The Birds In The Garden And Everywhere Else Thread

[K23]

Saw my first swallow of the year yesterday afternoon while driving home across the Levels and then another couple this morning. Would normally expect them back a few weeks earlier though, last week of March/first week of April sort of time. Maybe this chilly spell has delayed them. Have they arrived back in S Wales yet?

 

[Longlostjack]

Saw my first swallow of the year yesterday afternoon while driving home across the Levels and then another couple this morning. Would normally expect them back a few weeks earlier though, last week of March/first week of April sorry if time. Maybe this chilly spell has delayed them. Have they arrived back in S Wales yet?

The Swallows who nest in the local car wash haven’t arrived yet. It’s been a cold April though. Finally warmed up a bit today in northern Germany.

 

[MajorR]

Saw my first swallow of the year yesterday afternoon while driving home across the Levels and then another couple this morning. Would normally expect them back a few weeks earlier though, last week of March/first week of April sort of time. Maybe this chilly spell has delayed them. Have they arrived back in S Wales yet?

Not seen any yet, we generally tend to get a few nesting up in eves of the house, but no sign of them so far.

 

[K23]

First ever UK sighting of a Black-Winged Kite is in mid-Wales.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1648262584506695685

I've seen these in Spain & Portugal and, like most birds of prey, they are nice to watch.

This one was only about a mile from Faro Airport.

 

[Squarebear]

These bloody birds don't help themselves.

Last year I stocked the feeder with fat balls, mealworms, niger seeds and nuts. But the constant food fights meant the garden was trashed, niger plants were growing on my lawn, the dog was getting tummy upsets from gobbling rancid fat, and the s0dding magpies were emptying the mealworm feeder inside an hour.

This year they're just getting nuts, and there's clearly resistance as I'm lucky to see one bird a week feeding.

 

[Muteswan]

Keep your heads down chicks.
An unusually dangerous place to nest I would think.

 

[Swanjaxs]

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/twitchers-flock-see-rare-hoopoe-26812335

 

[Darran]

https://twitter.com/marktakesphoto/status/1653691240502755330?s=61&t=8BnvJmDLISdr7hKzaW8FKg

 

[K23]

Spent most of the last week in Finland. What a beautiful country, fantastic scenery and sublime views everywhere you go and already planning to return next year but maybe a month or so later as I did get snowed on a few times and it didn't get above 10 degrees all the time I was there. Wildlife highlight was seeing a huge male Moose run across the road just in front of my car as I was driving. Absolutely enormous thing, thought it was a horse at first! :shock: :shock: Bird highlights as follows:-

Magnificent White-tailed Eagle, only ever seen one previously, on Isle of Mull, Scotland 4 or 5 years ago but saw about twelve in about an hour on the west coast of Finland.

A male Ruff

A male Parrot Crossbill in the garden of one of the places I stayed, well, forest really not garden.

Red-necked Grebe

Pied Flycatcher, you can see the snow falling in this pic

 

[Muteswan]

Fabulous photos.

 

[Darran]

At the stadium for the West Brom game.

 

[Swanjaxs]

https://twitter.com/jamesjpdrake/status/1642819336615149574?t=TU94oM0NF0wJqdVlEkiCbQ&s=19

 

[Swanjaxs]

View attachment Screenshot_20230515_184947_Samsung Internet.jpg

 

[Muteswan]

Screenshot_20230515_184947_Samsung Internet.jpg

Here’s his brother

 

[K23]

About 30 minutes ago in our front garden: