Birdlife

Loads of birds down by the Dearne near Wilthorpe, Tinker's Pond area. A pair of swans with the female on the nest. Various ducks, geese, moorhen, coot, but also 2 ring necked parakeet, kingfisher, reed bunting, reed warblers, little egret, heron, Sandpipers, little ringed plover. Plus walk along the river and there are grey wagtail, pied wagtail, chiffchaff, blackcap, etc etc.

It's been great exploring that area over the last few weeks.

 

sorry meant to add this in my thread earlier

https://www.peakcottages.com/cottages/allmore-cottage?pl=1


as I said its wonderful

 

I live a mile from Worsbro Res but also just a mile from the town centre, on a busy suburban road. But I'm lucky enough over the years to have logged 34 different species in my garden, feeding or resting, including a family of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Sparrowhawk, Grey Heron and even a Pheasant. And on one memorable day a flock of Waxwings.

Strangely although being equidistant from Tarn and Country, I get my fair share of Woodpigeons and Collared Doves but never Feral Pigeons.

 

Seen the parakeets a few times at Smithies pond

 

I love feeding the birds and am quite happy for any to eat in our garden. They tend to feed on their personal preference, at various levels (outhouse rooftop, bird table, low level feeding shelf). For example, the blackbirds & robins love the meal worms, finches and tits prefer the nuts and the others are content with the various seeds.
I find watching the birds feeding, coming and going very therapeutic.

 

If you don't already, just make sure you soak the mealworms if they aren't fresh because if they are feeding their young with them they can get stuck in the fledgling throats

 

the Virus is a terrible thing but the evironment is certainly benefitting from it, and across the globe at that. Ann found some photo's from space showing pollution before the outbreak. and then some a month or so into the pandemic. The improvement is striking, and in quite a short period too.

 

Small songbirds seem to be on the up over the last few years after taking a hit due to the increase in magpies crows ect, however house sparrows and starlings are a lot rarer due to them losing a lot of their old nest sites

 

I live in Ward Green so I'm only a 10 minute walk away from Worsbro res'. We don't appreciate what we have on our doorstep sometimes. Although the lockdown is terrible in many ways it has given me the opportunity and time to enjoy the local countryside.

I had a visit in my garden from a sparrowhawk recently which was fantastic for me but not for the poor blackbird .

 

I saw a Green Finch the other day for the first time. Lovely plumage. Are they rare?

 

not rare but quite elusive.

 

Does that mean that they try their best to keep away from humans. Would you see them more in the countryside?

 

Tree & house sparrows have declined alarmingly in recent years, think I've only seen 2 Tree Sparrows in the last 15yrs.

 

Saw a Spoonbill at Darfield ings about 5/6 years ago.

 

Mi Mam n Dad used to have a feeder, saw quite a few Greenfinches & loads of Goldfinches.

 

yes, a better chance away from towns and villages etc.

 

I’m in rural north Norfolk which birders will know is probably the best area in the country for birds. Been in this particular house for 3 years and during that time the “garden list”, ie birds seen in, over or from the garden stands at 81, this year’s list hit 60 with a sighting of a kingfisher yesterday. Best birds on the list are Ring Ouzel, Great White Egret and Hen Harrier. I had a couple of birder friends visit when we first moved here, it was early January and they were keen to add Barn Owl to their year list so approaching dusk we went outside. Within 5 minutes we’d had 5 species of raptor, Barn Owl, Buzzard, Red Kite, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel! I bloody love living here.

 

Seen on 2 occasions, Red kite over towards Monk Bretton area.

 

When this all over I would recommend Blacktoft sands There's loads of different species from Cetti's Warbler to Montague's Harriers.

 

Monty’s was on the garden list at my last house, would love to get a Cettis - what a call!