• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

What Birds Have You Seen Today

Hope you can make it out; Green Woody visits us about this time of year. It was motionless for ages on the trunk of the Lilac tree.

We've got two ant hills on the grass and I'm told that's their exclusive diet.

IMG_5633.jpeg

It was there lone enough to get my phone to take this image and then video it hopping around the grass scooping up ants.

I've tried to load that video to YT this morning for you, but YT really doesn't like it and fails to load the video.
 
Sadly very few...

1 female blackbird
2 house sparrows
2 wood pigeons (in trees at a distance away)

There's been a pair of jackdaws nesting in a next but one neighbours roof space... raised about 5 youngsters but they now seem to have dispersed. It looks as though they disturbed a couple of the tiles as the nesting materials were/are visible...
 
Our tree and barn swallows are having a feast reducing the deer fly, horse fly and mosquito population.
More crows than previous years, Jenny watched a crow fly off with her favourite squirrel. :cry:
 
From my back terrace:
Pigeons
Collared Doves
Crows
Sparrow hawk
Blackbird
"Sparras"
Wrens
Swifts (feathered, not bipedal)
Magpies

Visited the Inner Farne on Monday:
Puffins (inevitably!)
Guillimots
Razorbills
Gannets
Gulls of all sizes
Kittiwakes (Yes, I know, strictly, a gull, but not as predaceous as Herring or either Black back)
Cormorants
Shags (yes, both)

Day trip to Derry, N.I., two weeks ago
White egrets - loads on the Foyle tidal flats
Herons ditto
All the common woodbudgies above.
Hen Harrier

I am NOT a "twitcher"
 
We've kept a list of sightings* since we moved here 12 years ago. There are 72 birds on the list, with a couple or three which we've only seen once. These include a hen harrier and a tree creeper. We had 8 red kites in one thermal after lunch today...but our record is 12. Our rule is it has to be seen from our land....otherwise the Merlin we saw last year at the end of the lane would be on the list. Sadly, today I can add a very stunned wren which flew into the sunroom, and knocked itself out on the glass trying to get out. I put it in one of our urns, and it wasn't there an hour later, so I assume it recovered and flew off.

*I'm not a twitcher either. Our daughter is, though, and started the list. We've simply kept it updated.
 
Weve been trying to count the swifts, they go in the house roof and the barn roof at the back, this year we have 4 different places they go into, that we’ve seen, annoyingly, about a foot above the Zeist boxes I made for them.

But when on the wing it’s almost impossible to keep tabs on them, they swoop and loop around ours and through our back yard at a hell of a rate of knots, but I reckon were up to about 10 so far this year.

They do worry me the way they scrabble and clatter into the roof, I had to pick one up last week that had miss judged it and crash landed on the floor and had to give it a helping hand to get airborne.
 
Malc2098 said:
It's a European Green Woodpecker, the one with a red crown, and RSPB reliably inform me they eat ants, ants and more ants.
Click to expand...
No, I meant the pic I took was a kestrel. Lol. I wasn't trying to know more about the birds in your garden. Anyway, this one (kestrel) which I managed to picture. I was actually getting the camera out for something else and had I got it out for the hoverer, no doubt it would have shot off!! Always do...
 
Well... if talking about birds seen previous to *today*...

Red kites... lots over above Radstock... and we get some around Frome (and our house)
Common Buzzards - not as many over the last couple of years... possibly being pushed out by the Red Kites...

Sparrowhawks (now and again)

Kestrels

Even Goshawk going over - well up in the sky.

Peregrine... are in the area.

Blackbirds

Starlings (I refer to them as Bully Boys...)

Wood pigeons...

Also (winter time)...

Longtailed Tits
Blue Tits
Coal Tits
Very odd Greenfinch
Sparrow - different ones (House, Hedge...)

Only ever seen 1 Goldfinch 😞

About 30 years ago we used to get flocks of Redwings and Redstarts coming through... haven't seen any for maybe 30-32 years 😞

Quite a few gulls (various) as they seem to nest somewhere on the trading estate...

Oh! Hear the odd Tawny Owl now and again.
 
Best sighting today was a thrush, beak stuffed full of insects every few minutes, poking them into her very loud nest. Not sure if it is her second or third brood, but she is a busy mum. Her nest is about 3 meters from our bedroom window and they wake up VERY early.
 
Saw a seagull dragging a dead squirrel off the road this morning
Red kites are as rare as blackbirds around here
 
I preface by saying that I am cheating, but...
I saw one of these yesterday for the first time ever, a Scarlet Tanager (not my picture).
The one I saw was a more intense red, and darker black wings.
Scarlet Tanager .jpg

Below are a few pics from some years back.

A lucky camera shot... Ospreys have made a big comeback here in the last decade.
Osprey send 2.JPG

A pair of Turkey Buzzards on a carcass:
01 dsc04809.jpg

Similarly, Turkey have made a huge comeback in my lifetime:
01 dsc03002.jpg

More Turkey Buzzards:
DSC03088.JPG

A Turkey Buzzard drying its wings:
DSC00921.JPG

A turkey in the back yard, right along the same path as the Black Bear from last week:
DSC05101.JPG

I don't know what these are, but there were hundreds of them... literally:
DSC09337.JPG

And finally, a poor picture of a Red-Tailed Hawk:
01 Send dsc05346.jpg

Add one more; an Eagle... also making huge comebacks lately around here:
IMG_0284.jpg
 
Couldn’t get a photo but saw a flock of Bee eaters, we see them most evenings in the summer.
 

BentonTool said:
I preface by saying that I am cheating, but...
I saw one of these yesterday for the first time ever, a Scarlet Tanager (not my picture).
The one I saw was a more intense red, and darker black wings.
View attachment 55936

Below are a few pics from some years back.

A lucky camera shot... Ospreys have made a big comeback here in the last decade.
View attachment 55935

A pair of Turkey Buzzards on a carcass:
View attachment 55938

Similarly, Turkey have made a huge comeback in my lifetime:
View attachment 55939

More Turkey Buzzards:
View attachment 55940

A Turkey Buzzard drying its wings:
View attachment 55941

A turkey in the back yard, right along the same path as the Black Bear from last week:
View attachment 55942

I don't know what these are, but there were hundreds of them... literally:
View attachment 55943

And finally, a poor picture of a Red-Tailed Hawk:
View attachment 55944

Add one more; an Eagle... also making huge comebacks lately around here:
View attachment 55945
Click to expand...
The unknown pic reminds me of when We were in PA and every now and again Pam’s garden was invaded by Robins, not the uk ones but you could see why they got their name as they were red breasted.
Interesting that they were only in hers as everyone else had mosquito spraying done which presumably killed all the other bugs too. Over time the birds knew where to get a feed!
 
Mike G said:
If it's hovering, and smallish, then it's almost certainly a kestrel.
Click to expand...
Yes, I thought as much. But asked AI and it seemed to think Buzzard. But, I'm pretty certain I know a buzzard when I see one. The wings dwfo were not upturned at the ends (I think) and it was small from what I saw. Pic makes it look different though!!
 
Buzzards are big, and don't hover. They also have a fan-shaped tail.
 
shafiq said:
Yes, I thought as much. But asked AI and it seemed to think Buzzard. But, I'm pretty certain I know a buzzard when I see one. The wings dwfo were not upturned at the ends (I think) and it was small from what I saw. Pic makes it look different though!!
Click to expand...
Definitely a Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) @shafiq - even at the angle of your photos. Shape of the wings and the tail... AI in this case is incorrect.

European Buzzards (Buteo buteo) won't *naturally* hover as a kestrel does. It's thought/said that the kestrel, when hovering, is looking for the urine trail from the mice/voles they naturally hunt - the urine gives of a UV light that the kestrel can detect... and follow to pinpoint the prey.

The only time I've seen a *buzzard* hover is when I'd trained and was flying a friend's Redtail hawk (Latin name: Buteo jamaicensis) - an American raptor species which they call/refer to as a 'hawk' but it's classed as a Buteo instead of an Accipiter (Hawk). It's also far more aggressive towards the prey species it hunts in America that the European buzzard - more of a carrion eater than a hunter, although they do hunt and deemed more suitable a hunter for Falconry use.

This Redtail (a female) had chased a rabbit towards an overgrown bramble dip in the ground we where hawking on. It was a windy day, she was flying into the wind, the rabbit ran into the brambles and she hovered over where it had put in - trying to see it.

Apologies for probably going too deep... 🙏
 
A male Meadowlark was on the fence singing this morning. We have lots around here. Took a while to see it because the call is so loud you think it is nearby.

Today was the first day in at least a couple weeks that it wasn't raining so I was out on the riding mower. The Robins were following me grabbing bugs that were being exposed and taking them back to the nest when they had a mouthful. It is their second brood so far this year. More Robins joined them as the day progressed.

Pete
 
Accipiter said:
Definitely a Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) @shafiq - even at the angle of your photos. Shape of the wings and the tail... AI in this case is incorrect.

European Buzzards (Buteo buteo) won't *naturally* hover as a kestrel does. It's thought/said that the kestrel, when hovering, is looking for the urine trail from the mice/voles they naturally hunt - the urine gives of a UV light that the kestrel can detect... and follow to pinpoint the prey.

The only time I've seen a *buzzard* hover is when I'd trained and was flying a friend's Redtail hawk (Latin name: Buteo jamaicensis) - an American raptor species which they call/refer to as a 'hawk' but it's classed as a Buteo instead of an Accipiter (Hawk). It's also far more aggressive towards the prey species it hunts in America that the European buzzard - more of a carrion eater than a hunter, although they do hunt and deemed more suitable a hunter for Falconry use.

This Redtail (a female) had chased a rabbit towards an overgrown bramble dip in the ground we where hawking on. It was a windy day, she was flying into the wind, the rabbit ran into the brambles and she hovered over where it had put in - trying to see it.

Apologies for probably going too deep... 🙏
Click to expand...
No, I love it. When I was in junior school about 8 or 9 and in my prime 'artist' days. I drew a kestrel and also at some point around that age a golden eagle. Always was confused with the 2 in them days.

Thanks for the extra info which I'm sure many here will appreciate too.
 
We have buzzards nesting in the woods behind the house so see them most days.

I've seen buzzards staying still aloft a lot of times, but it's a very different hover to a kestrel. The kestrel flaps it's wings very fast to stay on the spot, the buzzard sits on the updraft from the wind hitting the hill, hardly moving at all.
 
Green woodpeckers are funny birds. Their cry sounds like a hysterical clown laughing. We have quite a few of them in our spruce nursery. Unlike other woodpeckers, green woodpeckers are found on the ground much of the time. You will never see them on a feeding table. Ants are the only thing they eat (as far as I know). They have a very long sticky tongue with which they pick up ants. I don't know why, but ants seem to love to be close to the roots of spruce. And where the ants are, the green woodpeckers follow. Beautiful animals.
 
A few days ago we saw the hawfinches again. We hear them often, but only see them a few times each year. They don't come to ground level that often and like to stay up in the top of the canopy. But every now and then we get to enjoy seeing them. Those beaks are massive compared to their body size. Subdued, but very beautifully coloured feathers.
 
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