Tag: Grey Heron

Bird list from Schiphol airport for April 21st.

Sorry the update didnā€™t happen yesterday, once again the free wifi was down at night, Iā€™ve posted a video:Ā http://www.saverscene.com.au/general-chat/7811-bloemencorso-2013-holland-flower-festival-youtube-video.htmlĀ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) of theĀ Bloemencorso 2013 Holland Flower Festival parade youtube video. Ā Sadly I didnā€™t get to see it and I didnā€™t get out toĀ Keukenhof gardensĀ yesterday due to my torn ankle tendons, my bird list for yesterday is all from the SchipholĀ airport as thatā€™s where Iā€™m staying at the moment.

  1. Coot
  2. Grey Heron
  3. Jackdaw ā€“ I noticed at the airport these acted more like the pigeons you’d find at many other airports around the world, very interesting to watch.Ā  People mustā€™ve thought I was crazy as I noticed food rubbish in a few bins so I would grab it off the top and scatter it for the Jackdaws, they loved it.
  4. Lapwing
  5. Magpie
  6. Oystercatcher

Iā€™m heading back to the gardens today, Iā€™m going to update the UK finance pages first, including the best ISA rates, credit card offers and savings interest rates, you can find them here:Ā http://www.saverscene.co.uk/ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) . Ā Hopefully Iā€™ll have another bumper day watching birds whilst doing my work of photographing flowers!

Keukenhof gardens and the birds I spotted there.

Had a bumper day today and added a few life birds, Great Crested Grebe (bit slow on that one!), yellow and pied wagtails. Ā Once again internet has been down most of the evening so just a quick note of the birds in the hope the net stays up long enough.Ā  Most from Keukenhof or on bus journey there.

  1. Blackbird
  2. Blackcap
  3. Carrion crow
  4. Chiffchaff ā€“ heard and seen
  5. Common Buzzard
  6. Coots
  7. Dunnock
  8. Feral Pigeon
  9. Great crested grebe
  10. Greylag goose
  11. Grey Heron
  12. House Sparrow
  13. Jackdaw
  14. Morehen
  15. Oystercatchers
  16. Pied Wagtail
  17. Lapwings
  18. Magpie
  19. Mallard Duck
  20. Moorhens
  21. Mute Swans
  22. Skylark ā€“ seen and heard
  23. Sparrowhawk
  24. Starlings
  25. Swallow
  26. Tufted duck
  27. Yellow wagtail

TheĀ Keukenhof gardens are great, but donā€™t go on parade day, itā€™s so busy! Ā I was hoping to go to Haarlem to see the parade at the end of the day but my ankles were worn out again and I couldnā€™t face another bus ride. Ā Hopefully one year Iā€™ll get back over here to see the festival! Ā I also managed to update the best interest rates for instant access ISAs tonight as I was informed Coventry have changed their best interest rate to a 1 year and no longer instant access, you can see the best instant access ISA here:Ā http://www.saverscene.co.uk/isa/highest-interest-rate-for-instant-access-isa.htmlĀ (now closed as I move into gardening as a profession) ā€“ Gardening, birds, saving money and pensions my friends call me middle aged Gav, Iā€™m 34, I sure hope to live to over 68!!! Ā Iā€™ve been interested in most of these things since my teen years, just I lived in Australia and havenā€™t seen a lot of European birds and there wasnā€™t wonderful tax free savings accounts like ISAs there! Ā Sorry rambling again, had pain killers and beer! Ā whoops! Ā ā€“ Gav out!

Update, thought Iā€™d list this as a friend asked me what a lapwing looked like, thereā€™s photos on here from when I lived at Musselburgh

Front garden bird watching today, plus more wildlife gardening tips.

The fog has gottenĀ incrediblyĀ thick here in Edinburgh tonight, whoā€™s bright idea was it to get the central heating replaced in February? Ā Oh thatā€™s right mine! Ā Itā€™s freezing! Ā Due to works going on in all the back rooms today I didnā€™t really get a chance to see the back garden and instead had to watch a small part of hedge in the front and got one good surprise hereā€™s what I was lucky enough to see:

  1. Blackbird x 2
  2. Carrion crow x 1 ā€“ fly over
  3. Dunnock x 1
  4. Grey Heron x 1 ā€“ fly over
  5. Woodpigeon x 2

I donā€™t think Iā€™ve used this photo on here, but one of my regular carrion crows that flies over the garden:

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crow

Yesterday I posted up about wildlife gardening and wanted to mention another great post that gives good information about planting not only nectar rich flowers and plants for adult butterflies but also adding plants for caterpillars:Ā Gardening for butterflies ā€“ adults v caterpillars | Butterflies and Gardens

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