Hi Gem! I loved all of this so much. That goldcrest is adorable. And I love to learn the myths that people create around wildlife too.
Our winter geese have arrived, but I'm looking forward to the redwings and fieldfares arriving as I have a bumper crop of berries for them! The other bird that has been absent over the summer is the pied wagtail that has appeared on top of our roof in the last few days.
Aww maybe it’s my wagtail! There was one on my roof much of the summer 😂
I’m hoping for bullfinches visiting the heaps of dried old blackberries still on the bushes, but it might be a long shot. They aren’t common around here at all.
They are having a bad time of it at the moment - the places I usually go to see them are reporting an increase in disease. It seemed to affect the greenfinches last, but has moved on to bullfinches 🥺
I loved this, especially learning about birds that are related to the birds I would commonly see in the Southeastern US. The goldcrest looks like, and is related to, our golden-crowned kinglets. The treecreeper reminded me of the brown creepers I was delighted to see in my yard and in parks last year - it was my first year with either the skill or the luck to start noticing them. And the thrushes I was comparing and contrasting with our thrushes; I can see the redwing's resemblance to American robins (which are really a thrush) because of the way young robins are spotted!
I did not realize Great Tit and Chickadee were in the same family! Chickadee is a pretty good name; I have been so focused on where American common names fail (in my opinion), by giving a bird the same name as something in a totally different family in Europe (such as American robin - a thrush, totally different from European robins.)
Wow! Those Snipe have amazing camouflage! I had no idea. If you hadn’t said where to look, I would not have seen either of them. I am still not able to see the one on the left, but then my eyesight is not fabulous. Thank you for sharing your experiences xx
They are so good, I didn’t notice them for half an hour despite knowing what to look for. Luckily a kind local pointed them out. The one on the bottom left is partially hidden by the grass and facing away from the camera, I only saw it because it moved. Such cool birds.
😂 I spent about half an hour a mere 2m away from three of them and these are the only two photos I got. But yes I’m very pleased about them, such notoriously tricky little birbs!
Hi Gem! I loved all of this so much. That goldcrest is adorable. And I love to learn the myths that people create around wildlife too.
Our winter geese have arrived, but I'm looking forward to the redwings and fieldfares arriving as I have a bumper crop of berries for them! The other bird that has been absent over the summer is the pied wagtail that has appeared on top of our roof in the last few days.
Aww maybe it’s my wagtail! There was one on my roof much of the summer 😂
I’m hoping for bullfinches visiting the heaps of dried old blackberries still on the bushes, but it might be a long shot. They aren’t common around here at all.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bullfinch! I’d love to though.
They are having a bad time of it at the moment - the places I usually go to see them are reporting an increase in disease. It seemed to affect the greenfinches last, but has moved on to bullfinches 🥺
Oh no, that’s very sad :-( I had a lovely year for greenfinches in my garden this year though, so that’s something.
I’m hoping the pied wagtails re appear here too 🥰
I loved this, especially learning about birds that are related to the birds I would commonly see in the Southeastern US. The goldcrest looks like, and is related to, our golden-crowned kinglets. The treecreeper reminded me of the brown creepers I was delighted to see in my yard and in parks last year - it was my first year with either the skill or the luck to start noticing them. And the thrushes I was comparing and contrasting with our thrushes; I can see the redwing's resemblance to American robins (which are really a thrush) because of the way young robins are spotted!
Yes I love when our birds have American cousins. Great Tits and Chickadees are another. You guys usually choose much better names!
I did not realize Great Tit and Chickadee were in the same family! Chickadee is a pretty good name; I have been so focused on where American common names fail (in my opinion), by giving a bird the same name as something in a totally different family in Europe (such as American robin - a thrush, totally different from European robins.)
I have never really thought about how strange it is that different families get the same name, but the same family get different names 😂
Was going to make the same comment!
Wow! Those Snipe have amazing camouflage! I had no idea. If you hadn’t said where to look, I would not have seen either of them. I am still not able to see the one on the left, but then my eyesight is not fabulous. Thank you for sharing your experiences xx
They are so good, I didn’t notice them for half an hour despite knowing what to look for. Luckily a kind local pointed them out. The one on the bottom left is partially hidden by the grass and facing away from the camera, I only saw it because it moved. Such cool birds.
Wow can’t believe you got those goldcrests on camera! They’re always bobbing about so quickly!!
Haha I know, they were semi tame and only a couple of metres away and after half an hour I still only had those two pics 😂
Modest!
Goldcrest is clearly related to our kinglets, and thus are impossible to photograph. How did you do it please explain yourself
😂 I spent about half an hour a mere 2m away from three of them and these are the only two photos I got. But yes I’m very pleased about them, such notoriously tricky little birbs!