Gretel
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Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
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Living through a global pandemic made me look for ways to engage with nature while living in a big city, which I hadn't much before - I always thought I had to travel far and wide to really experience nature. Urban birdwatching has really allowed me to appreciate birds even more and makes me want to care for birds that live in and around cities. I already keep my cat inside, taking her outside only on a leash in order to protect our wildlife, as well as keep her safe! Planting native plants and tending to them in order to encourage and sustain birdlife is something I would like to focus on more. I want to expand my life list (I've just hit 150 official sightings!) and gain more knowledge and understanding of birds. I have enrolled in a bird biology online course and can't wait to make a start!
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I don't know either of the UK hotspots at all and am not very familiar with species in the south of England but thought I would give it a go: At first glance, Down House looks to support smaller song bird species mostly, whereas Sevenoaks supports songbirds as well as many wading/swimming birds, so I would guess that Sevenoaks has more or larger body/bodies of water. There are many geese, ducks, grebes, swans at Sevenoaks. Down House species have starlings, blackbirds, finches, doves as well as crows and gulls. At a guess I would say Down House would be more of a developed/urban area as the species listed there in my mind are better adapted to those areas.
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We recently had an earthquake in Melbourne and my mind went straight to birds sitting on nests as it is springtime here! Here is a link to the video of our local peregrine falcons nesting, I believe it was the male incubating at the time: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2021/sep/23/the-moment-melbournes-peregrine-falcon-reacts-to-the-citys-historic-earthquake-video?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1632356910 To start with he crouches down to protect the eggs, I guess! But once they realised nothing was going to fall she got up to look around before flying off! Both males and female peregrine falcons incubate the eggs, if you watch the live stream you can see them switch over every now and then.
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Breeding plumage vs non-breeding plumage seems to be bright stand-out coloured plumage for summer and duller more camouflage plumage for winter. Perhaps the bright colours are to attract a mate during breeding season? The duller colours during non breeding plumage are perhaps to camouflage with their surroundings more? This would be useful for water birds, as I believe they go through a period of molt where they are unable to fly, so it would benefit them to blend in with their surrounds so as to not be seen as well by predators.
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I used Merlin to see the likely birds I would find in my city today and selected sort by family - most likely, which I haven't used before. Looking at waterfowls that I am yet to have on my life list we have the pink-eared duck and the plumed whistling-duck. Both are rare sightings but they have been sighted in this area in September previously. Both ducks have very unique plumage so a visual ID would be perhaps the easier way to identify them. Although the whistling duck does actually whistle!
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Beautiful white cap!
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I love watching the Northern Royal Albatross live cam - very distinctive shape these birds have, with a beak like no other! Every year around this time in Melbourne, Australia, we have peregrine falcons nest at the same spot high on a building (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un8f85yADAU). Easy to tell the difference between an albatross and a falcon if you are looking at shape. As an very fresh birder myself I find birds of prey very difficult to ID, but I am learning! They are about the size of a crow, when looking at relative size, and apparently have long primary feathers which gives it a long wing shape.
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Thanks for sharing! I don't think we get waxwings in the southern hemisphere, but I took note that they are part of the 'other songbirds' group.
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Amazing photo! I love watching these birds feeding in the water ways around Melbourne.
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Great photo capturing the behaviour of a tree creeper going down a tree head -first!
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I saw a grey fantail for the first time in my courtyard at home in Victoria, Australia. This is one of my favourite birds as the fly so beautifully and often don't mind coming close to humans. I've also seen them in Tasmania and in New Zealand where they are known as NZ fantails. I would love to see a rufous fantail, hopefully I can add that to my life list this coming summer! Fantails are songbirds, also know as Passeriformes. I think fantails may also be classified as a flycatcher, but I'm not certain as I'm pretty new to classifying birds! What do others think?
Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)