Birdwatchers, Birders, Twitchers or Ornithologists?

[Stuart]

I was just wondering if anyone else on the boards spent anytime admiring our fine feathered avian friends (or other animals), alongside getting their daily fix of this delightful plastic habit.

If so seen anything interesting lately?

[iggie]

I don't think this is a bird really, but...

[Crashpilot]

I do occasionally birdwatch. Just this summer, I was watching bee-eaters, a bird that profits from the climate change. It used to be found only in the warmest areas of Germany, but they´re wandering more and more to the north of Germany, and now they even started breeding just a couple of miles from where I live. They are colourful birds, very unusual for birds you else find in middle/ northern Europe.
Next year, I want to go watch some great bustards, they´re about the rarest bird of Germany (I read that they got extinct in the UK, but they started a
reintroduction project recently).

[DavidWomby]

Leaving a tree in our backyard in Nova Scotia. We see these and ospreys every day there.



David

[Stuart]

I don't think this is a bird really, but...

Grey Squirrel?

That's cool - I saw 5 Red ones yesterday, doing pretty much the same thing.

I do occasionally birdwatch. Just this summer, I was watching bee-eaters, a bird that profits from the climate change. It used to be found only in the warmest areas of Germany, but they´re wandering more and more to the north of Germany, and now they even started breeding just a couple of miles from where I live. They are colourful birds, very unusual for birds you else find in middle/ northern Europe.
Next year, I want to go watch some great bustards, they´re about the rarest bird of Germany (I read that they got extinct in the UK, but they started a
reintroduction project recently).

That's cool Markus. I'd absolutely love to see a Bee-eater, but they're seriously rare here in the UK. WE do indeed have some great Bustards, although like you said, extremely rare - they've actually re-introduced them around Salisbury plain, owned by the MOD, where the army does a lot of it's training.

Being on the coast we get some quite rare birds around here, like Choughs, which we saw about 30 of last week, all in a flock.

Bee-Eaters would be nice though...

[Stuart]

Leaving a tree in our backyard in Nova Scotia. We see these and ospreys every day there.



David

Now that's an awesome sight David!

We do get Ospreys around here, although they're pretty rare. There's a reservoir near me with a pair on that raised a couple of chicks. We've been watching them off and on over the Summer, but they've bogged off south now.

[PaulBradley]

Not a bird watcher per se, but I do keep an eye open for them. We get a nice variety in the backyard. The hummingbirds will soon be leaving us southwards for the winter.

[fireblade]

We took up birding after the kids had fled our own nest, although I started to get interested some years prior when on holiday in Bideford. We had an apartment by the riverside and I was fascinated by a curlew that appeared every low tide and spent its time going back and forth, probing for a meal. Now I find that bliss is sitting in a bird hide overlooking a stretch of water or heathland, a perfect way to destress.

[Stuart]

Not a bird watcher per se, but I do keep an eye open for them. We get a nice variety in the backyard. The hummingbirds will soon be leaving us southwards for the winter.

That's good Paul, you're a lucky man getting Hummingbirds in your garden - I'd love to see some of those!

We took up birding after the kids had fled our own nest, although I started to get interested some years prior when on holiday in Bideford. We had an apartment by the riverside and I was fascinated by a curlew that appeared every low tide and spent its time going back and forth, probing for a meal. Now I find that bliss is sitting in a bird hide overlooking a stretch of water or heathland, a perfect way to destress.

A man after my own heart!

I love Curlews (and that's a nice photo), we saw quite a few of them at RSPB Conwy today, along some Oystercatchers and a big stack of Red Shanks that have only just turned up. We get a nice lot of Waders around here, as they quite like the mud around the mouth of the River Conwy, it's really nice seeing them come back for the winter.

I do like wandering around with my Bins - Bliss indeed