Your favourite bird

[Over The Hill]

Housemartin. Serious, I love watching them, some nests on back of our house.

Fnaar - are you taking a day off?

 

[laurence]

Personally I love the little robins, where do they go in summer??

like a lot of birds, they moult after the breeding season. this leaves them vulnerable as they can't fly, so they skulg in heavy vegetation and don't make much noise. it's why you'll see lots of shabby ducks on lakes at this time of year - the youngsters can't fly yet and the adults have lost the ability for now, so they stay as safe as they can.

 

[Fnaar]

Fnaar - are you taking a day off?

I refer the right honourable gentleman to post #58

 

[swee'pea99]

The, sadly, critically endangered kakapo. So low in numbers that the known ones all have names.

I'm very sorry to hear that. It wasn't that way not that long ago. I was told a lovely story about them once by a guy who was a trapper, working the Southern fiordlands thru' the winter, when.....

He was in one of the very crude forestry huts they used to have in all the outback places back in the day, lying on the bed, and suddenly over his head he hears thock. Then a succession: thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock. He's just thinking what the hell is making that noise, when suddenly there's a great SSSSCCCCHHHHHWOOOOOOSH! followed by silence. Weird, he thinks, but that seems to be that, and he settles back down. Then he hears thock - and the whole thing is repeated, exactly like the first time: thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, thock, .......SSSSCCCCHHHHHWOOOOOOSH! When happens a third time, he decides to investigate, so he very gingerly eases the door open and goes outside, and....a kakopo flies down and lands on the apex of the sloped corrugated iron roof: thock. Down comes another, and another, and another, till there's maybe a dozen of them, lined up along the roof ridge. Then as if in response to a 1, 2, 3, the entire line of birds launches off the ridge, slides down the roof, off the edge, and flies away, before coming round for another go. Clearly doing it purely for the craic.

 

[Panter]

I couldn't just pick one, but if forced to, it would have to be the Raven.
Stunningly beautiful (in their own way) and fiercely intelligent.

 

[Alex H]

uninjured?

As you can see it's a young one - they were nesting in the top of our barn. It was probably asleep hanging on the gate due to the effort of trying to get off. By the time I picked it up, (with gloves!) it decided to wake up and I put it on the lawn. It hopped about a bit then flew off, no doubt returning later

 

[Over The Hill]

I refer the right honourable gentleman to post #58

We are up to post #72 and not even a picture of Nigella Lawson!

 

[luckyfox]

like a lot of birds, they moult after the breeding season. this leaves them vulnerable as they can't fly, so they skulg in heavy vegetation and don't make much noise. it's why you'll see lots of shabby ducks on lakes at this time of year - the youngsters can't fly yet and the adults have lost the ability for now, so they stay as safe as they can.

Thank you, poor little guys.

 

[Brandane]

 

[Rezillo]

That's Mrs Marmion's fave bird.

If Mrs Marmion is ever in the Scillies, she needs to go on the Western Rocks boat trip. Puffins (and much else) galore - I took that photo there last month. Two hours of touring the rocks, then you're dropped off at St Agnes, then back to St Marys later, all for 13 quid.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Mrs Marmion has been looking after a baby swallow which fell out of a nest in her stable (she doesn't live in the stable, her horse does, just in case you were wondering...) and fell into a water bucket. She had thought the yard cat would get it but it has survived and took it's first flight this morning - and got tangled up in long grass. So Mrs Marmion decided to give it a helping hand and untangle it, and as she gets to within one pace away up springs the aforementioned yard cat and grabs the wee bird in it's mouth. Mrs Marmion managed to retrieve the bird by grabbing the cat round the scruff and she spat it out, and the bird is now back in the barn in a feed bucket with some straw - hopefully the bird will realise it's not quite ready for the outside world yet! But I reckon Splodge the cat might have it soon.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

like a lot of birds, they moult after the breeding season. this leaves them vulnerable as they can't fly, so they skulg in heavy vegetation and don't make much noise. it's why you'll see lots of shabby ducks on lakes at this time of year - the youngsters can't fly yet and the adults have lost the ability for now, so they stay as safe as they can.

What a load of nonsense, what Robins actually do is work in the International Christmas Card Industry for the duration!!

The Robin isn't really the symbol of Christmas, but thanks to mafia style corrals and the climate of fear and intimidation they have created, nobody ever questions them!!

 

[nappadang]

As you can see it's a young one - they were nesting in the top of our barn. It was probably asleep hanging on the gate due to the effort of trying to get off. By the time I picked it up, (with gloves!) it decided to wake up and I put it on the lawn. It hopped about a bit then flew off, no doubt returning later

Brilliant, a happy ending!

 

[Piemaster]

Stephen Fry has met a kakapo. Not quite as intimately as the guy with him though.

 

[laurence]

What a load of nonsense, what Robins actually do is work in the International Christmas Card Industry for the duration!!

The Robin isn't really the symbol of Christmas, but thanks to mafia style corrals and the climate of fear and intimidation they have created, nobody ever questions them!!

shhhhhhhhhhh, that's the REAL answer, but i was trying to uphold the wholesome image - mainly as there is a robin watching me. if i don't post again, you know why.