now that most of our summer migrants have gone the birds that come to the UK and Ireland for the winter have started to arrive.
here in N Ireland Redwings have arrived but not the Fieldfares.
Brent Geese are back from Spitsberg (sp?) except one which had a satelite tag attached. it was caught in Strangford Lough along with a few others. It turned up in an Eskimos larder and he didnt know the tag was there.
Wigeon are here in small numbers as are Pink-footed Geese.
a very late pair og Hose Martins in my Estate still have unfledged chicks which will have to begin migration as soon as they leave the nest and still be fed on the way by their parents.
we also had a major leaf fall last night. that is 2 months earlier than last year. there were trees in N Ireland hanging on to their leaves into December last year.
autumn migration well under way
Mark. There are also quite a few House Martins around here still too. Theyd better get a move on. We have a family of Tawny Owls around our house and they make a terrible noise every noise. we have to turn the tv up! Any ideas what they are saying?
I was up on the allotment this afternoon. Still no rain but it was very windy and all the leaves are falling. The kids love running through them. Being so dry they make a wonderful noise.
twit twoo maybe?
they are possible saying "hey baby I cant see you" while the other says "over here" or something like that. the double hoot is actually one answering the other.
yes I knew that. Actually it is the female that is most vocal (isnt it always?)she makes a terrible row and has done all summer. No wonder the poor male keeps his distance.
Mark found the answer in this weeks Garden news wildlife section. At this time of year the Tawny Owl family has just broken up and the youngsters have to go find their own territory. It is the mothers way of telling them to clear off as this is her patch!
So that's why they're making such a row in my garden.
I've been woken up a couple of nights recently with them shouting at each other. And the little owls are no better!
We've had owls around here the last few nights, I've never heard them here before.So that twit-twoo, is two seperate calls?
I've seen the brent geese on Spitzbergen this summer. the only bird I could identify, apart from the arctic terns, who were dead intent on dive-bombing us. But we'd been warned about that, and told to hols something up in the air as they go for the highest point!!
I attatched myself to a guy who knew what he was looking at, and he was telling me all the names, and apparently there were some rare ones there too.I did try to take photos, but not too sucessfully!!my digital camera has a slight delay on it, and by the time it took the photos, they'd moved .
Hubby went off to a headland, until he was turnrd back with the others as 2 polar bears had been spotted in that area, and they should have had armed escorts with them. So they soon came scuttling back.