5 replies to this topic

[Fil]

This is a great time of year for spotting birds. This morning the university pond has loads of house martens, small with their flashes ofwhite, and swifts, large and brown with a hideous call, flitting around catching their breakfast. We don't see many swallows around here though, although it is exciting to catch a glimpse of a kingfisher. We wake every morning to a dawn chorus of blackbirds and bulbul, even though we are well in the city. We are looking forward to seeing great flocks of storks passing over. What are the birds like down your way?

[Abi]

As you say Fil now is the time to see the summer birds come back. At night I hear a lot of birds singing I think they must be nightingales and one bird don't know what it is makes a very shrill one note whistle. When I mow the grass I usually have a hoopoe bird follow me around the garden eating whatever is disturbed as I cut the grass. I have also seen a black stork fly over the house, and last week I heard a cuckoo for the first time this year.

[Fil]

ooh I've never heard a cuckoo in my life, you're lucky. Once in 'the village' near Gebze I saw a golden oriole, great big yellow bird with a ghostly whoo sound. Do you get them?

[Abi]

Sorry to say I have never seen one if they are up here. I had a look at a photo just now and the male is beautiful, never mind. one day I may see one.

[sunny]

We've got swallows here and there are some Great Tits nesting in a hollow bit of a olive tree in my neighbours garden. Most days a blackbird come to have a bath or a drink in the pool left by the mini waterfall going to our fish pond.
For some reason we don't see storks here but we do get bee eaters and sometimes hoopoe and jays and blue jays and of course lots of sparrows and magpies.
There are crested larks and what I think are coal tits plus wag tails.
I haven't heard any nightingales but we do have owls.

[[one bird don't know what it is makes a very shrill one note whistle. ]]
That's the night watchman from the nearest site blowing his whistle Abi!

[Abi]

I'd love to see a bee eater as they look so beautiful.

I had forgotten you have night watchman down there Sunny, it wish it was, this damm bird sits on a branch right outside my bedroom window and is driving me made at the moment, still in a couple of weeks I will have got used to it and won't hear it.