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Author Topic: Birds  (Read 58608 times)
Ginginho

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« Reply #15 on: Friday, June 1, 2012, 13:07:21 »

Those photos are amazing.
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Reg Smeeton
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« Reply #16 on: Friday, June 1, 2012, 13:52:03 »

Coate sounds like a good option then, nice for a wander around even if we don't see much.

You missed the Feb thread on the bittern at Coate then SY? Coate is proper ace....it can get very busy, which is why it's probably best in winter...the best bet is to walk around to the causeway, between the two lakes where you get a good view of the heronry, then go straight on along the Hodson path then just before the cycle path veer off left and follow the paths near the lake to the duckboards, which head for the bird hide.  If you're really keen you could get a day pass from the Activity Centre, which gives you a key, otherwise just nipping round the side is OK.

Then retrace route and walk around the main lake, the bird table is worth 20 mins of anybody's time, but again dependent on how busy, and it can be very busy.

What you get is a bit random, but at this time of year I've sat and watched flocks of sand martins in the fields back of Day House Lane.

If you fancy a bit more of a walk, then rather than returning from the bird hide, just take the bridge over the M4 and follow the path to Hodson via Pinkcombe Wood....then back over teh M4 on Hodson road bridge and back to the other end of Coate. There's always stuff about either birds of field or wood.
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Anteater

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« Reply #17 on: Friday, June 1, 2012, 14:27:34 »

A bit further afield but have regularly seen Kingfishers along from Buscot Weir down river on the Thames and also on the Kennet and Avon canal around both Little and Great Bedwyn.

Time also to make the most of Coate before it's surrounded by houses.
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RWB Robin

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« Reply #18 on: Friday, June 1, 2012, 14:38:28 »

Wouldn't call us twitchers, but we have a great garden with many very mature trees, and have put a quite substantial feeding station in - we are constantly surprised at how busy it has been (though we are haunted by a pair of squirrels which cause havoc with the food and the feeders).  We have a Greater spotted woodpecker, a pair of jays, a pair of nuthatches, an occasional pair of bullfinches, several goldfinches and the usual range of tits and finches - so it is good; but I'm glad to have the tips of where else to go...especially the Purton common, which is just down the road from us.
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Samdy Gray
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« Reply #19 on: Friday, June 1, 2012, 15:25:24 »

I once rescued a cygnet from Buscot weir. True story.
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leefer

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« Reply #20 on: Friday, June 1, 2012, 18:07:27 »

Often stop and watch birds on my travels....this time of year they are manic.

The kestrels dont seem as common as they were a couple of years ago....that may be down to the increase of other hawks.
Saw a Jay today(gorgeous looking bird).....and at Wentworth i actually saw a baby woodpecker....at first i thought it was a robin on the bark of a tree.
Herons seem more plentifull these days.....but havn't seen many swifts or swallows this year.
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Ginginho

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« Reply #21 on: Monday, December 17, 2012, 19:04:18 »

Had a sparrowhawk (I think) in our garden recently, ripping, what I think was a pigeon, to shreds. All that was left was a pile of feathers.
Managed to get a crap photo (rushed and through patio doors) before it flew off.



* Sparrowhawk.jpg (732.08 KB, 1610x1002 - viewed 410 times.)
« Last Edit: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 10:58:09 by Ginginho » Logged
Foggy

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« Reply #22 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 10:47:12 »

Saw 2 Ravens at work yesterday, scarey looking things
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Honkytonk

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« Reply #23 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 11:28:06 »

Living in London, you know what I've missed? Having lots of tits around. (ooh err matron) See the odd blue one, but rarely.

Saw a Hawk (didn't get a good enough look at what it was, there and gone in blink of an eye) take a pigeon right out of a tree yesterday. They'd all gone there to escape the thing and it just landed on a high branch and jumped on one below.

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Flashheart

« Reply #24 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 11:44:54 »

I know they're not birds, but I get loads of big bats flying about just outside my balcony. You can hear them rushing through the wind sometimes they get so close.
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Ginginho

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« Reply #25 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 11:59:48 »

Yeah, I spot them most nights flying around above my head in our garden.
Considering we live in the middle of a council estate, we get a variety of wildlife in our garden, which is nice.
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suttonred

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« Reply #26 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 12:12:15 »

Yeah we have bats, plus stag beetles which are scary mothers.. Also have a fox that eats my shoes, a group of starlings that keep getting pissed up on the apples I never picked off the grass, and the fattest robin i've ever seen that waddles up and down the lawn as it sruggles to fly.
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TheDukeOfBanbury

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« Reply #27 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 12:57:46 »

I am into the wild birds. Feed them every day and get through loads of feed.

Living in the Country and this time of year you get so many coming in closer to the garden in search of food.
We are getting the odd Nuthatch and this morning a visit from the smallest British bird, the Goldcrest.
I spotted a blackcap on the bird table Sunday as well.
With all this activity I have to chase off the Sparrowhawk who visits frequently and of course when feeding birds come the mice and the seasonal Rat......I hate the things. Mind you I believe I have got rid of the one after putting daily poison in the hole.

Has the Red Kite reached the Swindon area yet ? All over Oxfordshire now.
Amazing that different birds reach different areas. The coal tit for example is common in north oxon but you rarely see them in south oxon. In addition we have a very small population of willow tits on the northern parts of the river cherwell.

I am always looking out for birds when fishing. Saw my first ever Egret this Summer.
On the River Cherwell we get 2 pairs of nesting Curlew's every spring that are wonderful to watch and catch the odd snipe during dusk.

Glad I am not the only Town birder Smiley
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TheDukeOfBanbury

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« Reply #28 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 12:59:50 »

Had a sparrowhawk (I think) in our garden recently, ripping, what I think was a pigeon, to shreds. All that was left was a pile of feathers.
Managed to get a crap photo (rushed and through patio doors) before it flew off.



Female Sparrowhawk that is. Bigger than the male.
They don't often take a pigeon but will when small birds are less in supply as well as smaller collard doves.
Nice picture.
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Peter Venkman
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« Reply #29 on: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 13:04:12 »

I am no twitcher but enjoy wildlife, after Leefers comments here are a couple of pics of the woody woodpecker that used to visit us in our old house a year or so ago.

[url width=900 height=675]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g171/jjedmunds/PICT0861_zpsf86e79c1.jpg[/url]

[url width=900 height=675]http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g171/jjedmunds/PICT0862_zpsfff9c07c.jpg[/url]
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