What birds or bird have you seen today – communal thread, I hope!

Can't be that common because I have never seen one before ☺

Thanks Les.


Ha ha I know its not that Common Mike :)

I myself have only photographed one in my area ( Somerset) I think they mostly occupy Northern area's and can be see in Scotland a lot

here's one I shot early this year ion the River Tar in on Exmoor very bad light but I was so surprised to see it - I grabbed a quick shot


I8Y9Vuf.jpg



Les :)
 
Had a phone call this aft from a local woman, she'd found an owl that couldn't fly and would I have a look, turns out to be a young Tawny.

It appeared exhausted, very thin and probably dehydrated. Made a couple of phone calls, took some advice and watched an excellent video from the Barn owl trust on force feeding owls. Bought some mice from pet shop, chopped them up and force fed it a couple plus used a small bit of rubber pipe to feed it some sugar water.

It definitely seems to have perk up a little, its in me garage where it can stretch its wings a little and going to feed it another in an hour or so, hopefully it'll make a full recovery.

@Cobra Chris, any other advice you could add would be much appreciated, cheers

Edit- reading the back this morning, it reads like the mice were live, for anyone concerned, they were frozen ;)

Rescued Tawny.jpg
 
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It definitely seems to have perk up a little, its in me garage where it can stretch its wings a little and going to feed it another in an hour or so, hopefully it'll make a full recovery.
Sounds good Phil, keep it quiet, minimal disturbance & dark ( which I assume the garage is) or very subdued lighting at the very least.
Go easy on the sugar, TBH no need for the sugar, now. once or twice is all it needs, it'll get all it needs from the mice, now.
If you wet the mice, no need to tube it with water either.

Adult mice cut them length ways small mice feed them whole. ( don't gut them)
7-10 days seems to be the optimum in captivity, and release it back where it was found.


Other than that you seem to have it sorted @Phil-D (y)
 
Sounds good Phil, keep it quiet, minimal disturbance & dark ( which I assume the garage is) or very subdued lighting at the very least.
Go easy on the sugar, TBH no need for the sugar, now. once or twice is all it needs, it'll get all it needs from the mice, now.
If you wet the mice, no need to tube it with water either.

Adult mice cut them length ways small mice feed them whole. ( don't gut them)
7-10 days seems to be the optimum in captivity, and release it back where it was found.


Other than that you seem to have it sorted @Phil-D (y)

Thanks Chris but not good news I'm afraid. Sadly its died this afternoon, not what I was expecting as it seemed to be picking up this morning.

Can only presume it had internal injuries that we couldn't have known about, cheers
 
Thanks Chris but not good news I'm afraid. Sadly its died this afternoon, not what I was expecting as it seemed to be picking up this morning.
That's a shame Phil.
TBH it happens, BoP's are very good at hiding the fact that they are ill.
But don't beat yourself up about it, I've had a couple of re-habs drop dead, after a few days, and yet they had been feeding well, and looking to be in good condition.
 
That's a shame Phil.
TBH it happens, BoP's are very good at hiding the fact that they are ill.
But don't beat yourself up about it, I've had a couple of re-habs drop dead, after a few days, and yet they had been feeding well, and looking to be in good condition.

TBH Chris, I did say to the wife, in a way its like 'interfering' with nature. I suppose the fairly high mortality rate of young owls is natures way of controlling the numbers and keeping a happy balance.

If nowt else, she now has some Tawny owl primary feathers for her collection :)
 
What a treat for me today, one lone Black Swan. Taken as the light fades on a local boating lake. Looks like the other White Swans may have attacked it on the lower part of its neck.
Still beautiful and something ethereal, I only hope my pictures can do it justice !

4 - Black Swan 5-1.jpg4 - Black Swan 4-1.jpg4 - Black Swan 2-1.jpg4 - Black Swan-1.jpg
 
Nothing terribly exciting .. just a couple of moggies

Mum just about to feed ...
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Dab chick

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Little and large :)

Had a day at RSPB Middleton Lakes near Tamworth Friday. Its a decent sized wetlands giving good views without the need for hides, although most birds are a little distant.

This was a first, seeing both Great (white) egret and Little egret stood together

RSPB Middleton lakes.jpg
 
Little and large :)

Had a day at RSPB Middleton Lakes near Tamworth Friday. Its a decent sized wetlands giving good views without the need for hides, although most birds are a little distant.

This was a first, seeing both Great (white) egret and Little egret stood together

View attachment 292379
I have been there Phil. My brother lives in Staffordshire and we plan to visit there again [emoji4]
 
Went to our local nature reserve, which is quite small so I could practice my fieldcraft slowly positioning myself close enough for a good shot but fair enough away so as not to interfere. It was slowly slowly as there were many other ducks and egrets who if disturbed would have resulted in my subject taking fright and flight !
I also had great problems with my lens trying to AF on random bits of reed around by hiding place, I had to keep re-focussing on distance subjects and then try for the eye before AF again. Any hints & tips much appreciated.
PS Does everyone get funny looks and comments when walking to a location in full Camo kit ?
A Heron-1.jpg
 
Its quite awhile since I've done an early start, I'm not a fan any more but made an exception this morning and, as it turned out, it was well worth the 4.30am wake up.

A tad heavier on the crop than I'd have liked but a superb little bird to see, a lifer for me, showing well in some lovely rising sunshine.

Wryneck

Wryneck.jpg
 
Its quite awhile since I've done an early start, I'm not a fan any more but made an exception this morning and, as it turned out, it was well worth the 4.30am wake up.

A tad heavier on the crop than I'd have liked but a superb little bird to see, a lifer for me, showing well in some lovely rising sunshine.

Wryneck

View attachment 293727
Excellent Phil, deserves it's own thread. :)
 
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