Parakeets
Animal Aid’s latest newsletter seemed to imply that the RSPB is supporting a cull of ring-necked parakeets and Canada geese. We haven’t managed to see this particular item but it clearly refers to Natural England’s inclusion of parakeets and non-native geese to certain general licences. We were able to assure enquirers that no cull has been proposed and people will still need legitimate reasons to take action against parakeets. These do not include being noisy, eating lots of peanuts and having bright green feathers!
Trichomoniasis
Tricho reports are dimishing at last. This follows similar pattern to previous years. The poor old greenfinches remain the main victims.
Pheasants
Pheasants are still on the agenda, although it is the wide range of their colouring that is causing interest. As well as the traditional golden brown and green colouring of the males, pheasants come in a range of other shades, can be completely green, or melanistic. The latter is a plumage abnormality. Melanistic birds have a large amount of dark pigmentation, so melanistic pheasants will have dark brown or almost black feathers. Reeves pheasants are also featuring with a few sightings of this large, attractive, long-tailed bird.
Pouvez-vous id cet oiseau s’il vous plait?
Most people return from France with a bottle of wine or two but one person brought back a dead bird so that we could identify it. It was in a freezer for 2 months before the finder could get it to us. It was a pied flycatcher. Apparently, these are very common in the south of France.
What’s happened to my birds?
Still absent from many areas as colder weather has yet to hit. Loads of natural food providing them with plenty of alternatives to garden feeding stations. They will be featuring in a garden near you in the near future no doubt.
Oil tankers
A member from the southwest was concerned about the large numbers of oil tankers moored off the coast in an area that has previously seen massive oil spills. They are not just a feature of the southwest coast with more than 30 lurking of the Suffolk coast too. Let us hope for calm conditions at sea.
Bird brain
A somewhat confused golden eagle attempted to attack a lurcher in Ayrshire. Its motives remain a subject for debate.
And what we are not getting -
Kamikaze woodcocks, throwing themselves at windows, have clearly learnt better navigational skills and swans have left centre stage to rehearse for the Twelve Days of Christmas, although one or two missed the auditions. Not many winter visitor reports although numbers of starlings and geese, at winter roosts, are on the up.
Watch out for swifts