The Hide (chat thread)

Bsal

Disgusting whats going on in Cyprus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oFOkqTtXFw

Amalgam

Bsal wrote: »

Disgusting whats going on in Cyprus

Not new sadly. Interest seems to have flared up recently again.

France 24 ran a story on it, there seems to be a 'hinterland' up by the British Military Bases, where the status of law.. and who enforces it, is murky. Enabling the bird catchers to go about their business.

Manky stew, birds go in whole..

France 24: http://observers.france24.com/en/20170324-illegal-bird-hunting-booms-british-controlled-cyprus

Details the grey area around the control of the land, along with covert footage recorded by the RSPB. (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)

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My Mum was driving near Barndarrig GAA or Kilmacurragh, Co. Wicklow today, She's not sure which.

In a hedge, like an apparition, pure white, with red beads for eyes, was a fully grown male Pheasant.

Keep an eye out, if you're in that area of Co. Wicklow.

She was dismayed, how could it have survived to adulthood.

recedite

Amalgam wrote: »

In a hedge, like an apparition, pure white, with red beads for eyes, was a fully grown male Pheasant.

That would be the Barndarrig Beast. Rumour has it that the Beast has been shot at six times but refuses to die. Several shooters have disappeared in that area, without a trace.

whyulittle

Something has commandeered a Swallow's nest in one of my brother's sheds. It has topped up the cup with moss to the roof, leaving just a small opening. Wren, would it be?

Capercaillie

whyulittle wrote: »

Something has commandeered a Swallow's nest in one of my brother's sheds. It has topped up the cup with moss to the roof, leaving just a small opening. Wren, would it be?

I put up a swallow nest box in shed nearly nine years ago, same thing has happened. A little moss ball filling the swallow nest box. I think a wren as well, but not sure.

Zoo4m8

whyulittle wrote: »

Something has commandeered a Swallow's nest in one of my brother's sheds. It has topped up the cup with moss to the roof, leaving just a small opening. Wren, would it be?

Yes, it's a Wren, quite often they commandeer a Swallows nest here, mind you they have a large number to choose from!

Half-cocked

Sitting quietly in my back garden watching hoverflies when a Sparrowhawk zoomed in and caught a House Sparrow not 10 feet away. It sat there until the prey had expired so I got a really great look at it (an adult male). They nest somewhere nearby but I've never managed to pin down the exact location.

vistafinder

First Cuckoo heard yesterday evening. Great to hear it again.

Tiercel Dave

Cuckoo has made it to East Galway ...........

TopTec

And first one heard this morning in North East Mayo.

TT

Chisler2

TopTec wrote: »

And first one heard this morning in North East Mayo.

TT

It's here! Cuckoo calling assertively here on the eastern slopes of Nephin yesterday evening. Do these birds migrate as a flock?

TopTec

Chisler2 wrote: »

Do these birds migrate as a flock?

No, I don't think they do. There has been a lot of research, including tracking individuals with GPS tagging, on the Cuckoo's migrations from Africa.

The UK's BTO have done a lot of this.....

https://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking

It is common for individual birds to return to the same areas every year and one interesting fact is that some of the birds spent 47% of their life in Africa, 38% on migration and only 15% in the UK and Ireland.

You might consider reporting your Cuckoo's sighting to Bird Watch Ireland on their wesite here...

http://www.springalive.net/en-ie/springalive/how_to_participate

TT

Chisler2

TopTec wrote: »

No, I don't think they do. There has been a lot of research, including tracking individuals with GPS tagging, on the Cuckoo's migrations from Africa.

The UK's BTO have done a lot of this.....

https://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking

It is common for individual birds to return to the same areas every year and one interesting fact is that some of the birds spent 47% of their life in Africa, 38% on migration and only 15% in the UK and Ireland.

You might consider reporting your Cuckoo's sighting to Bird Watch Ireland on their wesite here...

http://www.springalive.net/en-ie/springalive/how_to_participate

TT

Many thanks for the link to that wonderful BTO site. Extraordinary that the first-year cuckoo, without benefit of 'imprint' from its parents, instinctively knows and takes the migration route.............and equally impressive, that the swift can cover 5,000 km in 5 days. You've made my day!

Tiercel Dave

And the Cuckoo has never heard it's parents 'sing'. The tune is hardwired into it's brain. So to save space it is comprised of two notes......

Chisler2

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

And the Cuckoo has never heard it's parents 'sing'. The tune is hardwired into it's brain. So to save space it is comprised of two notes......

So is the presence in the locality of a nesting pair (presumably this male is calling to attract a female cuckoo) bad news for the songbirds? How much depredation does a breeding couple do to other species' populations? As the cuckoo pair expend no energy in nest-building or feeding young all their energy presumably goes into egg-production. If (on average) four chicks of another species are sacrificed to the survival of the single cuckoo chick bred by another species-pair, having the cuckoo locally is expensive in terms of other bird-life?

OpenYourEyes

Chisler2 wrote: »

So is the presence in the locality of a nesting pair (presumably this male is calling to attract a female cuckoo) bad news for the songbirds? How much depredation does a breeding couple do to other species' populations? As the cuckoo pair expend no energy in nest-building or feeding young all their energy presumably goes into egg-production. If (on average) four chicks of another species are sacrificed to the survival of the single cuckoo chick bred by another species-pair, having the cuckoo locally is expensive in terms of other bird-life?

It's like with raptors - there are very very few raptors compared to common songbirds, because the population of songbirds needs to be suitably high to support species 'above' them like raptors. Similarly, the population of meadow pipits and other songbirds needs to be suitably high to support Cuckoos. If their population dips, the cuckoo's numbers will experience a corresponding dip. So essentially Cuckoo's don't have any population-level effects on any species at a local, regional or wider level.

junospider

A pair of magpies or grey crows would do much more harm.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

junospider wrote: »

A pair of magpies or grey crows would do much more harm.

The point is, it's not 'harm'.

Chisler2

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

The point is, it's not 'harm'.

The area supports large crow, magpie and sparrow-hawk populations. It is good news that the addition of the cuckoo is unlikely to 'tip the balance' too far to the advantage of the bigger species. Given the breeding potential of a cuckoo pair in their short breeding-season here, logistically the migration back to Africa would be considerably larger than the spring incomers to Europe.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Chisler2 wrote: »

The area supports large crow, magpie and sparrow-hawk populations. It is good news that the addition of the cuckoo is unlikely to 'tip the balance' too far to the advantage of the bigger species. Given the breeding potential of a cuckoo pair in their short breeding-season here, logistically the migration back to Africa would be considerably larger than the spring incomers to Europe.

They are not prolific breeders at all. The Uk population is only 16,000, is showing a marked decline and they are red listed. The southerly migration is not much larger by any means.

Chisler2

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

They are not prolific breeders at all. The Uk population is only 16,000, is showing a marked decline and they are red listed. The southerly migration is not much larger by any means.

I really appreciate all the information and am intrigued............off to read about this bird and its life-cycle. Thanks to all.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

5 buzzards wheeling over the garden this afternoon.

Hotei

Sedge Warblers and Grasshopper Warblers heard in Pollardstown fen this morning.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Hotei wrote: »

Sedge Warblers and Grasshopper Warblers heard in Pollardstown fen this morning.

Sedges we have now but there were no Grasshopper Warblers here last year for the first time in 45 years. Hopefully I'll hear that magnificent sound one of these evenings.

Half-cocked

Spotted a Wheatear on the beach at Sutton yesterday.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Plenty of St. Mark's Flies emerged today. St. Mark's Day is tomorrow, so they are right on schedule.

Woodville56

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

Hotei wrote: »

Sedge Warblers and Grasshopper Warblers heard in Pollardstown fen this morning.

Sedges we have now but there were no Grasshopper Warblers here last year for the first time in 45 years. Hopefully I'll hear that magnificent sound one of these evenings.

I only had grasshopper warblers in one of their usual haunts last year - checked other previous habitats on a number of occasions but no joy - haven't heard any so far this year - are the subject to regular seasonal variation year on year I wonder - factors on their migration route or winter quarters ? Possibly scrub clearance here a factor also ?

Hotei

Kayla Moldy Supernova wrote: »

Plenty of St. Mark's Flies emerged today. St. Mark's Day is tomorrow, so they are right on schedule.

I've been seeing them for the past week here.

Woodville56

Activity at the bird table here has tailed off significantly over past week - no goldfinches, the occasional greenfinch and a few chaffinches. Blue tit, great tit and house sparrows still on the nut & seed feeders but the finches by and large gone - just wondering were the goldfinches (often 17-20 birds at a time) winter migrants, now gone back home or maybe just birds flocking from countryside, where there's now an adequate supply of seeds etc and busy with nesting ?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Woodville56 wrote: »

Activity at the bird table here has tailed off significantly over past week - no goldfinches, the occasional greenfinch and a few chaffinches. Blue tit, great tit and house sparrows still on the nut & seed feeders but the finches by and large gone - just wondering were the goldfinches (often 17-20 birds at a time) winter migrants, now gone back home or maybe just birds flocking from countryside, where there's now an adequate supply of seeds etc and busy with nesting ?

Birds, like the finches, that flock in Winter will have dispersed in to breeding territories now. The number of species in my garden will, more or less, stay the same from here in but the number of individual birds of each species will drop. The number of birds sitting on nests will account for some of the fall on numbers too.