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Amsterdam Russ

By Amsterdam Russ
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Martyn Pitt
Martyn Pitt

Having worked for 20 days straight, this was my first time out with the camera for a while.   A lovely male Stonechat   

Martyn Pitt
Martyn Pitt

A different take on a Common Blue Damselfly ....     "I can see you"     

Martyn Pitt
Martyn Pitt

Managed to catch a glimpse of a Reed Warbler sitting on eggs.   What always amazes me is the nest, they weave them around 3 reed stems just using their beaks.  

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Winsford Soul Veteran

Winsford Soul

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Went  Leighton Moss today, bad move full of tourists after Autumn watch. Never seen it that busy. Got a new tick off my bird list. Seen a Water Rail for the very first time. Unfortunately no pictures. Another Leighton Moss first was a Otter to far away for a picture,  had a robin perched on my hand, seen  a brown hawker dragonfly, seen a peacock or red admiral butterfly couldn't make out which one. Then sat for a hour waiting for the starlings to come in to roost, they must have gone to a different part of the reserve as i only seen a small flock of maybe a few hundred birds. Very happy 

 

Steve

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Peter99 Veteran

Peter99

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This thread always makes me say to myself "wow"! It's amazing - the skill, craft and love of nature blows me away every time.

 

Well done and thank you guys. It's an inspiration - don't stop now. 

 

On behalf of mesen and the site team.

 

Peter

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Tattoodave Veteran

Tattoodave

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Nice one Russell, love nuthatches

 

Steve

Fed one out my hand in a park in Twickenham, I think it was called Marble Hill or something, was told to take unsalted peanuts and just wait with them in my hand, I expected squirrels, but got great tits, blue tits and a nuthatch, I was well impressed as a youngster, maybe 13 years old.

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Winsford Soul Veteran

Winsford Soul

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Fed one out my hand in a park in Twickenham, I think it was called Marble Hill or something, was told to take unsalted peanuts and just wait with them in my hand, I expected squirrels, but got great tits, blue tits and a nuthatch, I was well impressed as a youngster, maybe 13 years old.

Nice Dave.  always impressed with your wildlife tales. Only been lucky enough to have robins feed out of my hands and that's only happened twice

 

Steve

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Tattoodave Veteran

Tattoodave

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Nice Dave.  always impressed with your wildlife tales. Only been lucky enough to have robins feed out of my hands and that's only happened twice

 

Steve

I had one sit on the fork as I was digging, but never fed a robin from my hand.  Had a chaffinch come in the car at Portmadog, for his lunch, sat on the steering wheel, very odd.

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Amsterdam Russ Veteran

Amsterdam Russ

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Nice one Russell, love nuthatches

 

Steve

 

 

Fed one out my hand in a park in Twickenham, I think it was called Marble Hill or something, was told to take unsalted peanuts and just wait with them in my hand, I expected squirrels, but got great tits, blue tits and a nuthatch, I was well impressed as a youngster, maybe 13 years old.

 

 

First time I ever saw a nuthatch I was sitting quietly in an elder tree watching for birds and it landed on a branch right in front of me. I was perhaps 13-14 years old then and maybe a couple of years into birdwatching. I was so excited at seeing one - and especially as it was so near to me. For me it was a really magical moment.

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Winsford Soul Veteran

Winsford Soul

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First time I ever saw a nuthatch I was sitting quietly in an elder tree watching for birds and it landed on a branch right in front of me. I was perhaps 13-14 years old then and maybe a couple of years into birdwatching. I was so excited at seeing one - and especially as it was so near to me. For me it was a really magical moment.

post-2516-0-03148900-1415220384_thumb.jp

 

Russell. Here,s a fledgling nuthatch from last year

 

Steve

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Tattoodave Veteran

Tattoodave

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First time I ever saw a nuthatch I was sitting quietly in an elder tree watching for birds and it landed on a branch right in front of me. I was perhaps 13-14 years old then and maybe a couple of years into birdwatching. I was so excited at seeing one - and especially as it was so near to me. For me it was a really magical moment.

They are a real beauty of the scarcer British birds, LBJ's might be difficult to pin down and downright confusing at times, but the nuthatch is a stunner.  Watched a treecreeper going down a tree as a nuthatch was going up the same tree once, pure magic.

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Amsterdam Russ Veteran

Amsterdam Russ

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They are a real beauty of the scarcer British birds, LBJ's might be difficult to pin down and downright confusing at times, but the nuthatch is a stunner.  Watched a treecreeper going down a tree as a nuthatch was going up the same tree once, pure magic.

I think there's a touch of the exotic about them - similar to bullfinches and kingfishers in that their colourings are very rich and distinctive, especially with the deep orangey-ruddy colourings.

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Tattoodave Veteran

Tattoodave

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post-33051-0-76821100-1415353747_thumb.j

This was taken a couple of weeks ago when my little Kapitan was still alive and running along the beach with me, today would have been his 2nd birthday.

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This is the limit of the autumn colour in Southern Spain at the moment, not brilliant, taken in central Marbella.

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This morning, just before dawn.

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Winsford Soul Veteran

Winsford Soul

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I was fortunate to see murmurations when I was a kid - absolutely magical things to behold; a real marvel of Nature.

 

Great video here. Best watched in HD.

 

http://youtu.be/M1Q-EbX6dso[/quote

Russell. Thanks for sharing, stunning.

Where I was brought up in Widnes is in the shadow of the Widnes/runcorn bridge and in the winter there's a estimated 1 hundred thousand starlings roost on the steel work. The murmurations are stunning.

Steve

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Winsford Soul Veteran

Winsford Soul

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Got a video camera?  :thumbsup:

Russell. I don't have a video camera unfortunately. I haven't lived in Widnes for 12 years now. My son still lives there with his mum . If I can be bothered putting up with the probability of a two hour drive in the rush hour I may try and get some picture's. It's a 25 minutes drive normally.

Steve

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Amsterdam Russ Veteran

Amsterdam Russ

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Russell. I don't have a video camera unfortunately. I haven't lived in Widnes for 12 years now. My son still lives there with his mum . If I can be bothered putting up with the probability of a two hour drive in the rush hour I may try and get some picture's. It's a 25 minutes drive normally.

Steve

That's a shame. Would be an incredible experience to witness, I'm sure.

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Tattoodave Veteran

Tattoodave

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That's a shame. Would be an incredible experience to witness, I'm sure.

I've seen murmurations over Eastbourne and Brighton, amazing sight, they settle eventually on the piers, or at least did before Eastbourne went up in flames.  And before anyone from Southend asks I have a cast iron alibi (no pun intended) I was in Spain when it went up, honest!

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Tattoodave Veteran

Tattoodave

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So has any reasonable explanation been offered as to why starlings swarm in this way? It seems to have a direct association with roosting as it often happens as a precursor to that.

My theory is that they are just warming up prior to roosting, metal structures are bloody cold and my basic physics tell me that metal conducts heat pretty well, so by getting warm prior to roosting they are probably not going to feel the cold that quickly, and it's a very good defensive strategy to fly like that, it confuses the hell out of me let alone a predator.

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Amsterdam Russ Veteran

Amsterdam Russ

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My theory is that they are just warming up prior to roosting, metal structures are bloody cold and my basic physics tell me that metal conducts heat pretty well, so by getting warm prior to roosting they are probably not going to feel the cold that quickly, and it's a very good defensive strategy to fly like that, it confuses the hell out of me let alone a predator.

I've also wondered as to whether there is some defensive value in these swarming displays. They give the idea of there being a single entity - and a rather enormous one at that! 

 

There's logic in what you say about it also being a pre-slumber warming up exercise for a species that isn't far enough up the evolutionary ladder to appreciate a hot water bottle. Like all birds, though, they are naturally very well insulated - and starlings happily roost in trees and other structures as well as metal ones such as piers. Also, energy is an extremely valuable commodity - it's life or death, so what value in burning up so many of the precious calories they've spent the whole day accumulating?

 

No idea if anything I'm saying here is "right" in any way - just postulating. Perhaps I'll have a look into the topic if I get the time later today as it's fascinating.

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Tattoodave Veteran

Tattoodave

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I've also wondered as to whether there is some defensive value in these swarming displays. They give the idea of there being a single entity - and a rather enormous one at that! 

 

There's logic in what you say about it also being a pre-slumber warming up exercise for a species that isn't far enough up the evolutionary ladder to appreciate a hot water bottle. Like all birds, though, they are naturally very well insulated - and starlings happily roost in trees and other structures as well as metal ones such as piers. Also, energy is an extremely valuable commodity - it's life or death, so what value in burning up so many of the precious calories they've spent the whole day accumulating?

 

No idea if anything I'm saying here is "right" in any way - just postulating. Perhaps I'll have a look into the topic if I get the time later today as it's fascinating.

Hence I started with "My theory", just postulating, and smiling at those two words which conjure up a piece of Monty Python lunacy.  What do I know? I ain't got fevvers! Edited by TattooDave
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Amsterdam Russ Veteran

Amsterdam Russ

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A little scratching at the surface of starling murmurations reveals this interesting article. It's a lay perspective of a study conducted by theoretical physicists at the University of Rome.

 

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/the-incredible-science-behind-starling-murmurations

 

Anyone with an interest and understanding of higher mathematics can read the full paper here:

 

http://www.pnas.org/content/107/26/11865.full

 

While the article and source paper provide an explanation as to why, relative to the laws of physics, murmurations work, little scope is given to why they take place at all beyond it being a defensive phenomenon. I'd put money on there being some sort of social value beyond the defensive, but couldn't say what or why.

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Winsford Soul Veteran

Winsford Soul

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A little scratching at the surface of starling murmurations reveals this interesting article. It's a lay perspective of a study conducted by theoretical physicists at the University of Rome.

 

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/the-incredible-science-behind-starling-murmurations

 

Anyone with an interest and understanding of higher mathematics can read the full paper here:

 

http://www.pnas.org/content/107/26/11865.full

 

While the article and source paper provide an explanation as to why, relative to the laws of physics, murmurations work, little scope is given to why they take place at all beyond it being a defensive phenomenon. I'd put money on there being some sort of social value beyond the defensive, but couldn't say what or why.

Russell. there must be enough bird brains on here to come up with a answer  :wicked:  :g:  :lol:

 

Steve

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