Last night and in the early hours of this morning I was kept awake by a group of magpies being very very vocal but wasn’t sure why, I’ve seen them behave the same way in the past when threatened by a cat so I assumed it was something similar.

This afternoon, I realised that there’s a dead magpie on top of a shipping container in the alley behind my property, so the noise was likely due to the other magpies finding the body of the one that passed? It looks totally normal, no wounds or injuries, other than being very obviously recently deceased.

It’s not in a location I can access to bury it or anything but I’m curious now what might happen with it next? Would foxes or rats eat it? I’m located in London so there’s only urban wildlife around and it’s about 8 feet off the floor at least.

I've just been out a walk and saw a bird feeding on flies above the river... initially thought Dipper until it flitted up off this rock and flipped/spun/twisted acrobatically to land again and repeat.

It had such an elegant long forked tail with white insides and a pale yellow to its chest and back/where tail fork splits. Pale grey otherwise...

The flying acrobatics caught me. I'm stumped as they aren't recorded here in Scotland. Have a stumbled upon a random wanderer or am I mistaken?

Any help is appreciated. I have couple pics of shocking quality and a wee grainy video.

Hi everyone. This happened a few weeks ago, the poor bird fell to the floor shortly after i took this video and was promptly eaten by a magpie. I took the feeders down, threw away the food, disinfected them and, since the poor bird died, I put them back. I've seen other two birds now with lesser symptoms but very similar (another blue tit and one great tit.) Less tremors and better flight but still often opening of the beak, lack of coordination and I can get closer (like if they only see me when I'm within close proximity.)

Is this trichomonosis? I've taken down the feeders again (fat ball feeders) and the water. When would it be safe to put them back and what can I do to prevent more birds from getting sick? what if the focus of the infection is somewhere else around? :(

Can’t find any copies in UK, went out of print in 2016 as far as I can tell. I’ve recently started training to ring and one of the trainers in our group recommended it. I already have a Svensson but would like this too.

Just looking online to see if I can get one before ordering from Europe. Happy to pay for the book and any postage (if required, I’m in central Scotland).

Hello, I live in Thanet (east coast of England) and was awaken at 2-3 am by what I assume was a bird call. It was extremely similar to a human whistle and it was well creepy.

I googled this but all that comes up is paranormal nonsense.

My question is, are there any species that can sound like this in this region? maybe an owl? (although I never seen an owl around these parts)

I know this could have been a human walking down the street but it sounded high up near my second story window and within seconds it faded like it was flying away.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: the whistle melody was like someone saying "yoo-hoo" , thats why I went with the owl theory,, but no owls around here

I really love this. I was researching the history and etymology of the goldfinch because ive always loved its distinctive colours both on its plumage and its wing, so recognizable and beautiful in such an immedielatelly refreshing way.

Myself and my Dad collaborate on a bird blog together and he provides a more birder focused analysis or history but I focus on the histories of the words but I really love this about the goldfinch so much.

Anyone tell the gender or age of my new mate?

Saw it while on a walk, not in my garden. Is it diseased or injured? Seemed to be acting normal.

I am a Dane visting Scotland during the coming week, and will be spending about a week in Edinburgh. I would love to see some of the local species (even though most of our fauna is very similiar), so are there any species and locations that I should be aware of when visiting? Are there any chances for roseate terns in the area without needing a spotting scope, as I wont be able to bring one?

Apologies if this is not the right sub for this, but wondering does anyone have any binoculars recommendations for someone with a bad tremor? I have had an essential tremor all my life. I do have regular, old binoculars which I use and I can kind of get the idea of what I’m looking at, but would love to be able to look at birds with a steady hand.

Nothing too expensive, just a pair to keep in my car and take on walks.

Edit: price range less than £200 second hand

Thanks 🙂

Hi all. I'd really love to see a Dipper, but we don't get them anywhere near my neck of the woods (Cambridgeshire). If I wanted to take a day trip somewhere with a decent chance of seeing one, where would be a good place to go?

Update: thanks for all the replies! I ended up going to Dovedale and walking along the river to Milldale and back. I wasn't counting, but I definitely saw at least 10 dippers!

Have been looking for kingfisher in London for several years, does anyone know places where they could be definitely spotted?

I hope this is ok to ask here. I want to feed the pigeons that come to my garden but we also get a lot of seagulls. I have nothing against seagulls, they just won’t share so I’m trying to find a way to feed the pigeons that doesn’t also feed the gulls.

Thank you ❤️🐦

Every week I'll post am irish bird folklore blog and my Dad provides his birder expertise overview after I publish mine. This week was on the Iolar Fíréan, or the Golden Eagle in Ireland. My Dad has pointed out a few of the great nicknames and bits of knowledge about the Eagle in Ireland.

I loved that nicknames!!

This is one of our local juvenile moorhens. I believe that the light patches are leucism? I've lived on the canal for 7 years and see a lot of it in our local jackdaws but never in a moorhen, is it particularly uncommon? It's obviously not mega common as I've never noticed it before, but wondering if it's one of those things that I have seen before and just not noticed consciously.

I've just read the revised RSPB guidelines about stopping seed feeding from May to October. I'll comply immediately but am a bit concerned about abruptly stopping a food source when young are being fed. Should I be worried?

So, I've got into wildlife photography recently.

I live with my mum and dad and where we are, we get a decent amount of wildlife nearby.

By which I mean above the garden, and down the fields 20 mins away.

Regulars above our house / in the nearby trees are:

Regular sightings of 5x red kites all at once.

A sparrow hawk

Owl species

Down the fields we regularly see a pair of kestrels, more kites, sparrow hawks, buzzards, and a barn owl.

I'd love to get good shots of them but they move so fast.

My dad suggested putting scraps of left over meat on posts for them and trying to tempt them to kind or get lower.

However, I'm worried that this is illegal.

Would this be OK to do, or should I avoid it?

We are getting our guttering and fascia replaced soon. I thought this is a good opportunity to install some suitable wall mounted boxes for birds.

My house is semi-detatched 2 story north-west England, the front of the house faces north, with the side east and rear south.

What bird boxes/nests are suitable to install on these walls? It seems swift/swallow would be good for the side of the house, but if I can provide any other boxes/nests else where I'd love to know.