This thread will continue daily until we decide that nest activities require the 2019 DAILY UPDATE to commence :)
Trying posted first live stream snap of 2019:
Nota bene - NO GLARE !!!
Not to be outdone (even tho she was) Scylla poked her nose in - what a shame that it shows how much better the VLC picture is, compared to (her) screen-capture:
No nest activities yet seen, it really is too bad !!! ;-D
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YOUTUBE LIVE STREAM - opens in new tab/window
WATCH ON CARNYX.TV - opens in new tab/window
VLC LINK - Copy & Paste into "Open Network Stream"
http://carnyxlive.co.uk:1935/.../playlist.m3u8
IMAGICAT
That was my first year too, PATILY - they get right under your skin, don't they? :'(
I found a bit more and wonder if there was a Stonechat near the end? The greyish bird who hopped across the nest - could that have been a female Crossbill? No idea about the yellow one.
NIGHTCAM 20:46
Hi there MICHELLE - you posted while I had the RF box open for an hour ;)
I think we all have the same feelings and questions. Perhaps when the youngsters start returning en masse we'll see more activity.
Tiger Signature
Hi Scylla
The little yellowey green birds are the female Crossbills...
Indulge me folks whilst I get a little bit nerdy...I know but its late and I cant sleep !
There are 3 species of crossbill in the Abernethy Forest...the Common Crossbill...the Scottish Crossbill....and the Parrot Crossbill.
The markings in the feathers of the species are remarkably similar, which leaves the size of the birds head and the size of the birds bill as the most reliable identification method.
There is research which suggests that the bills are needed to be measured in length and in depth and it needs to be done with a micrometer to be certain !
Obviously this is not possible...especially in the field with telescopes and binos....
The nearest you can be certain of is.....its a Crossbill in Scotland that looks a bit "parotty" or "commoney"
or "I think it might have been a scottish scottish one !!!
The bird you describe as "grey" is a beautiful male Crossbill in his summer red plummage....have another look Scylla....you'll see the bright orangey red on his face and tummy as he faces us.
Unless you meant the greyish one on the right thats only there for a nanno second...that one was another female crossbill....just a little bit differently coloured. The camera is seeing colours a bit whacky imho !!!!
Hope this helps....thanks for letting me be nerdy everyone !!!
0181.crossbills.pdf
I watched EJ for 15 summers and I agree that she was possibly the most tenacious egg sitter of all. Her first egg in a clutch tended to hatch on 36 days rather than 37.
The nesting season of 2012 was extremely wet and it was hard to watch EJ sitting there in the rain while many other females had given up.
However EJ was one for the "boys" and her long running affair with her ex-husband Orange VS was one of the best soap operas around.
In 2005 and 2007 her partner Henry came back to find that she had eggs in the nest. Now the one thing that Henry was a master at was booting eggs out of the nest and this he did with some style.
Henry then tried to get EJ to lay a second clutch of eggs. He was successful in 2007 but not in 2005. In fact in 2005 EJ sulked and disappeared for 9 days. Henry had to go and get her and when they got back a new couple were trying to move in.
Here is a somewhat confusing video from 2007.
It shows Henry kicking the eggs.
Here was the diary account of the incident. Henry's Cracking Return
Good morning - I still have to read the (obviously very interesting) posts since my last post last night, first here is the usual routine:
Spider looking a strange shape - maybe it's someone else:
DAYCAM 05:52
BIRDIE and there was another just showing over the back but couldn't get them at the same time:
Can't resist the green phase:
Thank you HENRY for the nerdiness (I'll never learn ;) ), and MARILYN for the emotion (shared), and TIGER for the reminiscence (before my time, much to my regret) ... :)))