Monday 9 February 2009

The US Great february Bird Count - UK style

Frank the slobberador was up late this morning and for the first time midweek it was actually light on his morning walk. We saw the Fox doing the last of his mooch about before retiring for the day - I say 'we' advisedly - actually Frank missed it with BOTH eyes and nose!
On returning home I was hanging the laundry out and there was a sudden commotion of feral Pigeons flying round and a squawking of Herring Gulls. Nice one guys! They alerted me to a small male Peregrine Falcon half-heartedly soaring over the water tower in the cold dawn light before heading off seawards. Bonus unexpected garden fly-over!
Now the rules state you can only have sight ticks - so how am I going to get Redwings when all I expect to 'see' of them is the 'sseeeeppp' as they fly over at night and most mornings I have heard a Mistle Thrush singing not far away but will I get to see it from the garden before the month is out?
Those pesky feral Pigeons are a nightmare! I'm not sure if someone has a bone-fide loft of if they are just feathered 'rats' that live on the roof of a neighbour's house. Either way they are a right royal nuisance. One of them is 'scout' pigeon and as soon as I put anything on our bird table he seems to be flying round, spots it and goes back to tell his 30 or so mates who then descend on the bird table like Vultures at a carcass on the Serengeti. So as often as not the bird table is sadly bare. Fortunately they don't like to drop right into the garden so seed can be scattered amongst the flowerbeds and shrubs for the 'nicer', 'better mannered' species.
Where to next? Who knows...where the wind blows us I guess.
In the meantime let us know what have you fluked in you garden outback.

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