BirdWatch Ireland: Garden Bird Survey

[Fraxinus]

Just saw that Birdwatch Ireland have launched their Garden Bird Survey for 2010-2011 this week.
The survey actually started on Monday last, 29th, but because it is done by week you can still get numbers in for this week. It runs until the 21st of Feb.

It's easy enough do if you have an interest in birds and especially if you have bird feeders in the garden.

The survey sheet can be printed out from here http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Ourwork/GardenBirds/tabid/121/Default.aspx


Our most popular survey, the Garden Bird Survey (GBS) helps us to keep track of the fortunes of Ireland’s garden birds. It attracts over 1,000 submissions each year. As the Irish countryside changes, gardens are becoming increasingly important havens for many species, and it is vital for us to know how their populations are faring. The GBS does this not only by giving us a good idea of how our garden birds themselves are doing, but also an indication of how the environment is faring in general.

Garden birds are ideal subjects for a volunteer-based survey like this. They are among our most familiar and easily observed bird species, are easily attracted to feeders and bird tables, and can be watched from the comfort of our own homes. The way the survey works is very straightforward: between December and February each year, we ask members of the public to keep note of the highest number of each bird species visiting their garden every week. We also ask for information on the size of the garden being surveyed, the kinds of food, if any, being offered to the birds, and so on. Taking part is fun, easy and an ideal way to get to know your garden birds better; it also makes an ideal school project.

[Béal na Bláth]

If (like me) you can't identify by sight some of the feathered friends you see - this is very useful :)

Bird identifier (http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier)

[moss]

A pigeon has taken to living on my window sill. Usually I call them rats with wings.

Times are tough though. I'm calling this one christmas dinner.

The only dilemma being, should it be included in the survey ??

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9966/getattachmentaspxvs.jpg

[wickedfairy]

well Moss, I would say Simon J is yer man for a good stuffing recipe ;)

[Fraxinus]

A pigeon has taken to living on my window sill. Usually I call them rats with wings.

Times are tough though. I'm calling this one christmas dinner.

The only dilemma being, should it be included in the survey ??

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9966/getattachmentaspxvs.jpg

Town/feral pigeons can be included but cooked ones don't count. If you're eating pigeon try make it a woodpigeon...meant to be tastey. AND before you do any hasty hunting on your sill...make sure it isn't a Rock dove (which townies are descended from) as they are scarce.

[mutley]

A pigeon has taken to living on my window sill. Usually I call them rats with wings.

Times are tough though. I'm calling this one christmas dinner.

The only dilemma being, should it be included in the survey ??

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/9966/getattachmentaspxvs.jpg

http://www.lanzaroteinformation.com/files/dastardly%20and%20muttley.jpg

[moss]

Frax the pigeon is safe. I've taken a bit of a shine to it.

Feck I'm feeding it as opposed to it feeding me. I've even named it.

Mutley ye may catch a different pigeon, hands off mine :)

Wickedfairy, stuff a bird ??? well I never (heard of a recipe for that) :)

[5intheface]

This bloke (not the actual one) has been getting closer and closer to my house as the years go by. Obviously not the most common bird in the garden but certainly the one I see most often.

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Portals/0/speciesprofiles_large/Buzzard%2021%20(Shay%20Connolly)_lge.jpg

Just thinking, he seems to get closer as I lose more weight.

[Murra]

http://www.fw.vt.edu/fisheries/ornithology/Ornithology/lapwing.jpg

Found a Lapwing in my garden today, first time I've seen one. I don't know much about birds - are lapwings common?

[Fraxinus]

http://www.fw.vt.edu/fisheries/ornithology/Ornithology/lapwing.jpg

Found a Lapwing in my garden today, first time I've seen one. I don't know much about birds - are lapwings common?

Must be in decline as they are Red Listed and of high conservation concern http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Default.aspx?tabid=319

Don't know why but it's probably due to changing farming practices and land change.

[Baron von Biffo]

http://www.fw.vt.edu/fisheries/ornithology/Ornithology/lapwing.jpg

Found a Lapwing in my garden today, first time I've seen one. I don't know much about birds - are lapwings common?

According to Cabot there are between 2000 and 5000 pairs throughout the country. Dempsey and O'Clery say "A common bird found on grasslands and wetlands. [...] In Winter populations increase with the arrival of birds from Northern Britain and Europe. They're a nice looking bird, I'm jealous.

BTW, I'd recommend both of those books to anyone with an interest in the feathery ones.

[5intheface]

This bloke (not the actual one) has been getting closer and closer to my house as the years go by. Obviously not the most common bird in the garden but certainly the one I see most often.

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Portals/0/speciesprofiles_large/Buzzard%2021%20(Shay%20Connolly)_lge.jpg

Just thinking, he seems to get closer as I lose more weight.

How common are buzzards in other parts of the country?

[Fraxinus]

How common are buzzards in other parts of the country?

Seems to be found mainly in the north and east 5. http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/IrelandsBirds/Raptors/Buzzard/tabid/396/Default.aspx Went extinct from the 19th century until 1933 apparently and made a come back in Antrim.

[5intheface]

Seems to be found mainly in the north and east 5. http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/IrelandsBirds/Raptors/Buzzard/tabid/396/Default.aspx Went extinct from the 19th century until 1933 apparently and made a come back in Antrim.

Never saw one until a few years ago and we would have stopped the car to get out for a look at one in the distance. Since about 2000, it's hard to go a day without seeing one half a dozen times and they genuinely seem to be getting more comfortable with coming close to the house. More often than not, there is one perched in a high tree just yards from the house first thing in the mortning.

Boy are they impressive when they go into a dive! During the summer I watched an adult which appeared to be training a couple of juveniles in such hunting pursuits. Better than any action film I have ever seen..really.

They are huge.

[Fraxinus]

Never saw one until a few years ago and we would have stopped the car to get out for a look at one in the distance. Since about 2000, it's hard to go a day without seeing one half a dozen times and they genuinely seem to be getting more comfortable with coming close to the house. More often than not, there is one perched in a high tree just yards from the house first thing in the mortning.

Boy are they impressive when they go into a dive! During the summer I watched an adult which appeared to be training a couple of juveniles in such hunting pursuits. Better than any action film I have ever seen..really.

They are huge.

They look savage. Wonder do farmers get paranoid or nervous that they'll swipe a lamb? I saw two big birds of prey swirling in the sky near the mouth of the Bann outside Portstewart, thinking they were eagles, but someone suggested they were probably buzzards.

[5intheface]

They look savage. Wonder do farmers get paranoid or nervous that they'll swipe a lamb? I saw two big birds of prey swirling in the sky near the mouth of the Bann outside Portstewart, thinking they were eagles, but someone suggested they were probably buzzards.

They'd pass for eagles from a distance all right, probably were, only heard of eagles in Donegal where they introduced them to Glenveagh National Park.

Never heard any complaints from the farmers but this is mostly cattle country. They certainly keep a check on rodents and roadkill doesn't get to lie about too long either. I think I posted a pic of a stoat which got enveloped on the raod back in spring, it was gone on 15 minutes, I could see it circling as I was going up the lane.

[Fraxinus]

They'd pass for eagles from a distance all right, probably were, only heard of eagles in Donegal where they introduced them to Glenveagh National Park.

Never heard any complaints from the farmers but this is mostly cattle country. They certainly keep a check on rodents and roadkill doesn't get to lie about too long either. I think I posted a pic of a stoat which got enveloped on the raod back in spring, it was gone on 15 minutes, I could see it circling as I was going up the lane.

It's good to have those sort of birds about, might even swipe a mink if they get hungry enough. But just the sheer entertainment of seeing them hunt must be a good enough reason to have them around as well.

[Baron von Biffo]

How common are buzzards in other parts of the country?

We had one in Laois last February. I just grabbed this poor quality video on my phone. The voice is a friend telling me the colours so we could identify it later.

YouTube - Laois Buzzard

[5intheface]

We had one in Laois last February. I just grabbed this poor quality video on my phone. The voice is a friend telling me the colours so we could identify it later.

YouTube - Laois Buzzard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN7F5uvGujM)

No doubting that. That's what I was like a while back, trying to film or photo every one I saw. To say they are thriving here would be an understatement, maybe that means they'll be a common sight in Laois soon.

[Baron von Biffo]

No doubting that. That's what I was like a while back, trying to film or photo every one I saw. To say they are thriving here would be an understatement, maybe that means they'll be a common sight in Laois soon.

That would be lovely.

I've had a sparrowhawk in my garden earlier in the year and I see a few kestrels around but a big bird of prey would be fantastic to have about. I suggested to a friend that she should put a few road kills on her land to attract them but she was oddly unenthusiastic. :(

[Kid Ryder]

Did a google search and came across this little gem - a general outline of the history of raptor bird populations in Ireland, which puts the previous posters' buzzard experiences in a broad historical context.

Irish Raptor populations in context - The Golden Eagle Trust Ltd. (http://www.goldeneagle.ie/portal.php?z=114)

[5intheface]

Did a google search and came across this little gem - a general outline of the history of raptor bird populations in Ireland, which puts the previous posters' buzzard experiences in a broad historical context.

Irish Raptor populations in context - The Golden Eagle Trust Ltd. (http://www.goldeneagle.ie/portal.php?z=114)

Good synopsis there all right kid.

[C. Flower]

How common are buzzards in other parts of the country?


There was one around these parts a few years ago. He brought down a pigeon that got away and hid under a cart.

We kept the pigeon and it came back to health after a few weeks. Lost racer, so probably went home to a sad end :(

Big birds, buzzards. I'll never forget him strutting around the garden, pigeon feathers everywhere, looking haughty.

[C. Flower]

Yesterday, 20 finches in a small apple tree - there'll be no bugs there next spring.

This morning, I was watching a tiny diver bobbing under the freezing water, when a large black cormorant and a swan flew together past the window in a wide arc, before landing on the water.

[Baron von Biffo]

http://www.fw.vt.edu/fisheries/ornithology/Ornithology/lapwing.jpg

Found a Lapwing in my garden today, first time I've seen one. I don't know much about birds - are lapwings common?

You might be interested in this from BirdWatch Ireland.

http://www.birdwatchireland.ie/Publications/eWings/eWingsIssue15December2010/Givingwetlandbirdsabreak/tabid/1157/Default.aspx

[Fraxinus]

We have one rowan tree that has even more berries than the other rowans and a mistle thrush seems to have taken complete ownership of it. It chases away any bird that comes near it especially, blackbirds, song thrush and fieldfairs. It doesn't seem to have an other-half either, what a greedy bast@rd!

[5intheface]

Been enjoying having a pair of Kestrels in the back field this last week. Haven't noticed them before but possibly mistook them for Sparrowhawks. Seems they are not that uncommon but impressive creatures.

Grabbed a pretty poor quality pic but clear enough to identify.

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv296/6intheface_2009/Kestrel17thMarch.jpg

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv296/6intheface_2009/kestrel18thmarch3.jpg

Very long tail feathers, that's what I noticed first. Hovers with rapid wing beats but the head completely still. Very distinctive rapid call unlike Sparrowhawk which is silent outside breeding season I read. Also, ends of the wings pointed like a falcon.

[Baron von Biffo]

Been enjoying having a pair of Kestrels in the back field this last week. Haven't noticed them before but possibly mistook them for Sparrowhawks. Seems they are not that uncommon but impressive creatures.

Grabbed a pretty poor quality pic but clear enough to identify.

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv296/6intheface_2009/Kestrel17thMarch.jpg

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv296/6intheface_2009/kestrel18thmarch3.jpg

Very long tail feathers, that's what I noticed first. Hovers with rapid wing beats but the head completely still. Very distinctive rapid call unlike Sparrowhawk which is silent outside breeding season I read. Also, ends of the wings pointed like a falcon.

Well done getting those pics 5. All I've ever managed is a dot against the sky :(