Sparrows?

We still have them here. See them all the time in my mum's garden.

We have loads! (And the occassional Sparrowhawk who comes after them)

We have House Sparrows, oddly not much in our garden but loads in the garden across the road. They don't seem to think about coming round the back so I'm going to set up a table specially for them in the front.

Loads of Tree Sparrows to the East of us but not many round here,just the odd isolated colony.

Went looking for Lesser peckers this morning and failed miserably, GSW and dipper were nice though.

Best Garden birds - Woodcock and (believe it or not) Great White Egret, both flyovers.

El Jarvo wrote: Does anyone ever see them anywhere in England these days, or are they just extinct in the South?

They were omnipresent when I was a kid. All you got in yer garden was sparras, more sparras, starlings and the odd blackbird.

I must've missed their demise in the South-East what with 20 years of flat-living in London.

Have had a garden for a year now out in the sticks, and I've yet to see one.

Dunnocks, are they the new sparra? A posh sparra for the South? We get facking loads of 'em ... and every time I see one I do a double-take thinking I might have a sparra in me garden ... but it's never the case, just another facking dunnock :(

loads up here Al,i even get the Red Kite birds circul over,and they are beautiful,must be after me rabbits..

Sparrows, Starlings, Jackdaws, Robins, Blackbirds, Finches, Jays, Thrushes, Blue Tits, Long-Tailed Tits and a Pied Wagtail...

Oh, and Doves/Pigeons...

(Must just be Snorbans! )

There is a Nuthatch in the bird box at the bottom of the garden - never seen one before and had to do research and everything to find out what it was.

We get a few sparrows, but mostly chaffinches, great tits, blackbirds, woodpigeon and a couple of collared doves.

Old Blue wrote: There is a Nuthatch in the bird box at the bottom of the garden - never seen one before and had to do research and everything to find out what it was.

Ooh you're lucky! Here's my rubbish pic of a nuthatch from this morning

Coaltits - blame it on the pits

BALDRICK wrote:

loads up here Al,i even get the Red Kite birds circul over,and they are beautiful,must be after me rabbits..

You'll have Osprey soon, arriving at Rutland next month.

Spuggies certainly don't seem to be as abundant as the used to be around here either,except in one long privat hedge that has a road on one side and a park on the other,near my gaff..I drive past it on my way to work and back everyday,slowly,trying not to kill them all as they bomb out of the hedge spooked by the car in a blind panic,especially on mornings...

Driving home off nightshift the other week I saw a Barn Owl in flight very close up,and it was magnificent..Our old fella was jealous as a bastard when I told him about it...He's a proper twitcher!

But then we all like the birds,don't we?

While we're at it,there is a noticable,if not massive increase in Magpies round here,as there are foxes,which ar'nt birds granted,but I was 25 before I saw a fox in the wild,and remember being utterly thrilled at seeing one in Great Ayton(Captain Cook country)Now we have them scavenging on Teesside steelworks,10 a penny..Unbelievable.

Lve in track housing, so the birds are limited to blue jays, chickadees, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and seasonly we get inundated with finches. Damn black ravens gobble everything up. Then of course, there are the annoying mockingbirds, noisiest birds with the ugliest voices.

My favorites, the roadrunner and quail have to be seen more towards the desert.

EdelBrock wrote: Lve in track housing

Boatraceface wrote:

Driving home off nightshift the other week I saw a Barn Owl in flight very close up,and it was magnificent..Our old fella was jealous as a bastard when I told him about it...He's a proper twitcher!

Since your work backs onto South Gare I would imagine you'll have some bloody good birds on site. Canyou walk round outside during a shift?

Ah well, in that case, they could be Dunnocks...

Next time I see what I think is a sparra, I'll take a photo of it and check - what's the easiest way to distinguish between them?

James Thomas wrote:

Boatraceface wrote:

Driving home off nightshift the other week I saw a Barn Owl in flight very close up,and it was magnificent..Our old fella was jealous as a bastard when I told him about it...He's a proper twitcher!

Since your work backs onto South Gare I would imagine you'll have some bloody good birds on site. Canyou walk round outside during a shift?

I can collar a wagon driver to take me anywhere on site and often do..

I'm very impressed you know of the South Gare JT.I spent loads of my childhood there with our dad,and now take my own kids there,and it is twitchers paradise,absolutely,a mass of marshland on the south side of the Tees estuary,which envokes alot of good childhood memories for me.. We used to catch newts and frogs there and keep them in the pond at home that dad built....and every year they would return to our pond to spawn...

Newts are pretty rare down The Gare these days,not sure why...but the non-indigenous mink that escaped from the mink farms,or were 'freed' by the animal rights nutjobs seems to have all but wiped out the water vole population...As is seemingly the case throughout North Yorkshire..

Edit: Sorry went off on one there! Yes JT,you are bang on about the South Gare,it's a twitchers Eutopia...There are more sets of binoculars down there at any one time,than there are at Cheltenham on Gold Cup day! Cracking renowned venue for wildlife!

Jarvo knows his birds...

El Jarvo wrote:

Nick King wrote: what's the easiest way to distinguish between them?

One's dead posh, and lives in Snorebans. The other's a bit common and lives in Welwyn.

I hope this information is of help!

Pre-internet I'd happily mail Nick our dad's book of everything that has wings to sort this one out...

In the event,may I suggest the obvious google.. Nah fuck google,David Attenborough all the way..I love him

He's up there with Rioch Al,he just is....almost.

El Jarvo wrote:

Nick King wrote: (Must just be Snorbans! )

True dat.You still get the pikey ones, natch!

Fuckin Watford sparras!

Nick King wrote: Ah well, in that case, they could be Dunnocks...

Next time I see what I think is a sparra, I'll take a photo of it and check - what's the easiest way to distinguish between them?

White heels.

Doctor? wrote:

Nick King wrote: Ah well, in that case, they could be Dunnocks...

Next time I see what I think is a sparra, I'll take a photo of it and check - what's the easiest way to distinguish between them?

White heels.

Birds in red heels are also sexy as fuck,no?

Boatraceface wrote:

Doctor? wrote:

Nick King wrote: Ah well, in that case, they could be Dunnocks...

Next time I see what I think is a sparra, I'll take a photo of it and check - what's the easiest way to distinguish between them?

White heels.

Birds in red heels are also sexy as fuck,no?

'Shag me shoes'

For those who still want to know, I took Boaty's (obvious!) advice and used Google.

I shall print off that page and observe closely from now on...! :p

Sparrows are FIT.....especially breaded with garlic.

Dunnocks have a very interesting sex life, one female and two males. The female has the ability to eject the sperm ensuring her chicks are the offspring of the male she wants, the other is just duped into helping out thinking they're his.

Which always makes me smirk when I think of the Dunnocks on the BSP board.

I had a text a while back from the Mrs saying that there was a pterodactyl in the garden.

Turned out it was a heron after next door's koi carp.

Boatraceface wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

Nick King wrote: (Must just be Snorbans! )

True dat.You still get the pikey ones, natch!

Fuckin Watford sparras!

cheeky bustard! of late I haven't even had to go out my house to check out the birds. a heron perched on next door's chimney recently and a (fake?) sparrow came into the house and hopped around my front room, unaware of my presence there .... I think it was probably casing the joint

herons have nearly done me in by means of heart failure on numerous ocassions.

All night conger fishing trips are the worst. Staring at your rod tip for ages then WOOOOOOOSSSSSH a heron zooms by right over on one wing in a major turn.......ARRRGHHHHH WTFWTFWTF!!! Or the heron that decides to do a major divebomb after a mackerel in the midst of a silent dawn......I think the last time that happened I stopped breathing. They are like fuckin ninjas, you only see them when they decide to let you. Best ever but, was just before dawn one morning, not a fookin hungry conger in sight most of the night, but the line started to twitch, so I went and sat near the rod and watched. After about 10 or 15 mins I decided it was a crab or a shoal of dirt harassing the bait, I turned round to look up the pier and there was a fuckin heron standing about 6-10 feet from me, right on the edge of the pier, staring right at me, then down the line, then back at me in a kind of "does this monkey know something I should know" kind of way......but I'd alsmost fallen into the rocks....I mean in our relative poses, he was a lot taller than I was. and he'd just beamed in or something.....no bird that large can pull a silent landing in the hour before dawn, no bloody way. Do like them though. Much nicer than gulls, I really REALLY do not like gulls one little bit.

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote: Which always makes me smirk when I think of the Dunnocks on the BSP board.

I know the Dunnocks!

Er, you probably do too?

One of 'em posts here on occasion.

Bet she's not capable of post-coital sperm ejection though.

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote: Which always makes me smirk when I think of the Dunnocks on the BSP board.

I know the Dunnocks!

Er, you probably do too?

One of 'em posts here on occasion.

Bet she's not capable of post-coital sperm ejection though.

That's just spitting, no?

birds that spit?...

...prefer it when they swallow,myself

Gazman wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote: Which always makes me smirk when I think of the Dunnocks on the BSP board.

I know the Dunnocks!

Er, you probably do too?

One of 'em posts here on occasion.

Bet she's not capable of post-coital sperm ejection though.

That's just spitting, no?

birds that spit?...

...prefer it when they swallow,myself

And be 'Swift' about it love!

Tell you what..There is a fair bit of twitter in ornithology

Boatraceface wrote:

Gazman wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote: Which always makes me smirk when I think of the Dunnocks on the BSP board.

I know the Dunnocks!

Er, you probably do too?

One of 'em posts here on occasion.

Bet she's not capable of post-coital sperm ejection though.

That's just spitting, no?

birds that spit?...

...prefer it when they swallow,myself

And be 'Swift' about it love!

Tell you what..There is a fair bit of twitter in ornithology

a bit of 'twittielation'?

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote: Which always makes me smirk when I think of the Dunnocks on the BSP board.

I know the Dunnocks!

Er, you probably do too?

One of 'em posts here on occasion.

Bet she's not capable of post-coital sperm ejection though.

That's just spitting, no?

Post-coital, not post-fellatial. Imagine those ladies firing ping pongs in Bangkok bars, female Dunnocks do the same, but with Jizz.

James Thomas wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote:

El Jarvo wrote:

James Thomas wrote: Which always makes me smirk when I think of the Dunnocks on the BSP board.

I know the Dunnocks!

Er, you probably do too?

One of 'em posts here on occasion.

Bet she's not capable of post-coital sperm ejection though.

That's just spitting, no?

Post-coital, not post-fellatial. Imagine those ladies firing ping pongs in Bangkok bars, female Dunnocks do the same, but with Jizz.

Love at first sight then, eh?

Ping pong balls are weak. went to one bar in Thialand where the lady shoved a roll of quarters up there and could give out exact change.