Ship of Fools: Feeling a bit twitchy

Thread: Feeling a bit twitchy Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :

As I get older, I find myself becoming interested in things which formerly only my Mum liked, as far as I was aware.

Canoeing up the Manchester Ship Canal with my kids this week (or rather its major tributary the R. Irwell, since apparently canoeing on the MSC proper still gets you arrested) we dodged the largely inorganic detritus which still sits in its depths - shopping trolleys etc which the scrap men with their grappling irons (true!) have yet to fish out.

We broached the muddy reaches of the lower Medlock, formerly an open industrial sewer which is probably cleaner now thanks to the total demise of industry in our city, than it has been since long before my ship-avatar-namesake was jumping into it to save people from drowning. (He died of TB contracted during his last rescue, it is said).

We passed pigeons (here we go, Mum), Ducks, lots of Swans, the odd submarine-like Cormorant, a Heron took off right in front of us - and then - a Kingfisher! We were just to one side of a large Victorian railway viaduct, the river in a deep semi-derelict cutting lined with broken-up brickwork, with silty shallow water.

Is seeing one of these as unusual as I seem to think it is? I bigged it up to the kids considerably - it was a helpful distraction as the youngest, in the front, was still drying tears after my attempt to insert us (well her) between a pair of extremely tall, dodgy-looking derelict lock gates which looked like they might start champing on us like something out of Greek myth [Smile]

Posted by Drifting Star (# 12799) on :

I'm a lazy birdwatcher (I don't often go actively birdwatching, but always pay a great deal of attention to what's around) and I have only once seen a kingfisher, so yes, I think it is quite rare.

Congratulations! That sudden flash of turquoise is wonderful - fix the image in your memory.

Posted by marzipan (# 9442) on :

Apparently they're quite rare, more common in southern England than the north. The only place I remember seeing them is in Norfolk but mostly I remember that they fly so fast it's hard to spot them!
I love herons, there's loads around here because of all the muddy estuaries and also some egrets.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

Out here we have Kingfishers galore [several varieties], very common to see them perched on power or other cables and the other morning on my early walk I came on one sitting on a pipe by a stream - spotting me he took off along the stream - gorgeous! Late last year we saw a Pied Kingfisher when at Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary near Mysore.

At Ranganthittu we also saw River Terns and Black-Headed Ibis and Pelicans and Spoonbills and all sorts. Sometime this year I want to head across country to Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary to see what they have to offer.

Locally we have loads of other stuff as well - it's brilliant!

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

Kingfishers are wonderful – you see them so rarely. They are said to be the only bird that goes between here and the Land of Faerie, so I regard them as a flash of luck when I see them.

About once a year there’s a grey heron that comes and hangs around on our business park. It’s usually camera-shy but a beautiful bird. One year there were two so I’m guessing it found itself a mate. It turns up in the spring for a few weeks then disappears for the rest of the year, I’ve never found out where it goes for the rest of the time.

If you haven’t seen a heron fly it’s quite a sight – they look seriously prehistoric.

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

Kingfishers are rare, but I have seen one on the canal through Nottingham. It made my morning.

My parents had fish in a pond in their garden which various wildlife used as source of food. They weren't willing to encourage the heron, but were in two minds about the kingfisher even as it sat so close to the house taking fish nearly as big as itself.

Posted by M. (# 3291) on :

In Malmesbury a few weeks ago, walking along the river, we saw the flash of turquoise. We stopped and the kingfisher obligingly landed on a nearby tree - no more than 10 feet away - and showed us its tawny front before it turned around to show us its back.

We scarcely dared breath! It's the first time I've seen a kingfisher in the UK, previously only seen them abroad.

M.

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

We have a kingfisher in the local brook but I've never seen it. I once saw one on the canal in Bath.
I've seen the egret which has recently moved in our brook and herons are a common sight here, being near to Norfolk. They nest locally and we regularly see one strutting along the roofs in our street. My favourite local bird is the green woodpecker who lives in the school grounds, he has a wonderful undulating flight.

Posted by Brenda Clough (# 18061) on :

Vision difficulties make birdwatching dicey for me, but I have found a cheat: the window-pane-mounted bird feeder. It clings to the glass with suction cups. Loaded with shelled sunflower seed, it attracts birds to within arm's length, through the glass of course. I can see the birds from my desk as I type.

Posted by Sarasa (# 12271) on :

I saw a kingfisher in the London Borough of Sutton about fifteen years ago, and saw a few along the canals as a child. (My dad started using canals back int he early sixties when a lot were semi derilcit. Mark in Manachster, your descprction brought back memeories, down to including being freaked out by derelict boathouses, locks and sunken boats).
Much as I like the look of herons, I'm not sure I've forgiven them for eating my goldfish in my previious house. My son spotted them doing it, including Voldermort, the big and tough, wriggling out of a beak. He survived, though he bore the scars.

Posted by Jonah the Whale (# 1244) on :

quote:
We passed pigeons (here we go, Mum), Ducks, lots of Swans, the odd submarine-like Cormorant, a Heron took off right in front of us

Living in a rather watery place I see all of these whenever I cycle to work, without seeking them out. But a kingfisher? That is really special. I saw one a few weeks ago for about two seconds, and about 15 years back I caught a flash of turquoise when I was camping near Bath. But then I had heard they were around and was really looking. I think they are pretty rare, but also very timid which makes them even harder to spot, despite the brilliant plumage.

Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :

I've seen kingfishers on the Wye a few times, but then we are in an area of Special Scientific Interest. We also see dippers quite frequently.

Posted by Bene Gesserit (# 14718) on :

I've seen a few kingfishers over the years - including one on the Severn in Worcester that really didn't care about the people watching and just got on with what it was doing.

My other favourite 'spots' have been a Dartford warbler and nightjars in Dorset some years ago. Nightjars are weird and amazing.

Posted by Curiosity killed ... (# 11770) on :

I haven't seen a nightjar, but I heard one every night for a week on my cycle home from work - such a bizarre sound, nothing else sounds quite like it. The same ride included a couple of turtle dove nests and occasionally I disturbed a little owl.

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

We used to get bank voles and shrews in the marsh land that adjoins our garden. We had pheasants and nesting mallards in the spring, and a few hedgehogs; there was also a healthy group of nightingales.

However, a local nature 'conservation' body has taken over responsibility for the land with catastrophic results: it has reverted to scrub, with dense thickets of brambles, nettles, etc (I'm talking over 7 foot tall here) and as a result there is virtually no life apart from pigeons and insects.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

We occasionally get Black Headed Orioles in the garden and despite the brilliant plumage they are really difficult to spot and so far I've found them impossible to photograph except as a yellow smudge!

When we lived in a rented house in masses of land in the city we had a pair of Paradise Flycatchers in the garden - the sort with the long white tail on the male - Magnificent! There is nearly a minute on Youtube here. Not done by me, I hasten to add.

Posted by Latchkey Kid (# 12444) on :

Kookaburras are ?conspecific kingfishers, but I don't think they catch fish.
There are a couple of bridges we go over near our house and from time to time we see azure kingfishers flashing in and out of under the bridge.

Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :

Apart from kookaburras which are commonly seen in Australia I have only seen other types of kingfisher a couple of time. My family are not exactly serious bird watchers, but we like to spot them when we go for a walk.

This year we had a family weekend in a town called Marysville and were really excited to spot a lyrebird. I have only seen them in the wild two or three times before. Even more exciting was that it was a male and performed it's mating song and dance right near us. Lyrebirds copy the songs of every bird around them and also other sounds they here. This one made various parrot and kookaburra sounds, Australian magpie and currawong songs as well as the song of a European blackbird (they are a common introduced species here). It also made a mechanical sound that we couldn't place at first, but eventually decided was probably the sound of a camera, but one from a while ago. I googled to find out a lyrebird can live for up to 30 years, so it might have been from listening to older style cameras in its youth.

Here is a lyre bird performing to give you an idea. Sounds like this one might have heard some cameras too. It is even more amazing in real life. It's song is so loud and clear.

Posted by Ariel (# 58) on :

quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
We used to get bank voles and shrews in the marsh land that adjoins our garden.

I went for a walk earlier this spring down a lane by a stream and got talking to a local who invited me into his back garden to see the water voles living on the bank of the stream at the side of it. There was a thriving colony.

Because of this he's had to apply for a permit which will cost about £100 from the conservation people in order to be allowed to repair his own garden fence, then pay for the cost of the fencing on top of that if they agree to let him have a permit for repairs.

He was quite nice about it but I could tell he wasn't entirely delighted about having the water voles as neighbours. Especially as in periods of heavy rain and the stream flooding, they come up into the garden and try to get into the house.

Posted by Lothlorien (# 4927) on :

Mili, we had lyrebirds on forty acres of bush at Wollombi, south of Cessnock. Many other birds including masses of tiny finches but the memory of the lyre birds is with me.

They imitated many sounds. I was woken one morning to what sounded like a large truck changing gear outside the window. A lyrebird.

Another time I could hear a chainsaw being started. Over and over again. Then I realised it was one of our saws, the hard to start one. The bird had it just right. Half a dozen attempts then it would roar into life.

Kookaburras, cockatoos, big black parrots and more.

Young grandson made a great kookaburra the other day in a small group at school. The beak was the yellow seat from his bike which he had trashed a few weeks before when he hit a rock. It worked well.

I'll just get me coat.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

Mili, I think that lyre bird has been playing Space Invaders! What an amazing mimic, I loved that link, thanks.

Posted by Moo (# 107) on :

I have heard of mockingbirds imitating car alarms in New York City.

Moo

Posted by Sioni Sais (# 5713) on :

A pub in Chippenham had a Mynah that could mimic 1970's telephone ring tones, car horns and early car alarms. What fun it would have nowadays with mobile phone tones.

The rarest sight in our garden was in Cyprus where a regular in our "garden" was a male Hoopoe. My Dad spotted it, researched its diet and it visited daily for a couple of months.

Posted by Oscar the Grouch (# 1916) on :

True story from some years ago...

Hoopoes are infrequent visitors to the UK in summer months. But to see one in February is really REALLY rare. Mrs Grouch and I went out for a walk in the local nature reserve. As we got out of the car, we noticed that the car park was full (strange for a grey day in February) and that there were loads of serious twitchers lurking about with huge spotting scopes and cameras. We ignored them and began our stroll around the pond.

About 100 yards into our walk, we bumped into a couple walking their dog. We asked them if they knew why the twitchers were out in force. "I hear there's a rare bird somewhere in the area." replied one of the couple. "I think it is a hoopoe - but I have no idea what it looks like."

Fortunately, I did have an idea, so I began to describe the hoopoe - long curved beak, very large crest etc etc. "Oh!" said Mrs Grouch. "you mean something like that bird over there?"

About 10 feet away, huddled in a bush, was the bloody hoopoe! We could almost reach out and touch it. But what was worse (for the massed rank of twitchers in the car park) was that we were standing directly between them and the hoopoe. We stood still for a few moments whilst we looked at this incredibly rare sight. Then, just as we thought we should move to allow the twitchers a clear shot, the hoopoe flew off.

The last we saw of it, it was flying over the neighbouring field, being chased by a bunch of desperate twitchers, lugging their equipment with them as they struggled to climb over fences and still keep sight of their prey.

I wish I could say that we felt sorry for them.

Posted by Eigon (# 4917) on :

Gosh, if I had water voles at the bottom of the garden, I'd be encouraging them to come up to the house! Never mind the fence!

Posted by Heavenly Anarchist (# 13313) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Mili, I think that lyre bird has been playing Space Invaders! What an amazing mimic, I loved that link, thanks.

My 11 year old suggested Star Wars, he thinks he heard R2D2 in there as well as shooting [Smile]

Posted by Mili (# 3254) on :

They do sound like computer game or movie sound effects. I just can't think where a lyre bird would here those though! I guess you never know.

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :

Been meaning to drop in here for a little while. At the moment we are lucky enough to live on the edge of a huge watermeadow that attracts tens of thousands of migrant birds (bloody immigrants!) in winter so almost on our doorstep we have golden plover, godwits, ducks of myriad sorts... There's even been a white stork and a glossy ibis, though I saw neither.

This morning I took the river to work, and put up a heron at the lock - he must have been lurking about six feet away behind a small bush. Haven't seen a kingfisher in a while, but someone saw our local one yesterday, so all is well.

While I'm interested in birds, I'm always amused by the way that the likelihood of twitchers being excited by a bird is directly related to how close it gets to being a little brown job. The more LBJ it is, they more excited they seem to be.

AG

[ 07. August 2015, 11:36: Message edited by: Sandemaniac ]

Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :

While it's not birds, it's wildlife so I figure it's close enough.

Last night we were at a Belgian Beer night, and were cycling back when I decided to investigate something I'd spotted the previous day, then take the towpath back. In the half light I caught a glimpse of a creature scurrying along the edge of the water.

We got the Mother Knotweed out today to investigate and found enough signs on the bank to be pretty sure that we had seen a water vole!

There were lots there when I moved in fifteen years ago but between mink and disturbance by bridge works, they'd disappeared within a couple of years, so I'm delighted to see them back!

AG

Posted by Lamb Chopped (# 5528) on :

We had an American eagle sitting on the bedroom roof, staring down into the koi pond. I sat at the computer watching him and hoping he wouldn't realize just how easily he could shear through the netting with that beak. (He didn't.)

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

[Hot and Hormonal]

I've lived here about 18 years and we have many crows and it is only this very week that I have discovered we have two distinct varieties - I'd always assumed that the ones with the slightly grey neck were the juveniles of the all black ones.

Wrong as a wrong thing!

The grey necked are House Crows and the all black ones are Jungle Crows. They seem to co-exist quite peacefully.

Posted by Huia (# 3473) on :

We have a pair of paradise ducks that hang out on the roof of our church and the church across the road. Sometimes they make quite a din during the service, but it's good to see them back again this year.

Posted by Welease Woderwick (# 10424) on :

What a gorgeous looking duck, I love the colouring on the plumage.

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