Full house

[johnalison]

... on the mud, that is.
Down at Titchmarsh today I took my 'scope as I usually do when it is lowish tide and had a look at the creek behind. It looked as if all the usual winter birds were there, and they made a fine sight in the bright hazy sunlight. Without actually counting, I would say there were around:
300 pintail
200 avocets
10,000 knots/dunlin
100 shelduck
1000 golden plover
100+ black-tailed godwit
200 redshank
1 greenshank
and a scattering of turnstones, grey plover and curlew
I didn't see any teal or wigeon but it was a bit nippy and I couldn't hang around for long. I'm not an expert, but if anyone wants to join me there one day when it's lowish tide and not too foul, please PM me as I go down from time to time.

 

[WF36]

Bigplumb's drone must be grounded today.

 

[Bigplumbs]

... on the mud, that is.
Down at Titchmarsh today I took my 'scope as I usually do when it is lowish tide and had a look at the creek behind. It looked as if all the usual winter birds were there, and they made a fine sight in the bright hazy sunlight. Without actually counting, I would say there were around:
300 pintail
200 avocets
10,000 knots/dunlin
100 shelduck
1000 golden plover
100+ black-tailed godwit
200 redshank
1 greenshank
and a scattering of turnstones, grey plover and curlew
I didn't see any teal or wigeon but it was a bit nippy and I couldn't hang around for long. I'm not an expert, but if anyone wants to join me there one day when it's lowish tide and not too foul, please PM me as I go down from time to time.
View attachment 187745View attachment 187746

So you were out anoying and upsetting feeding birds for your own pleasure then. I am told that those long scopes create reflections that will cause those birds to be disturbed. Or is your hobby Ok and not others. Is that how it works

 

[Bigplumbs]

Bigplumb's drone must be grounded today.

Drone..... Singular ????? . Please try and keep up

 

[Daydream believer]

Bigplumb's drone must be grounded today.

Better if one just grounded BP

 

[johnalison]

So you were out anoying and upsetting feeding birds for your own pleasure then. I am told that those long scopes create reflections that will cause those birds to be disturbed. Or is your hobby Ok and not others. Is that how it works

In cold weather feeding birds are actually fairly tame and can be approached quite close if done carefully and properly attired. What they don’t like are dogs or anything that reminds them of a hawk. My clothes were olive green and as you can see I was some distance away behind phragmites, so your pathetic attempt at moral relativism just makes you appear wilfully antisocial.

 

[Daydream believer]

In cold weather feeding birds are actually fairly tame and can be approached quite close if done carefully and properly attired. What they don’t like are dogs or anything that reminds them of a hawk. My clothes were olive green and as you can see I was some distance away behind phragmites, so your pathetic attempt at moral relativism just makes you appear wilfully antisocial.

Were there any ducks & did you have your shotgun?

 

[johnalison]

Were there any ducks & did you have your shotgun?

The brown blobs in my photo are pintail, though I had to degrade the picture before uploading. Although I assume that your experience is limited since duck would be the plural to a shot, perhaps you can advise me. At what sort of distance might I be able to bring down a pintail with my .177 air rifle?

 

[Egret]

The birds, all types, will come close to see if you have food for them once they are used to you. Big flock of turnstones in the busiest part of our harbour. The birds who are resident on our boat seem to have a good variety of food from the remnants they leave - crab, shellfish - and chicken leg bones probably from the takeaway - but think of all the poor worms who are eaten, and the fish eaten by the seals - they are part of our community too. Saw an Osprey catch and eat a big fish at Manningtree at low tide last year - quite a sight but most surprised about the size of the fish in the river there - various fish in our creek now too - hadn't seen fish there for many years since all the mullet were netted.

 

[Aquaboy]

A mate of mine has a duck punt and a very big gun.........

 

[Daydream believer]

The brown blobs in my photo are pintail, though I had to degrade the picture before uploading. Although I assume that your experience is limited since duck would be the plural to a shot, perhaps you can advise me. At what sort of distance might I be able to bring down a pintail with my .177 air rifle?

An air rifle (I have a 22 weihrauch & a 22 BSA) is not suitable for hunting birds. The possibility of only wounding is far too high. Actually I could find no pleasure in killing any bird & my post was tongue in cheek.
Rats are a different proposition.

 

[johnalison]

An air rifle (I have a 22 weihrauch & a 22 BSA) is not suitable for hunting birds. The possibility of only wounding is far too high. Actually I could find no pleasure in killing any bird & my post was tongue in cheek.
Rats are a different proposition.

The possibility of my even hitting a bird might have been a hint to my lack of seriousness. My lifetime total is one sparrow and two pigeons, and I wouldn’t dream of harming something as beautiful as a pintail.

 

[Mister E]

I gather that someone is droning on. It is so nice that it is still possible to see such numbers of beautiful creatures.
Especially without some idiot flying something to scare them away.

 

[Bigplumbs]

In cold weather feeding birds are actually fairly tame and can be approached quite close if done carefully and properly attired. What they don’t like are dogs or anything that reminds them of a hawk. My clothes were olive green and as you can see I was some distance away behind phragmites, so your pathetic attempt at moral relativism just makes you appear wilfully antisocial.

your pathetic attempt at justification has failed. It is clear that you feel that every thing you do is fine but other peoples hobbies and pass times are not. You think that sailing is fine but jet skis are bad, spying on birds and people with long lenses is fine but drone flying is bad.

You bring this on your self with your attitude I am afraid

 

[Bigplumbs]

The possibility of my even hitting a bird might have been a hint to my lack of seriousness. My lifetime total is one sparrow and two pigeons, and I wouldn’t dream of harming something as beautiful as a pintail.

So if it is pretty it should live but if ugly it can die. Another very questionable attitude

 

[Bigplumbs]

A mate of mine has a duck punt and a very big gun.........

But that should not be allowed surely as it is not one of the OP,s hobbies

 

[Bigplumbs]

To the OP

You see it is like this. Someone posts a harmless yet potentially interesting thread about Felixstowe docks and you bang on about birds and the evil of drones even though no birds were remotely impacted by the video/picture

You post some uninteresting thread about birds and you wonder why people react. Simple isn’t it

 

[Daydream believer]

The possibility of my even hitting a bird might have been a hint to my lack of seriousness. My lifetime total is one sparrow and two pigeons, and I wouldn’t dream of harming something as beautiful as a pintail.

I think that sparrows are wonderful little creatures & it is a pity that they had a declining population. However, pigeons are not good for farms & I have seen the damage caused by them in cities etc. Pigeon droppings cost a lot of money to clear up before works can be undertaken & serious illness can result from incorrect contact. I have regularly had to employ specialists to clean up before we can start works.
My wife gets really upset about the one that nests on our sky dish every year & when our picture goes she screams & is out there poking it with a stick, she keeps for the purpose. Thing is the b..y pigeon builds the nest as fast as she can shift it. Damned thing goes & s..ts on her car in retalliation. Once there is young in the nest she has to stop. That makes here even more annoyed. She is often out ther chasing pigeons off her car. Cursing & flapping her arms enough to take off herself.
I think it s quite funny really & refuse to shoot them with my airgun

 

[Egret]

I like the bird thread and hope it will continue,

We are fortunate to have so many birds in these special and rare estuaries whereas many parts of the countryside are now noticeably quiet.

Egret avocet and now spoonbill a success story - avocet numbers seen at Walton incredible - only one or two until recently- in fact all these bird numbers - but nationally only a small area of suitable habitat.

Bird Magazine would like to hear of and record these sightings and if anyone sees anything special.

Saw first Buzzard while doing rescue boat with an EWT volunteer a while ago - now lots.

Flock of turnstones on the foreshore at Harwich - camouflage so good they are difficult to see.

Egrets now as far inland as Kersey Mill

Have people seen the Bent Geese?

let's appreciate and record what we have before it's gone. Did I hear Joni Mitchell?

 

[johnalison]

I like the bird thread and hope it will continue,

We are fortunate to have so many birds in these special and rare estuaries whereas many parts of the countryside are now noticeably quiet.

Egret avocet and now spoonbill a success story - avocet numbers seen at Walton incredible - only one or two until recently- in fact all these bird numbers - but nationally only a small area of suitable habitat.

Bird Magazine would like to hear of and record these sightings and if anyone sees anything special.

Saw first Buzzard while doing rescue boat with an EWT volunteer a while ago - now lots.

Flock of turnstones on the foreshore at Harwich - camouflage so good they are difficult to see.

Egrets now as far inland as Kersey Mill

Have people seen the Bent Geese?

let's appreciate and record what we have before it's gone. Did I hear Joni Mitchell?

I’ve not seen Bent geese but a good number of Brent, actually rather fewer than the last year or two. I like to think that those of us with a mature view of the environment outnumber those with no more than verbal diarrhoea. I regard myself as an opportunist bird watcher rather than an enthusiast, in that I mostly just like to know what I am seeing when out walking or sailing rather than going out of my way, though I go to the local reserves occasionally. I would be happy to open up my thread to any other reports on what people have seen locally, so that we can make up for the uninitiated.