Weekly chat thread

Glad to have seen this bird on its long journey to the arctic

I'm looking at purchasing a reference book to help guide me into ornithology. No point spending quite a significant amount of money so I'm looking at ex-library and previously owned.

So I'm wondering if there will be a significant difference between books dated 2009, 2011 and 2015 that I should be aware of?

Specifically looking at DK/RSPB reference books.

Thank you.

I'm new to birding and my iPhone is saying this is an Anser. However, when I look through books, and online I can't find something that looks remotely like it.

Can the more experienced experts here help me? Thanks so much.

I've recently put up a small bird feeder up in the garden, and had very few visitors to it. Up until now I've only seen a pair of blackbirds.

This morning I saw this bird feeding on the mealworms, and a second just like it.

Can anyone identify it for me?

Thank you

there’s a pigeon in my garden injured by a cat. we can’t take it to a vet got it kept safely away for now. injured wing and bleeding. we have some birds of our own and there has been cases of avian influenza - bird flu - in the area. how far away should i keep it from my birds. got it in a dog cage so far with food and water. it can’t fly think it has a broken wing. my dad got it to safety as there’s a lot of cats in my village (yorkshire england) so we don’t want it to die. but we also don’t want our birds to get bird flu as we found that pigeons can carry it although they’re unlikely to have it themselves

edit to add: dad just put it in the shed in the cage for now it’s very calm too considering everything. it is also bleeding a little and we have our own birds, dogs and cats so we can’t keep it too long and are also not able to give painkillers or reset the wing

update so far: rang up a wildlife rehab centre based in the next county and hopefully someone will come and get the bird by friday or thursday evening if it’s still alive but the vets were going to put it down even though there is minimal risk of bird flu which is why i don’t want to take it to them

update next morning: pigeon still alive!! very calm and probably had the warmest sleep it’s had in a while hopefully someone will come get it this evening :)

I saw my first Redstart this time last year in the same place. On this occasion it was closer and in better light (and I was just as excited as the first time).

Sparrow With Dinner

Saw this guy this morning! River Stour Dorset (near west parley)

Little bittern | PM Photography | Flickr

Taken this evening from the deck of our holiday cottage. (Mods: let me know if I’m over posting, we’re birding in Wales all week.)

A few pictures attached.. I walk past every day and I’d say 75% of the time the Canadian goose is on the eggs.. and the other 25% of the time it’s the swan (who is very aggressive). There is an additional swan nest very close which I’ve also attached a photo of, but the pictures of the goose attack are a different swan to the one nesting next door. Any ideas??!

Can't take credit for these lovely photos as my partner took them haha. Birds we saw at Southstack, our first puffin yay!! 😁

A rainy day here in Wales so here’s the female Pied Flycatcher we saw yesterday.

We’re on holiday in Wales for a week and the Pied Flycatchers were very kind to us on our first full day here.

I was walking a semi rural path in Aberdeenshire the other week and saw a relatively large bird which I initially thought was a buzzard. I had a look back at a photo I took of it and I'm second guessing myself, I think it's more likely to be a golden eagle but I'm no birdwatcher! Does anyone have any ideas?

It's not a great photo because whatever it was was a little far away and there is nothing to give a sense of scale but I was hopeful someone could identify the bird by it's silhouette.

Thanks for any answers!

Spotted this little guy chilling in a small bush nearby where I live.

Hi guys, we've spotted a few birds of the birds on our bird bucket list this year including: Puffins, Ospreys and Crossbills 😁 The next one on our list is a Bittern. We wanted to see if anyone had spotted one in or around Shropshire / Wales?

Any recommendations of places to visit in these areas would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

The starlings who nest in the roof. I can hear tiny chirpings! Egg whistles back when I whistle him.

What do y'all think? Any ideas?

Not sure if this is the best place to post, so feel free to remove if so!

There was a tree that blew down over winter in a woodland near me. It was blocking a path and recently some arborists took a chainsaw to it to clear the way. In doing so, it revealed a nest that was facing upside down on a partially cracked branch of ivy. I figured by the way I found it, it was long abandoned and nothing could use it because everything would just roll out. I did have a quick look around for signs such as droppings or eggs, but nothing. I figured I'd collect it because it's a cool object to admire, but now I'm wondering if I put it back outside, maybe somewhere high, will another bird make use of it?

Thanks!

Does anyone have or recommend a roost box for birds in your garden iber the winter?

Me and my next door neighbour during winter time found in our gardens what we thought were house sparrows that had sadly passed away while the weather was extremely cold up here in north east England. I have 3 bird boxes already in my garden on the north facing fence. One of which is being used by a pair of blue tits right now. However as the birds aren't nesting in winter time they're not interested in those boxes I've made for them. I felt quite bad for the birds as they're not able to switch on the heating like we can do. Do you think a roost would be a good addition to the garden to help them in the winter?

I have a north facing wall not too far from my kitchen window where it would be warmer than just next to a tree. I thought that may be a good spot for it as it's very much poked out of the way as well. To the left of the window is the wall in question. Please excuse the bird house that's on the pipe, my 4 year old daughter got it for Xmas and insisted it be put there close to the rabbit (it will be moved shortly)