Not great pics but enjoyed a pair of Bull Finches on the lawn today … not common visitors here. Happy to also hear my first Cuckoo of this year !
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Out in Biebrza National Park, Eastern Poland, at the weekend. A bad time for birders though. The area is (usually) a boggy wetland brimming with migratory birds in early Spring. Usually a fabulous place for bird watchers who come from all over Europe.
But, the last few years has been a period of serious drought. So dry that there was a major fire there recently.
So, no water… means no insects, bugs, frogs… means buqqer all birds.
Got a couple of snaps, but low quality - the birds were just too far away.
I think I know what the first bird is. But the second (yes, I know, bad photo) is difficult for me to check - maybe someone can enlighten me ?
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Thanks @DanielH, memories of my time working in US, mostly Minnesota and weekends birding around Great Lakes.
They are so similar and must be ancestrally related to Eurasian birds, Goldcrest (Kinglet) and Great & Coal Tits (Chickadee)
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When we lived in Michigan we got the surprise of our life when a hummingbird started feeding on some flowers on our deck. Had not realised they could survive that far north.
The first Swifts ! and its only 29th April !!!
A pair flying around the village and that distictive scream of summer.
Not sure if they’re passing thru migrants or residents, I suspect migrants as I’ve never heard Swifts in my village before May, normally the residents (constantly flying around) arrive around 1st week May.
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In the second picture, the white under-wing confused me (novice) at first. Now i realise it’s obviously a female Mallard.
In the first picture, pretty sure it’s a Great Grey Shrike.
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First encounter
..with a curious Sora. A “fairly small rail found in marshes with grasses or reeds; generally shy but often seen foraging at the edge of shallow water.”
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Blue and Grey
In the middle of a grey day, a Great Blue Heron stands patiently in the shallows awaiting his lunch.
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The dark head, light brown stripe over the eye and on the cheek, it’s a Redwing. see pic.
When and where did you photo, they seem to becoming more established as breeding residence in UK/Ire , they are in Scotland, but spreading further
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I’m in Toronto, Canada. The Red Wing is not native to Canada but is appearing all across Canada especially in the Eastern and Western provinces.
Merlin picked up a Redwing on Sunday. Given the time of year and that we were on the Mendips in Somerset I assumed it was a misidentification but maybe they are spreading. We often see them here in the winter months.
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Speak for yourself!