# Bird watching



## Goldfynche (May 13, 2016)

I have always been an avid bird watcher ever since my pre teens. So far since moving to Scotland, I have seen four species that I never ever saw in England and heard a fifth. Also saw my first red squirrels after moving up here.

Any other serious twitchers, or even back garden watchers?


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## Guitarist (May 13, 2016)

I heard a cuckoo once in the Cotswolds.  

My favorite birds here are rufus-sided towhees and brown thrashers and bluebirds. I am not a serious bird watcher but I do miss my binoculars.  I enjoy watching shore and other water birds when I have the opportunity, and I love crows.  

What Scottish birds have you seen and heard?


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## Goldfynche (May 13, 2016)

Guitarist said:


> What Scottish birds have you seen and heard?



Ive seen two ducks. Goosander and Goldeneye. A Dipper and best of all a Waxwing. And so far, I've only heard a couple of Wood Warblers.


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## Guitarist (May 13, 2016)

We have Cedar Waxwings here.  







One winter our holly hedge was FULL of them!








rufus-sided towhees -- male and female






 brown thrasher              
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 male bluebird


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## Goldfynche (May 13, 2016)

Yes. They look almost identical to ours which as you probably know, fly over from Scandinavia to over winter here.


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## Guitarist (May 13, 2016)

I didn't know that before.  Cool!  

I like these guys too:


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## Goldfynche (May 13, 2016)

Some of my visitors. Although the Heron was in Regent's Park in London.


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## SeaBreeze (May 13, 2016)

Very nice bird photos guys!  I love to watch birds and all wildlife.  Here's some pics I took of birds at the park and on vacation, the hawk was in my yard.



















Red-Tailed Hawk







Loggerhead Shrike


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## Goldfynche (May 13, 2016)

Yes indeed! Beautiful pictures. Funny how they look familiar but are a different species. I guess some of them are distant cousins.


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## Ameriscot (May 13, 2016)

American robins are much bigger than the ones we get in Scotland.  In our area we've got seagulls, ducks, blue tits, chaffinches, cuckoo, owls, woodpeckers, oyster catchers.  

I googled to see what birds are in our area and found this list:

http://argyllbirdclub.org/?page_id=103


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## Goldfynche (May 13, 2016)

It was in the Argyll forest that I heard my first Wood Warbler.


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## Ameriscot (May 13, 2016)

Goldfynche said:


> It was in the Argyll forest that I heard my first Wood Warbler.



Ah yes, not too far from me.  I don't the names of a lot of birds, but husband does.


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## QuickSilver (May 25, 2016)

I love nature and have participated in some guided bird watching outings sponsored by the Greater Chicago Area Bird Club.  It's really cool to have a person who knows the names of the birds and their specific calls and points them out.  I plan to add that to my list of hobbies for next year when I will be retired and able to participate more.


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## Brint (Dec 24, 2016)

I put out feeders for Humming Birds in April here, had 5 feeders last year and about 50 to 60 birds. We get the Ruby Red Throated birds here and lots of other birds. Quite a few Blue Jays in the winter, they like the acorns from the oak trees. Lots of people like Blue birds, I like the Indigo Bunting better for their blue color.nthego:


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## Vega_Lyra (Mar 2, 2017)




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## Grampa Don (Mar 18, 2017)

I'm not a real birdwatcher, but I do watch birds.  We have feeders and a bird bath in our back yard that we keep filled.  And, I keep a hummingbird feeder on the patio.  The Anna's hummers are fun.  We get mostly sparrows and various finches.  There is usually a black phoebe around catching flies.  At times we get a scrub jay that steals peanuts out of the squirrel feeder.  You can't miss its shrill cry.  Mocking birds sing all summer and catch bugs on the lawn.  Occasionally I've seen gold finches.  A sharp shin hawk comes around regularly to snag an unwary meal.  One year there were a couple of starlings pulling earth worms out of the grass.  There are always a few doves and crows.  There is a flock of green parrots that have become naturalized, and they show up when the neighbor's pecan tree is full.  They really make a racket.  The rarest bird we've had is a long tailed whydah.  I've seen it several times.  It's tail is about 3 times as long as its body.  It's a native of Africa, but has also been naturalized here.

There are a variety of others that I can't identify.  There is one that is really tiny, not much bigger than the hummers.  And there is another about the size of a robin that just goes peep and hunts for bugs in the lawn.

Some people find an aquarium relaxing.  I get the same effect from watching the birds.  It's an ever changing show.

Don


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