The Birdwatchers Thread

[Hill Wimp]

I'm new to this hobby that i am combining with my cycling. After a recent trip to the Somerset Levels on holiday and the purchase of a pair of binoculars that cost the price of a Rapha cycle jersey i am now well and truly addicted.

I have found my local hide that i call into on every ride and have a couple of fabulous days out with birding friends ticking off loads of birds in my RSPB book.

Yesterday i went to the nature reserve at Rye Harbour where i saw just under 50 types of birds including Curlew, Avocet, Ruff and Sandpipers just to name a few.

So any others out there smitten with watvhing our feathered friends whilst out cycling?

 

[Tail End Charlie]

Yes I like looking at and especially listening to birds. It adds to the ride's enjoyment. I'm not a list ticker though. Beware, it does get addictive, the bird seed for my back garden costs a fortune. I actually love watching the activities of common birds, although it's amazing what turns up in suburbia.
@nickyboy is the northern bird correspondent, I think - his knowledge is encyclopaedic.

 

[Hill Wimp]

I have two cats so encouraging birds into the garden is not fair in my opinion so i don't have the expense of bird feed. They have already managed to bring a fledgling in from somewhere this week to add to the mouse population they seem to be culling. The next expense for me will be the camera that i get. I have made a rule that if i cannot get what i need on the bike then i am not buying it, and i am not filling my panniers up either

 

[Levo-Lon]

Ive always been a keen birder on the always keep an eye out for rare visitors..
great hobby But you will be visiting the optics outlets..as whatever you bought for viewing wont be good enough lol..
i had a look through a RSPB guys single viewer thingy in Wales at some fledgling Peregrine Falcons that were half a mile away..absolutely stunning clarity,you could touch them..my binoculars seem like a freebie from a jamboree bag
A Vet friend who always moans about money worries travels the world doing Big year type things..
he takes some lovely photos..for a peasant with no money

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I can heartily recommend "How to be a Bad Birdwatcher" by Simon Barnes. Not all about birdwatching and very funny with it. It's what got me into the hobby.
And here's my little friend from my allotment. He turned up a couple of weeks ago and was very friendly from the start. I've got to the stage where he'll take food from my hand. He loves the little wire worms, I spend half my time down there searching for them now.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I usually get a friendly Robin or Blackbird when digging up laws..there so cheeky..look at you as if to say come on we need worms!!

 

[Turdus philomelos]

I love all 'budgies' (collective pet name for all wild birds) including the juvenile delinquent crows that are marauding about here parts.

 

[Rezillo]

Our garden is regularly being gone over by a family of green woodpeckers at the moment. They are not quiet birds. When they fledged in a tree next door, the racket was something else.

 

[Hill Wimp]

I popped into the local hide earlier. Once again I can hear the bittern but the little skulkers is nowhere to be seen. I scanned all the reed beds to no avail.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I popped into the local hide earlier. Once again I can hear the bittern but the little skulkers is nowhere to be seen. I scanned all the reed beds to no avail.

there probably the hardest bird to spot, but you never know..

 

[Dave 123]

There were a few yellowhammers on our ride today, they were pleased about something. Singing their little hearts out!

 

[Hill Wimp]

Spotted a couple of goldfinches on the ride home today and it looks like the fox has had the last of the cygnets at the local nature reserve

 

[coffeejo]

Nesting season is definitely over. I've only refilled the bird feeders in my garden a couple of times this week. I was doing them daily.

 

[hopless500]

Lots of greenfinch and house sparrows about. Some wren fledglings too. Didn't realise they had set up home in a dead hanging planter

 

[Rezillo]

there probably the hardest bird to spot, but you never know..

They don't exist. It's just an RSPB warden sitting somewhere in the reeds blowing over the top of an old milk bottle.