garden birds

just to try something different. these are photos of birds taken in the back garden. they are not too common so can anyone name the species.

1;

2;

3;

4;

5;

6;

Nice shots Derek look

Nice pictures !

The "Bird Book" was on the table ... very a-propos Derek !

My guess (from looking at the pictures on the book) is :

1./ Goldcrest
2./ Redwing
3./ Redpolls ?
4./ Greenfinch (male on the right, female on the left)
5./ Female Bullfinch
6./ Male Bullfinch

But not a specialist at all ... is it right ?

From what I read, the Redpolls (if it's what it is in pic #3) are rare enough in Ireland. If it is the case, it's nice to have it in your garden

Valerie

1. Goldcrest.

2. Redwing

3. Redpole?

4. Greenfinch Male and Female.

6. Bullfinch.

No Book:whistle:


Kev

Great pic's derek and John my gardens the same

Had a seagull once


Mark

The reason for the no Book whistle comment is out of shame.

I used go Shooting with a Guy, I didn't shoot just tagged along because it was the only way to get out of the Concrete Jungle to see the Countryside, it entailed being up around 4 in the am and what you see before the Sun is up is/was amazing, all of the above would be on the ground in droves, picking over bugs and grain etc, with the quality of the Sight on a Rifle you could see them beautifully up close, it made me realise I could never go Shooting or cause such disruption to the beautiful silence of fields in Winter/Spring.

I was so fascinated with the range of birds and insects that it made me find out what these were.

Kev.

stretnik wrote:

No Book

Very good !

We don't have very many birds in our garden either ... the cats are just too much of a dissuasion !

Valerie

spot on valerie and kev. very impressed.
valerie. the lesser redpolls are becoming much more widespread recently and are now regular winter garden visitors, whereas the formally common greenfinch has become very scarce due to some virus. the only non resident, the redwing is a winter visitor from scandinavia.

Of all those species,we only have the greenfinch(very common)and the redpoll in NZ.The redpoll would be limited to a couple of localised populations,and I remember a big row between me and my brother when he claimed to have seen one,around about 1985ish.We have many of the European birds,they were introduced by the settlers,to remind them of home.

Acara wrote:

Of all those species,we only have the greenfinch(very common)and the redpoll in NZ.The redpoll would be limited to a couple of localised populations,and I remember a big row between me and my brother when he claimed to have seen one,around about 1985ish.We have many of the European birds,they were introduced by the settlers,to remind them of home.

hi dave, was'nt aware of that, but you do have plenty of native beauties such as the kiwi, kaka, kea, kereru and kakapo (all ks, any idea why this is?, maori names?) although most of the natives are endangered and seem destined for the same fate as the moa.
read recently of a fenced in wildlife refuge (to keep out introduced predators, cats, rats stoats etc.) in wellington called karori (k again) which used to be a water reservoir. as well as the k birds, there are tuatara, weka and moreparks. i intend to visit there sometime, maybe when i go to australia next year i;ll try to take in nz.

We have some amazing natives,and from what I'm hearing lately,a lot of species are doing quite well,surprisingly.They have suffered massively over the last couple of centuries due to the introduced predators,as you mentioned.The only mammals we had before Europeans arrived,1769,were a small rat,and a small dog(kuri)bought by the Maori from wherever they came from(even they can't quite agree on that one).As a result,a lot of species lost their flight capabilities,and were decimated by all the new rodents and ferret types.I read on a hunting forum,just 2 days ago,of kiwi being killed by packs of wild dog.I spent many a day,weekend,week,involved in pest destruction.Seems it's all paid off.
K is very common in the Maori language,there is no 'L' or 'S' in their language,but they feature prominately in the various Pacific Island lingo's.
A lot of plants,trees,birds,etc,were introduced by the settlers,to remind them of home.Every native species of plant or tree is evergreen.
Please talk to me long before you visit,as I can point you in some directions regarding fish,birds,sights,etc.My parents run a motel type business in a stunning spot,and if you like kai moana(kai=food,moana=sea/water)you'll love their place.Oysters about €15 for 4doz,mussels about €10 for a 25kg sack.Those prices are for fresh,ie still alive.That's if you want to pay,plenty of fishing.But seriously,I can give good advice for most of the country.Goes for all on here.

thanks dave, i will certainly seek your advice before venturing off but never eat shellfish so i hope there are other types of food or i'll starve lol.

on the bird front, saw a sparrowhawk chase and miss a goldfinch this morning but not for the first time failed to get picture. . a while ago i got several pics of a sparrowhawk perched on a tree a few gardens down but when i zoomed them in on pc they became pixellated and were unusable.
i know the daraghs, owens and sherwin and lampeye (fran) are accomplished bird photographers, are any other forum users interested in this very difficult recreation.

Have tried this as well - not very successfully. I have terrible trouble getting close-up shots unless the bird is actually very close!

It seems a lot of the birders use an adaptor to connect digital cameras to fixed focal-lenght spotting scopes.

I've some shots using a 300mm lens, but it does seem a difficult area alright.

(Saw three buzzards today doing a courtship flight - very impressive! Wish I'd had the bloody camera)

hi derek
Have a lot of finches and tits down here, the feeders are always full (some times i think I spend more feeding animals then on myself) .... Gunther the cat next door tends to get a swift kick up the AR** when visiting us... last year we had blackbirds and blue tits nesting in the garden along with the swallows who tend to nest along every spare inch of guttering and then try to divebomb you while your walking between the car and the front door.i dont take pictures myself but a neighbor does... i may try and "borrow" some of his...

Lar

cardinal wrote:

hi derek
Have a lot of finches and tits down here, Lar

yeah lar, i think i know one or two of the latter all right .

the visiting cats can be a nuisance all right, since my dog passed on i am plagued by cats trying to catch the feeding birds, still i suppose its only their hunting nature.
when i visited tim, there were skylarks and pipits, buntings and others in the blueberry orchard farm when me and tim were swiping some and also whooper swans and geese flying to roost nearby.
get a few pics from the neigbour and post them.

jim. where was it you saw the buzzards. it is a good time of year to see raptors as they are often less shy while concentrating on courtship behavior and display.

As a child in Gisborne,on NZ's East Coast,a very hot,dry coastal area,I use to love lying on the hillsides or in the fields listening to the skylarks and trying to spot them hovering miles overhead.We didn't have electric games back then,and you were only ever indoors when it rained.We would be found either up a hill,or in a river somewhere.We learnt a lot about what surrounds us,and the nature in the various habitats,and of course,none of us were obese.
Now I sit and watch it all on the telly,and the internet,and as a result,no longer have the lean frame I had then
I guess technology is not always a good thing.

derek wrote:

jim. where was it you saw the buzzards. it is a good time of year to see raptors as they are often less shy while concentrating on courtship behavior and display.

Hi Derek - saw them on the Kiteel Road - south out of Rathcoole. This is the third year I've seen Buzzards in the fields along this road at this time of year. They probably nest in the foresty on the hills around. There's a pair closer to you in Dublin - I'll PM you where it is as the nest would probably be easy to find based on where they display.