Author: Gav

Dunnocks showing mating behaviour, my garden bird list.

Yesterday Iā€™d forgotten to add a Robin to my list, it wasnā€™t in my garden and i hadnā€™t written it down when I saw it, so edited the post and all up to date now. Ā Today all seen in the garden or flying over, first time thereā€™s been a great tit for a while and the dunnocks are displaying a lot of mating behaviour. Ā Hereā€™s the list of birds I saw today:

  1. Blackbird x 3
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Coal Tit x 1
  4. Dunnock x 3
  5. Great Tit x 1
  6. House Sparrow x 7
  7. Lesser black-backed gull x 3 fly overs ā€“ a new one for this year, although probably seen them at a distance theyā€™d never been close enough to ID.
  8. Magpie x 1 ā€“ heard only
  9. Woodpigeon x 3

A new first for the year ā€“ Greater Spotted Woodpecker

Thatā€™s right I saw a Greater Spotted Woodpecker, not in my garden but a tree opposite my house, so very pleased with that one! Ā The rest of the list is from my garden today:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Black-headed Gull x 1 ā€“ flyover.
  3. Blue Tit x 1
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Dunnock x 1
  6. Greater Spotted Woodpecker x 1
  7. House Sparrow x 3
  8. Robin x 1 ā€“ not in my garden on the street nearby.
  9. Woodpigeon x 2

Heard a Tawny Owl & saw very few other birds!

It was another very quiet day in the garden today, a few carrion crows flying overhead and the tawny owl was out and about last night but very little else so Iā€™ve added some photos from the balcony of my old flat in Sydney Australia:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Carrion crow x 4 ā€“ flyovers
  3. Coal Tit x 1
  4. Dunnock x 2
  5. Tawny Owl x 1 ā€“ heard only
Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet at the flat in Sydney.

Rainbow Lorikeet takes a bath

Rainbow Lorikeet takes a bath

Rainbow Lorikeet shakes after a bath.

Rainbow Lorikeet shakes after a bath.

Our flock of Rainbow Lorikeets

Our flock of Rainbow Lorikeets

Robin in Corstorphine Tesco Bakery section, plus Oystercatchers on playing fields.

Another very quiet day in my garden, just 3 types of birds, I added a robin to yesterdayā€™s list as I saw it just before midnight in Tescos Corstorphine hanging out in the bakery section of the store, photo, sorry poor quality from a camera phone:

Robin in Tesco bakery section, enjoying the croissants.

Robin in Tesco bakery section, enjoying the croissants.

 

As well as my garden bird list:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Dunnock x 2

I managed to take a walk down toĀ Saint Margaretā€™s Park in Corstorphine and saw:

  1. Carrion Crow x 3
  2. Oystercatchers x 2
  3. Black-headed Gulls x 5
  4. Gulls ā€“ others, distance was too great to make out but looked to be lesser black-backed or herring. Ā They were paddling in a pretty deep puddle, didnā€™t want to get closer as we had our dog with us.
  5. Woodpigeons x 10

Very few birds around, but we had a guest dog Scooby.

Wow it was incredibly quiet in the garden today, very little moving at all, we did have a dog that isnā€™t ours (the birds are used to Chewie and generally ignore him) that was found walking the street, so while waiting to find the owner Scooby was running around our garden and I think this maybe why so few birds, as only 2 species and 9 birds in total:

  1. Dunnock x 2
  2. House Sparrows x 7

The sparrows did look like they were mating though.

As usual my bird list was seen in the garden today:

Grey Heron and Tawny Owl show up on my list for first time this year.

Just after midnight last night I heard a Tawny Owl, first Iā€™ve heard since moving into my new place a bit further down Corstorphine Hill than I used to live, a bit of a surprise as thereā€™s a lot less trees around here. Ā Thanks to Edinburgh Hawkwatch for their page on ā€“ Tawny Owl ā€“ EdinburghĀ for a little more detail about Tawny Owls in the area. Ā Whilst watching the Rugby I noticed a very large bird arrive on the horizon I thought thatā€™s too big to be a gull it has to be something else, it continued to fly straight towards me and it was a heron, another first for the year, hereā€™s the garden bird list Iā€™ve seen today:

  1. Blackbird x 3
  2. Blue Tit x 2
  3. Chaffinch x 4
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Grey Heron x 1 ā€“ fly over
  6. House Sparrow x 6
  7. Tawny Owl x 1 ā€“ heard only
  8. Woodpigeon x 1
  9. Wren x 1

Laurie Campbell photo exhibition and talk at the SOC.

Had a very quiet day in the garden today, however an hour before sunset about 60 carrion crows flew overhead, a great sight! Ā Tonight I got to see the talk by Laurie Campbell about his photos over the years and his new ones from the Isle of Harris, thanks so much to Jane at the SOCĀ ā€“ follow on twitter: ScottishBirdingĀ for arranging the tickets for me after I missed out on the sales! Ā For more info about the photo exhibition head to: Laurie Campbell SOCĀ ā€“ now onto my garden bird list for today:

  1. Blackbird x 1
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Carrion crow x 60+ flying overhead.
  4. Coal Tit x 1
  5. Woodpigeon x 1

Gust of wind blows a flock of gulls over my garden.

A very quiet day in the garden today, didnā€™t get to see a lot of birds at all, but nice to see the Coal tit back, there were about 70 gulls flying overhead but I couldnā€™t tell you what type they were as they were caught in a massive gust of wind and went by very fast. Ā Would love to be out seeing cracking birds such as the Water Rail that was photo of the week on Bird Guides –Ā Water Rail (Rallus aquaticus)Ā – Hereā€™s my list of birds I saw today:

  1. Blackbird x 2
  2. Blue Tit x 2
  3. Coal Tit x 1
  4. Greenfinch x 2
  5. Woodpigeon x 2

On the gust of wind –Ā about 70 gulls, but not sure what type.Ā 

Lots of insects about in very windy conditions.

The wind has really picked up here in Edinburgh, even with the massive amount of wind about there were a lot of insects in the air today and few birds, I gather the insect prey is too great of an attraction than the seed I put out for them. Ā Strangely not a single coal tit, thatā€™s a very rare situation! Ā Hereā€™s the bird list for today:

  1. Blackbird x 3
  2. Blue Tit x 1
  3. Chaffinch x 1
  4. Feral Pigeon x 1
  5. Greenfinch x 2
  6. House Sparrow x 3
  7. Woodpigeon x 2