OverClockers Twitchers' Thread

Narj said:
EDIT: Still time to join the RSPB Bird Watch
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involve...-you-need-to-know-about-big-garden-birdwatch/

This has been discussed a couple of times so I thought I'd start it. Lockdown has made many of us a lot more appreciative of nature and the wildlife around us so bird-feeding and spotting has become a bit more popular.

I thought it'd be nice to share your interesting sightings here, have some friendly discussion and share tips and experiences :)

I'll kick off with a sighting - first successful kill in my garden by a Sparrowhawk this morning - looks like a female and she'd bagged a poor Sparrow. Unfortunately I only had my potato phone to hand so the photo is awful, I've tried to brush it up. It's been too wet to mow/sort out the grass, before I get piled on :D


Also a tip I'd like to share for dealing with vermin as this is quite a common issue. A while back I had an issue with a rat getting to my bird table/house. I managed to get around the problem with a couple of pint beer-cans (see above). Cut the top and bottom off with strong scissors, turn them inside out and fold around the post, fixing with self-tapping screws. I spray with WD-40 for good measure and you can see the sod can no longer get up there and has moved on: Frustrated Rat Video!

Obviously for ground feeders I only put out what I know will be eaten in the day to discourage vermin.

As for the species I have currently seen visiting: Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Goldfinch, Starling, Pied Wagtail, Magpie, Collared Dove, Wood Pigeon, Robin, Blackbird, Sparrowhawk.

Not many Feral Pigeons thankfully and I tend to scare them off with a laser pointer if they become too much of a problem (green is best). :)

Look forward to seeing other people's stuff - I'm going to try to use my wildlife cam to get some close-up photos of the Robin that seems to have claimed the garden as its territory now.
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Tree sparow? No way? They are super rare. Like really really rare
 
Junglist said:
Would gladly do that! Yeah she keeps telling me it's a really cool place to visit, think they have a lot of baby seals there too.

Love forest of dean but yet to see a wild boar there. A friend and I rode out motorbikes around there recently and was amazed at how many sheep just litter the roads. Beautiful area and the Usk valley too... may have been the Wye Valley, not sure. We went past Tintern Abbey
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I'm not too familiar with the local area. I know the gwent levels rspb reserve is meant to be good. But I saw nothing when I went.

Would be nice to get to know some nature people being so new to the west Of the UK!
 
413x said:
Where do you live to get them? I've only seen them once. In my life
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NW Kent/Border of London. There is a fair bit of woodland nearby so maybe that would explain where they have come from.

Also I saw a male Sparrowhawk in the garden this morning. I wonder if he and the female I regularly see are a pair.
 
Narj said:
NW Kent/Border of London. There is a fair bit of woodland nearby so maybe that would explain where they have come from.

Also I saw a male Sparrowhawk in the garden this morning. I wonder if he and the female I regularly see are a pair.
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I didn't even think you got tree sparrows there.

Must be great habitat.
Seems to be a lot of sparrow hawk about now.
 
Narj said:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/tree-sparrow/#:~:text=The tree sparrow is scarcer,in hedgerows and woodland edges.

Looks like it being Winter might explain that one. I'd not seen them before either. Not seen any Dunnocks so far.

Yeah the Sparrowhawks seem to be treating my garden as a local takeaway :eek:
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I wish they'd come to mine. So many ferral pigeons it's practically a McDs for hawks.

They sit on the roof waiting for other birds to drop food from feeders

Goldfinch are most common here.
 
413x said:
I wish they'd come to mine. So many ferral pigeons it's practically a McDs for hawks.

They sit on the roof waiting for other birds to drop food from feeders

Goldfinch are most common here.
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Feral pigeons are annoying but it's better they clean up than attracting a load of rats. That's the way I see it. They can be bullies though so, as I say, I just scare them off with a laser pointer if they are causing a problem.

I run a wildlife cam some nights to check that rats aren't getting to the feeders. Firstly I don't want to encourage them, and secondly I don't want them passing any diseases on to the birds.

A rat almost got past my contraption last night so I've added a cone around the post to make sure none can get up there. Mental thing about feeding the birds is you're always trying to outwit wood pigeons/feral pigeons/vermin. :o
 
Narj said:
Feral pigeons are annoying but it's better they clean up than attracting a load of rats. That's the way I see it. They can be bullies though so, as I say, I just scare them off with a laser pointer if they are causing a problem.

I run a wildlife cam some nights to check that rats aren't getting to the feeders. Firstly I don't want to encourage them, and secondly I don't want them passing any diseases on to the birds.

A rat almost got past my contraption last night so I've added a cone around the post to make sure none can get up there. Mental thing about feeding the birds is you're always trying to outwit wood pigeons/feral pigeons/vermin. :o
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That's very true!
They are horny as anything. Always at it. Even in winter.

Yeah the wildlife cam I have got loads of great hog video. Hog has left now unfortunately. But was here for weeks.

Hoping to wild up garden next year so birds can nest
Need to get some hedge started
 
413x said:
Hoping to wild up garden next year so birds can nest
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I'm trying to do the same but tbh there are too many cats around here. I've blocked off some of their entrance points to the garden so they don't use it as a cut-through anymore, and there are spikes on the shed roof, so they can't hang around on there.

Might put some nest boxes up out of reach and see if I get any takers!
 
Narj said:
I'm trying to do the same but tbh there are too many cats around here. I've blocked off some of their entrance points to the garden so they don't use it as a cut-through anymore, and there are spikes on the shed roof, so they can't hang around on there.

Might put some nest boxes up out of reach and see if I get any takers!
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Have an 7-8ft metal fence +wall all around. Keep seeing a cat so need to figure out how it's getting in. A fence that high should keep cats out!
 
Normally out and about, but this lockdown business has it on hold.

IMGP0799.jpg
 
DB_SamX said:
I think I've only seen one sparrow at mine in 2 years. Didn't realise they were so rare.
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Are you talking about House Sparrows or the other types?

Even House Sparrows are low in numbers in some areas. Their numbers have taken a massive hit but they seem to be recovering well now. I'll sometimes get up to 40 House Sparrows in my garden if I put a big pile of feed out!

Sparrows do make me laugh. Plenty of food available but they'd still rather nick it from one of the others!
 
Narj said:
Are you talking about House Sparrows or the other types?

Even House Sparrows are low in numbers in some areas. Their numbers have taken a massive hit but they seem to be recovering well now. I'll sometimes get up to 40 House Sparrows in my garden if I put a big pile of feed out!

Sparrows do make me laugh. Plenty of food available but they'd still rather nick it from one of the others!
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Any of them.
 
DB_SamX said:
Any of them.
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If it's any consolation it doesn't seem that unusual. A mate of mine gets tonnes of Chaffinches, Greenfinches, Blue **** and the like but absolutely no Sparrows either. I'd be happy with the variety :D
 
Mine are long tailed ****. They are just b*llsy. Like a gang roaming my garden. Don't care about my (mainly indoor) cat sat 2m away staring at them not sure what to do. I've only had 4 max on a feeder at a time though, but happy with that.
 
DB_SamX said:
Mine are long tailed ****. They are just b*llsy. Like a gang roaming my garden. Don't care about my (mainly indoor) cat sat 2m away staring at them not sure what to do. I've only had 4 max on a feeder at a time though, but happy with that.
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My long taileds love the oak tree. They come down a couple of times a week and comb the moss on the trees for bugs. They rarely visit the feeders

MY seed feeders have 4 stations and when the gold finch mob descend there is so much squabbling for space. 10+ birds, 4 spaces. Infinite squabbles

It's so nice having a little garden finally. It's definitely enough space for my first home.
 
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