[Johnny Brown]

Just saw a small reddish falcon outside the office. No forked tail so not a kestrel. Juvenile peregrine?

Kestrels don't have forked tails. It sounds like a Kestrel. It's too early for recently fledged birds and last year's juveniles will have just moulted into adult/ semi-adult plumage. Where are you? Could be Lesser Kestrel in Europe.

[Muenchener]

Just saw a small reddish falcon outside the office. No forked tail so not a kestrel. Juvenile peregrine?

Kestrels don't have forked tails. It sounds like a Kestrel. It's too early for recently fledged birds and last year's juveniles will have just moulted into adult/ semi-adult plumage. Where are you? Could be Lesser Kestrel in Europe.

Bavaria: northern outskirts of Munich to be specific. There are peregrines nesting in the vicinity, but this was low down at street level where they tend not to hang out. I had the same thought regarding wrong time of year.

Lesser kestrel looks like a good call. Stubbier wings and shorter tail than a normal kestrel (with "forked" I was probably thinking of the way a kestrel fans its tail when hovering, but this one way on its way from A to B and not hovering)

[SamT]

A Hobby's russet 'trousers' are usually the most obvious thing. I've only seen them overhead though so can't comment on behaviour. I wouldn't rule out a Merlin in that habitat, and they are more likely to look a little scruffy. With such a close view size might be useful? Hobby's are Kestrel sized, Merlins surprisingly small more like a thrush.

Going to go with my initial hunch of Hobby.  It was nearer kestrel size, and not strikingly small.  Another feature that stood out to me, and upon looking in a couple of books seems more in line with a Hobby - was the peregrine like black side burns. 

Chuffed with that.

[fatneck]

not strikingly small

Bob on!! Nice one 

[slackline]

Have had a couple of pairs of Goldfinch's in our street recently, first time I've seen them here.

Local hedgehog is out of hibernation & was snuffling around the back garden the other night.

[fatneck]

Our local Goldfinch population has grown massively in the last three years, I remember when seeing a small flock in the park was noteworthy and now you can hear them chirruping away pretty much all the time. I reckon they're more common than sparrows (round here at least) now... Prettier too

[SA Chris]

Is it OK for you make extra effort so that the first bird your son can identify by name is a tit?

[SamT]

Arf...

[Will Hunt]

Up to our ears in Goldfinches, Bullfinches and Jays in Bingley. The only thing more common in our garden are blue tits, even outside the winter sunbathing season.

[fatneck]

Is it OK for you make extra effort so that the first bird your son can identify by name is a tit?

Utterly...

[lagerstarfish]

Is it OK for you make extra effort so that the first bird your son can identify by name is a tit?

the first bird our little lad could identify was wood pigeon - although he does call them "woodens" or "mr wooden"

[SamT]

Not seen a single chaffinch in our garden for years. Not one, but the goldfinch are as common as muck.  Lovely looking bird mind.  Only seen one Bullfinch in years.

[fatneck]

Just had a lovely weekend up in Teesdale.

Bird ticks - First Wheatears of the year, loads of Lapwings, Siskins, Common Sandpiper, Oystercatchers, Curlews, Whimbrel, a Snipe, lots of Red Grouse, Swallows and Dippers...



Also, loads and loads of randy frogs in the stream running up to Sunny Brow

[wintermute]

Not usually one for lepidoptery, but thought this emperor moth was pretty cool;

P1060338 by chrisarthur208, on Flickr

[slackline]

Saw a pod of at least a dozen dolphins or porpoise (too far to tell) from Bosigran last week. 

[Johnny Brown]

Porpoise don't typically form groups. You sometimes see a few in the same area, but they don't associate and travel as a pod like dolphins.

[SA Chris]

Saw a pod of at least a dozen dolphins or porpoise (too far to tell) from Bosigran last week. 

Did they have a sense of porpoise about them?

[JackAus]

Could've sworn I posted this already... 

But anyway, finally saw the bandicoot thats been digging up my yard. About the size of a decent sized rabbit.

Looks like this:



Not like this:

[lagerstarfish]

On Monday evening I watched a couple of ring ouzels having what I assume was a bit of terratorial dispute at the top of Safe Bet. I'd not seen them doing this before.

Of course it may have been a dispute about an arse dab on the sit start

[fatneck]

On Monday evening I watched a couple of ring ouzels having what I assume was a bit of terratorial dispute at the top of Safe Bet

Love Ring Ouzels, not seen one this year yet...

The Sheffield university Peregrines have bred again. This year with four chicks successfully hatched...

http://efm.dept.shef.ac.uk/peregrine/

[fatneck]

Just moved offices to Aintree (L30) and was outside having a fag on Monday when I heard a familiar sound and looked up to see a Lapwing flying overhead!!! Never seen one in the city before...

[Nutty]

Just had a few days in Suffolk, with fantastic weather. We went to Wicken Fen on Sunday and Minsmere on Monday and saw so much. The highlights were getting fairly close views of two bitterns in flight (might have been the same bittern twice), bearded tits, marsh harriers, avocets, little egrets, black-tailed godwits, common and little terns, reed (and possibly sedge) warblers, reed buntings, great spotted woodpecker, sand martins, swallows, long tailed tits, ringed plover, redshank, lapwings, chiffchaffs (or were they willow warblers?), marsh tit, goldfinch, greenfinch, barnacle geese, little grebes, great crested grebes and whitethroats. I was really pleased to see the bearded tits and get such good views of the bitterns. Apparently there are some stone curlews at Minsmere as well, but you'd have to be lucky (or more patient than me) to see those - Springwatch is from Minsmere this year so hopefully there will be some footage of these.

I was bouldering on Portland again on Saturday and saw wrens, whitethroat, wheatears and goldfinch.

[lagerstarfish]

a goldfinch has taken up a regular spot in the trees behind Atkinsons in Sheffield

it seems to like the smaller tree nearest to the pedestrian crossing (Atkinsons end) that goes from The Salvation Army hostel to Atkinsons on Charter Row

it looks kind of funny sitting only 12 feet up, by a busy road chirping away as the buses roll past

[Jaspersharpe]

That's mad. During the day that must be about the busiest road in the city.

[andyd]

Had an unexpected visitor at my folk's pond the other day. Luckily, this dispels the myth that there's an adder in the garden.