Garden bird list and birds of Gardening Scotland

earlier today I posted a few pictures from the Isle of May trip http://www.wbist.com/archives/2899, but a friend on twitter @RoseCottageFife wrote a much more in depth and informative piece about here trip to the Isle of May here: http://rosecottageeastneuk.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/the-jewel-of-forth-nature-lover-day.html and there’s the Isle of May Blog from 15th of May announcing they do have puffins: http://isleofmaynnr.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/yes-we-do-have-puffins.html – I would love to spend time out there as a scientist or conservationist, only problem is I have no degree in either!!! Silly me for pursuing computers and photography… Maybe they need a professional photographer!? Would love that, I’ll bring my own food!

My bird list today, there’s 2 lists as I went to Gardening Scotland and managed a few sightings there:

Garden list:

Blackbird x 1 – singing very very early! My wife has started putting earplugs next to the bed so that when they start at 3.30am she can dull the sound a bit.
Blue Tit x 2 – going into nest box
Carrion crow x 4
Coal Tit x 1
Dunnock x 3
Jackdaw x 2
Magpie x 1
Woodpigeon x 2

At Gardening Scotland:

Moorhens
Oystercatcher
Rook
Starlings
Swallows – a few nests around the buildings there.

These are the photos to go with the Isle of May post from the 29th of May: http://www.wbist.com/archives/2804 hope they give you a bit of an idea to what the trip was like:

Tern on Post

Guillemots

Puffins Isle of May

Razor Bill

Razor Bill Isle of May

Tern in flight

Female Eider on nest

Rock Pipit

Guillemot grooming

Razorbills

Puffins with the Bass Rock in background

Below are comments that got lost when the website went down.

2 responses to Photos from Isle of May, 29th of May 2013. Scotland UK.

Wes Donze said on June 3, 2013

excellent photos – very good selection
- KiwiGav said on June 3, 2013
  
  Glad you liked them, I hope to get a few from last year up, I felt they were better, it was a brighter day and a lot more birds about, the storms and spills of whatever it was down south seem to have taken their toll on the birds up here.

At a wedding, not a lot of birds for May 25th 2013

I was at a wedding today and didn’t get to see a lot of birds. The wedding was at Edinburgh Zoo and I did see a few birds from around the world, penguins, cassowary and a few other birds, but I don’t add birds that are in captivity obviously.

Blackbird
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Swallow

If you’ve never seen a Cassowary before there was a great BBC Natural World show, you can see the whole episode on youtube.

BBC Natural World – Cassowaries

Wildfowl & Wetland Trust London Wetland Centre Bird list for 22nd of May 2013.

I was hoping to have this list up a lot earlier today as it’s from 22nd of May however I was so busy doing the http://www.saverscene.com.au/finance/ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) updates for Australian best savings, credit cards and due to the fact many Aussies have to pay for bank accounts the best free bank account offers it took longer than expected as their saving interest rates are going the same way as the UK ones.

Now to birds thanks to the suggestion of Wes and the ease of getting to the WWT – Wildfowl & Wetland Trust in London Wetland Centre – see their twitter account here: @WWTLondon I managed my best bird list for the UK this year, sadly I didn’t have my camera and my legs didn’t hold out for a long time, it was still great getting 28 different species at the WWT London and finishing it off with a kestrel at Luton airport for the longest list of the year so far!

2 new birds were on my list for life, and they were both cracking views, there was a pair of reed warblers nesting almost directly outside the Observatory which gave amazing views, they came right up to the reeds in front of the windows. The other new bird was the Little Greeb I had amazing views of it feeding in clear water under the bridge just before you get to the Wildside hide, Fantastic to see!

The bird list for May 22nd from WWT London Wetland Centre:

Feral Pigeon
Reed Warbler
Mallard Duck – with young
Moorhen
Coot – with chicks
Woodpigeon
Starlings
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Egyptian Geese
Mute Swans
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Blackbird
Pied Wagtail
Common Tern – new for the year
Tufted Duck
Lapwing
Swallows
Magpie
Robin
Black-headed Gull
Great Tit
Little Grebe
Canada Geese – new for the year
House Martin – new for the year
Swift – new for the year
Greylag Geese

1 more bird seen at Luton airport, hovering over the grass:

Kestrel

Fantastic day of birding, can’t wait until I can walk for longer times and see more, I would often get 40 to 50 species at Musselburgh east of Edinburgh.

Whilst looking for bird sightings as I’d thought I’d seen something that I’m used to up in Scotland but wasn’t sure, I came across this Open University site: http://www.ispot.org.uk/ fantastic service and great for finding if a bird has been seen in the area!

Below are comments that got lost when the website went down.

2 responses to Wildfowl & Wetland Trust London Wetland Centre Bird list for 22nd of May 2013.

Wes Donze said on May 24, 2013

Excellent list – glad you managed to get there and have some good sightings including the 2 new ones for you
- KiwiGav said on May 25, 2013
  
  Wes, I really appreciate the suggestion, was great, wish I could have made it to a few more of the areas, next time! I’m sure my feet have to get better soon, looking at two more operations, hopefully after that I’ll be out and seeing loads of birds.
  
  The ridiculous thing is Little Grebe is so easy to see around my area in Lothians, if you go to the right place, I’ve just not been able to drive so haven’t got there yet. Going to try and get a lift from a fellow birder and watch them more intensely, the view through the water was great, but after that it was gone.
  
  sorry if I’m rambling a bit just back from a wedding at Edinburgh Zoo, great fun!

Birds of Chelsea Flower Show

Managed a good day at Chelsea, ankle only went out twice and added 1 new species to year and life list (although I think I have seen one silhouetted on the sky last time I was in London.

Blackbird
Blue Tit
Feral Pigeon – probably a few 100 today
Great Tit
Jackdaw
Magpie
Robin – a few of these in the were in the Grand Pavilion.
Rose-ringed Parakeet – new to life list.
Woodpigeon

If I do go next year I’ll be catching the train, my preferred means of transport when I can afford it, even booking 6 weeks in advance East Coast Railways wanted £240 per person return – Edinburgh to Kings Cross, I booked flights for £45 return, then 2 days later ECR wrote saying they had £28 tickets each way! Still more expensive but I was rather frustrated as I knew the train would have got me into the centre instead of Gatwick on the way in and Luton on the way out and I could bring back plants if I purchased any, instead I flew and couldn’t buy anything at Chelsea!

There were even a few places giving out free plants and I had to say no! Terrible, they had a nice Rowan which would have been perfect for my garden, and hopefully attracting waxwings for years got come. Wish I had of been able to, next year! Now ECR need to get their cheap tickets up 6 weeks in advance like they used to!

Below are comments that got lost when the website went down.

2 responses to Birds of Chelsea Flower Show

Wes Donze said on May 22, 2013

i am thinking of planting a couple of Rowan.
I was there yesterday too – didn’t see a magpie though.
Saw the Robins in the main Pavilion.
There was also a Blackbird in there for a while – it looked a bit agitated as one stand was playing birdsong that happened to be a blackbird song so the real one was wondering where it was as it could not see it
Hope you get to come along another year – or maybe check out the Hampton Court show – it is on a bit later in the year

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/RHS-Hampton-Court-Palace-Flower-Show/2013
- KiwiGav said on May 22, 2013
  
  Thanks Wes, hope you had a great time and I really want to do it again. Also the WWT was a great suggestion, managed 2 new species for my life list. Will get the list up tomorrow, about midnight here and exhausted.
  
  Love to go to Hampton Court! Will see how I’m placed, I’ll be trying to be in Heidelberg Germany on the 13th or 14th for catching up with a friend that’s doing a talk there on I think the elemental make-up of distant galaxies, it’s been a while since I’ve seen her work and she’s now back in Oz, so not 100% sure what she’s working on… It all depends on cash, I haven’t travelled since October 2011 and then this year it’s finally been a bit busier! I’ve missed it.
  
  As for the Magpie it was down towards the band stage when I first got there at about 9.30am.
  
  Didn’t notice the stand playing the blackbird or see it in the Pavilion, so many things to see and do, missed a few I’m sure!
  
  Can’t wait to see if I can get there next year!

Small list from near the Natural History Museum London.

Not a great list of birds today, I spent the day working on saverscene.co.uk (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) then went to a few galleries in London, obviously the Natural History Museum where I spent a fair bit of time looking at the stuffed birds, I’ve seen them all numerous times before, however they’re always impressive!

I walked around the outside of the private gardens at Thurloe Square Gardens just near the Natural History Museum and these are the birds I saw:

Blackbird – singing high over the buildings, sounds amazing
Blue Tit
Feral Pigeon
Robin

Calthorpe Projects London, little bit of wildlife in the city, small bird list.

In London for the Chelsea Flower Show and trying to get around London to see a few things, I can’t manage a lot of the wandering so a lot of sitting and eating, far too much! I did get to to – Calthorpe Projects which has a small but decent nature garden right at the back including bees nests and a pond, for the first time ever I saw newts, who would have thought the first time I saw newts would be in the centre of London! So impressed. While there I also managed to see:

Blackbird
Magpie
Starling
Wren

There were a lot of butterflies as well, and a few moths, but didn’t pick up what types, think small white was pretty common, but can’t be sure.

Other birds from today, all over the place

Dunnock
Blue Tit
Feral Pigeon
Woodpigeon

Not a big list for today, but was very happy with the newt!

These were comments added before the website went down

6 responses to Calthorpe Projects London, little bit of wildlife in the city, small bird list.

Wes Donze said on May 20, 2013
I am heading to the Chelsea flower show tomorrow – it is the 100th anniversery of the 1st show – have not been for 3 years so looking forward to the show – it’s right by the Thames so you might get to see some birds there as well as in the normal gardens on the site
if you do have a spare day or part thereof you might like the London Wetland centre http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit/london/
There is a direct bus from Hammersmith to the centre

KiwiGav said on May 20, 2013
Hey Wes, Thanks for the info!
I’ll be there tomorrow as well, can’t wait, my first Chelsea.
I’m going to see how my feet are on Wednesday and see if I can make it out to the London Wetlands, I didn’t bring scope, bins or even a long lens for my camera. Just didn’t have the space in my bag for carry on luggage for the flight down. It’s on my list if I can, I’m sure I can still get a good list with eyes only.

KiwiGav said on May 21, 2013
Have a good day Wes? Would have suggested meeting up, but was unsure of what my parents and wife wanted to see and do. I hope to be back next year!

Wes Donze said on May 20, 2013
yes i’m sure you will still get to see plenty – i believe there may be binocular hire there too

KiwiGav said on May 20, 2013
Thanks Wes!

KiwiGav said on May 21, 2013
Told my dad this today and he said “I’ve got mine, you can borrow them!” YAY! I know where I’m off to tomorrow!
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Managed to get out for a walk and added a decent list of birds.

Managed to get out for a walk today, very happy with that! My ankle tendons didn’t even click out of place once!!! So excited by that, will let you all know how I go tomorrow morning. Below the birds with a number were in my garden, the rest were out on the walk, many of the birds in the garden were also spotted out on the walk in Corstorphine woods, it was great to see 2 Song Thrush on the fields on the westside of the woods. I’ve heard there’s green woodpeckers in the area but I haven’t been able to see them yet, my wife has managed to hear them, but not see them in the past. Here’s the list for today:

Blackbird 2
Blue Tit
Carrion crow 1 – It was carrying nesting material
Chaffinch
Coal Tit
Common Buzzard – pretty sure there was one hovering very high over the fields today.
Dunnock 3
Long-tailed tit 1
Magpie
Robin
Song Thrush
Starlings
Woodpigeon

Birds around Edinburgh mainly from buses and in Edinburgh city gardens.

I was out today, didn’t get to really count the birds, but I did take a list of the birds I saw today:

Blackbird
Blue Tit
Carrion crow
Chaffinch
Dunnock
Lesser black-backed gull
Magpie
Woodpigeon

I had to spend the day sitting in Edinburgh council buildings trying to get a reduction on my council tax due to low earnings, due to a mix of injuries including tearing my ankle tendon on road work in Edinburgh being carried out by Edinburgh council! However the council made a mistake due to the fact they forgot to send a piece of paper work out to me and then cancelled the application forcing me to try and get another one in.

Last day in the Netherlands – Bird count was low.

Spent most of the last day resting either at the hotel or at the airport just to relax my feet, still managed a few birds:

Common Buzzard
Coots
Cormorant
House Sparrow
Jackdaw
Lapwings
Magpie
Pied Wagtail
Starlings
Woodpigeons

The gardens in the Netherlands were amazing, however we were a little too early for a lot of the Tulips this year, normally would have been the peak week but the cold weather was not great for them, I’d love to go back! I’ll try and get a few photos up in the next few days, I’ve got a lot of work to do on the money saving websites and a few smaller jobs I’ve got to send out photos for. Hope there’ll still be time for bird watching, I hope to try and get to a few of the RSPB reserves in Scotland – find your closest ones: http://www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/ over the next few weeks, I think my feet are finally up to the challenge

Another great day out at Keukenhof gardens, decent bird list.

Even though I was out doing my real work, photography, I managed to update the savings, ISAs and credit cards over on www.saverscene.co.uk (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) then a few of the banks went and changed their rates and I had to do it again tonight!!! How inconsiderate of them! I did get out to Keukenhof today and got to see some great birds as well as a few 100 very nice flower photos. I sadly missed by just a few minutes the mating dance of the Great Crested Grebe, a few other birders seemed to take real pleasure in telling me! I didn’t see as many bird species today as I did the other day, here’s my list today:

Blackbird
Carrion crow
Chaffinch
Chiffchaff
Coots
Egyptian Goose
Great crested grebe
Great tits
Greylag goose
Grey Heron
House Sparrow
Jackdaw
Lapwings
Long-tailed tits
Magpie
Mallard Duck
Moorhens
Mute Swans
Oystercatcher
Pied Wagtail
Starlings
Tufted duck
Woodpigeons

The Comments that were below this post before the server move:

Wes Donze said on April 24, 2013

thats a good list – hope to see something similar this weekend as i am heading there myself – also heading to a spot where there should be a number of birds near where i am staying in Weesp.

Apologies for not yet posting my bird list from Sweden – i seem to have been so busy this last week or so – am taking the laptop this weekend so might get a chance when i am in Holland

I have seen the mating dance of the Grebes twice before – once in Holland too – and just caught the very end of it in Sweden a few days ago
- KiwiGav said on April 24, 2013
  
  Weesp does look like a great place for seeing birds! Lots of water around there. I hope you had a great time in Sweden and have a wonderful time in Holland. I’d never seen a Grebe before, so was very happy to see them, when at Keukenhof they’re just round from the Wilhelmina pavilion, after the bridge near the white horse statue, where the river bows a bit, Keukenhof map here:
  http://www.keukenhof.nl/uploads/2013/Plattegrond/2223_kh_plattegrond_2013_v6_lr_def.pdf
  
  You’ll be going at a great time, the flowers are a lot later this year, a lot still weren’t out when I was were there! First time I’d been back in 10 years, last time I was 23 and with a heap of Aussie backpackers, good fun, but probably didn’t take as much in as I could have.
  
  Totally understand being busy! If I didn’t have to take every second day out for putting my feet up I’d probably not have been able to do updates, but I would have got out a bit more to see the birds. I’ve just gone back to bed at 10.20 am to write this! Feels odd and terrible to be spending so much time off my feet!
  
  I’ll try and get a few photos up before you go, ran out of room on my computer, but will move things about tonight.
Wes Donze said on May 2, 2013

Yes I saw the Great Crested Grebe on a nest there. As you say the flowers are later this year – 1 to 2 weeks i’d say – also the birds – I have seen a Grebe with young there, also Mallard and Mute Swan with young but they were all late this year

KiwiGav said on May 2, 2013

Glad to hear you got to see a good range there. I really have to sort my photos out, I just don’t have any room on my computer, it’s ridiculous! My photography computer is still packed in storage.

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2 responses to Photos from Isle of May, 29th of May 2013. Scotland UK.

BBC Natural World – Cassowaries

2 responses to Wildfowl & Wetland Trust London Wetland Centre Bird list for 22nd of May 2013.

2 responses to Birds of Chelsea Flower Show

Cookies for birds? Are they made of peanuts?