For the Birds and Bird Lovers 2018 CAUTION: LARGE IMAGES

Bacchus said:

That sounds amazing! #Jealous.



I was sitting at home the other day, minding my own business, when I heard a thud from outside.

I went to investigate and right outside my bedroom window, not three feet from where I was standing, was a sparrow-hawk that has brought down a pigeon and was just tucking in its bib.

The sparrow-hawk saw me and flew off. The pigeon looked around as if it could hardly believe its luck and then also flew off.

I felt a bit sorry that the sparrow-hawk didn't get its breakfast, but was happy for the pigeon. Wish I'd had a camera to hand... sorry bird lovers!

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Wow! Nature in action!

The closest I saw to a strike was the time I was standing on the porch and saw a smaller hawk zooming past toward the across-the-street neighbor's woods, and a frantic *thok* and scramble as something evidently narrowly missed becoming lunch.

Another time I saw a hawkfight (well, part of one - heard them keening angrily and saw the one moving in with talons out, but the trees blocked the rest.)

(And it wasn't a bird per se, but I did see the birds take off in a hurry from the mountain ash in front just as I saw a large shape moving through the trees, fast as a stooping hawk. For a moment there, I believed bobcats could fly, it moved so quick through the branches...)

oh, how gorgeous, mrsmig!

What a determined little bluebird, mrsmig!

AW Admin said:

And how very lucky you are; I've only once ever seen them.

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A couple years ago, I took the trip to the "famous" Bluebird Trail in Bickleton, WA. I was a little past prime viewing, but I did (finally) see bluebirds. The birds were worth seeing, as was the Columbia Gorge (my main destination; swung by on the way south.) The "town" of Bickleton... not so much, unless you like lots of literal nothing and a rather unfriendly small-town museum operator.

I love how ticked off that bluebird looks.

A few more birds from the Falkland islands.

Southern giant petrel with a cormorant carcass. (Not gruesome, just a bit intimidating.) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY8VMOmVoAAGLMe.jpg:large

Male kelp geese having a set to on the beach. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY9XcHkVMAAFfT5.jpg:large

A gazillion (live!) imperial (aka king) cormorants on Sea Lion Island. (This pic is quite big.) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY8cl-JUQAA1CZc.jpg:large

Wow, those are incredible!

Oh, Helix! Now I'm dying to know what the cacophony around the cormorants sounded like.

Thank you, all. It's an amazing place to visit. And there was So Much Food.

Elaine, it's strange, but I can't actually remember the sound of the cormorant colonies. I will have to go back to check!

There was another big colony on Bleaker Island, which you could walk right up to. Although we mostly just stood or sat and waited for the birds to come over. (Also their fleas. We ended up with quite a lot of seabird fleas!)

mrsmig said:

OOoooo - that petrel is spooky-looking. Maybe it's the pterodactyl-like pose.

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Wow, I wouldn't want to meet that guy or gal in a dark alley.

Great pictures!

The Downy Woodpecker looks very similar to our elusive Lesser Spotted Woodpecker! I've seen the Lesser Spotted twice in two years on my local Commons. There's also supposed to be one hanging around in Richmond Park, but at this point of Never being Spotted, it's turned into a running joke.

Saw a Partridge this morning. Very tame. It won't last long with all the dogs around.

Better news: two days ago, I saw a pair of Reed Bunting mating! I was sketching my "go-to" tree (a Willow of some sort, I'm rubbish at ID-ing trees). I sketch it at least twice a year. The drawings aren't getting any better but it's just a lovely spot by the water. Anyway, there was a lot of Reed Bunting activity. Two males were doing their best macho-man impersonation for a sexy female perched on the Willow. The males were so distracted that one of them kept landing on a tuft of grass right next to me. They kept pestering each other until a Swallow zoomed past one of the males, scaring him away. The other dude took this opportunity to mate with the female!

It's a blink-and-you-miss-it situation.

So, there's days where I'd like to be a bird. Then I get a glimpse of their sex life. Nope. Nope. Nope.

(It was awesome, though. Love them Reed Buntings and their "shrik shrik shrik? churrikee shruk" and their elegant black moustache.)

I haven't been taking many photos lately, but I did go out with the camera the other day. You might like this forest kingfisher keeping its eye on a black kite that was circling overhead.

Thank you, mrsmig! They are beautiful little birds.

@Helix What a stunning photo, and a stunning bird!

Still no pics from me, sorry guys. London news: we've got three cygnets at one of my local ponds, down from five. One was found in the belly of a large-ish pike that was fished out by the rangers. So it looks like we might have the same issue as last year. The remaining cygnets are quite big now, so hopefully they'll be fine. I'm worriet about the coots, moorhens and mallards, though.

(Side note: we didn't have cygnets last year because the resident couple was getting on a bit. A swan sanctuary took them in, and a young couple immediately snapped the keys of the pond and moved in. We didn't even have time to redecorate. London's real-estate struggle is, uh, real.)

In other news, the swan family at another of the local ponds is gone. The male was injured by a dog, and was taken to the swan sanctuary. The female was clearly struggling on her own (she has six cygnets), so now the whole family's been removed. They're safe, which is great, but I can't even tell you how furious I am. It's not the first time this has happened, either. Pikes or herons eating ducklings, sure, it sucks, but it's fair game. Dogs that should be on lead attacking the local wildlife in a *natural reserve*, on the other hand? WTF.

There's too much pressure here. Too many people using the park just like it's their backyard. It's not. We have wild animals here, and although it's absolutely fine to go for a run, or for a walk, or having a picnic there, we're not supposed to leave a trace of our passage. This means no litter, but it also means no injuries to swans. And no bleeding selfies with the stags, FFS.

In other, other news, I saw my first dragonflies of the year today! Two Emperors. I've also started seeing damselflies for the last couple of weeks.

People take selfies with stags? Bloody hell!

Running dogs off leash when there's wildlife around is so irresponsible. I had an argument with someone along our road because their dog was chasing wildlife. Their argument was that they were just playing and the wildlife (in this case, pademelons -- our tiny rainforest wallabies) were having fun. They obviously weren't.

Amazing pics, Helix and mrsmig, thanks for sharing! And the photo of that kingfisher: drop-dead gorgeous. Looks like a painting!

My first sighting of Sandhill Cranes in Ontario. A long lens, but they came out pretty clearly.

Downy woodpecker stretching its wing.

Peekaboo!