvus monedula).


Crow, Carrion (Corvus corone).


Magpie (Pica pica)

Um, I tend to not like magpie very much. Well, it's quite an impressive bird, elegant/agile in flight and they're quite bright, I'm sure but they loot nests and eat other smaller birds' eggs and their young and are quite feared by those birds. Some say the magpie's shape (nowadays) looks like the shape the first birds had. Those birds evolved from lizards, were quite big and flew around millions of years before human bs 'arrived' on this planet.
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Offline 'andersom'

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2017, 03:02:32 PM »
Not many crows here, but jackdaws in abundance. Have not seen many magpies lately, but a few months ago there was a group around every day.
Quite a few common Martins and Swift's.
Sparrows in abundance. Some blackbirds. In summer hardly any tits and robins. In winter they will be around.
Blue herons will pass by and now and then will perch on a roof. 

Sometimes a sparrowhawk will catch something in the garden or the alleys around the block.

When it comes to pigeons there are Turkish turtledoves and woodpigeons.

Never saw the Eurasian jay in my garden. But he is around. See him regularly when walking to the busstop.
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Offline lutra

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #10 on: July 27, 2017, 03:28:27 AM »
Yeah, the Eurasian Jay.. I like him. See them on a quite regular basis. Pretty bird.


Usually 'he' just flies past, fast, making noise and then he's gone again.

Tits, the great ones, :bouncing boobies: I see year 'round. They come in groups in the garden. Hang upside down on the roof gutters, other places, and eat a spider there and a minute later they're all gone again.

Great tit (Parus major)


(later more)
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Offline 'andersom'

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #11 on: July 27, 2017, 06:59:51 AM »
That jay does make a lot of noise. In my dialect it's called schrauwekster, in German Schreielster. Literally "screaming magpie".
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Offline lutra

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #12 on: July 27, 2017, 09:27:39 AM »
Yes, it's Latin (taxonomical) name is Garrulus glandarius and 'garrulus' literally means noisy or chattering one. Linnaeus categorized the fella under the corvids though.. and named the bird Corvus glandarius. (source Wikipedia, btw)

Still considered a member of the Corvidae family (a 'side' branch from the main line).

:laugh: Hahaha, I went on writing more and more but thought hey, that's classic.. best to stop now. Might be considered not that interesting by everyone.

Um, still to come.. gulls, wren, other thrushes, etc..
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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #13 on: July 27, 2017, 10:26:57 AM »
Some very loud gulls passed this afternoon. They sounded quite pissed off. There was a corvid chasing them it seemed. Think it were silver gulls. Not sure.
Where I used to live before moving here the battles between gulls and corvids were epic.
Especially the jackdaws were winning a lot. Even from the occasional great black back gull.
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Offline Phoenix

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Re: ~Birds you saw today~
« Reply #14 on: July 27, 2017, 02:44:37 PM »
Several female cardinals but no males sighted yet



And since my goldfinch picture didn't work, here it is:

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