I just saw...

[Arch]

a flock of these in the tree opposite my flat.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/waxwing/index.asp

Never seen one before. Pretty little things. There were about 7 or 8, they hung around for a while and then disappeared.

A bit of an improvement on the normal pigeons. Although I had a collared dove briefly sitting on my window box earlier too...

 

[yello]

Seems like you were lucky Arch. They're not usually visitors to your neck of the woods this time of year.

One of the cool things about living where I do is that we get quite a few migratory birds. The stork (or grue as it's known here) especially is an impressive sight to see as they pass over head in their hundreds. Locals mark the seasons by them!

Anyway, I saw one of these impressive looking chappies yesterday...

...it's a hoopoe

 

[Globalti]

We have a pair of tits nesting outside our window.

Where's Fnaar when you need him?

 

[magnatom]

Funny that, we saw them outside our house a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if they are the same bunch! There were a few berry bushes near us and they hung around for a few days stripping them of their berries.

We reckoned there were about 12 of them. They left an awful mess on the street light they seemed to favour!

I got some pics, but at the rate I upload them, it will be Christmas 2010 before they are online!

 

[Maz]

Pretty bird, that. It's amazing when you see stuff like that.

I saw a bird of prey pecking away at a pigeon it'd killed at the bottom of the garden recently. I tried to get close to it, but it took the pigeon in its claws and flew off.

 

[bonj2]

I saw an albatross the other day.

 

[yello]

I saw an albatross the other day.

Probably around your neck!

 

[Aperitif]

...or bonj was riding his ancient Marin.....er...

 

[Arch]

Seems like you were lucky Arch. They're not usually visitors to your neck of the woods this time of year.

Yeah, I had to look it up online to be sure, my rather limited bird book gave the impression that it was unlikely, but there was nothig else quite looked the same.

Anyway, I saw one of these impressive looking chappies yesterday...

...it's a hoopoe

Cool I saw one once, really exotic looking. There are three hoopoes in In the Night Garden, along with a toucan, and some other stuff I can't identify. They sing in chorus to announce the end of each show (my nephew is keen on it - I must teach him to say hoopoe!)

 

[Dayvo]

...or bonj was riding his ancient Marin.....er...

He was just doing it for a lark!

I saw one of these close up last week: they're much bigger than they look in flight.

 

[Dayvo]

Anyway, I saw one of these impressive looking chappies yesterday...

...it's a hoopoe

Funny, I remember seeing these years ago when I was in Israel; haven't seen them since anywhere.