One of the common birds I saw in the grounds of Bingham Academy during our two week stay in Ethiopia last December was the strange Speckled Mousebird (Colius striatus). It seems that this odd looking bird is named for its similarity to a mouse, especially its colour. When the feathers are fluffed it is also [...]
The Dusky Turtle Dove (Streptopelia lugens) was a challenging bird for me to photograph during my visit to Ethiopia last December. Although they were relatively common on the school campus where my daughter was teaching, during our 2 week stay this species was almost reclusive in nature. One evening I stealthily chased one around the [...]
With so many Yellow-billed Kites soaring around the school grounds at Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa, I was able to get some good photos over the fortnight we stayed there with our daughter. I always take opportunities to hone my photographic skills but realise that shooting birds in flight is one area I’ve not fully [...]
We often see starlings flying in a great flock, swirling in evening sky before plunging earthwards to their roosts, at this time of year, when there isn’t much to cheer; yet when I sat by the quayside at a Scarborough dock, One suddenly flew down, alighting on a nest of lobster pots. It sat there preening [...]Bev has been having a problem with sparrow hawks in her garden. She is trying her best to get rid of them and has never experienced such a bold sparrow hawk in all her years of feeding. Any new ideas for getting rid of sparrow hawks are welcome. Hi Trish, here’s an update on our [...]
Another common bird I observed in Addis Ababa on my recent trip to Ethiopia was the Streaky Seedeater Serinus striolatus. This is another member of the finch family of birds. In the school grounds where my daughter was teaching they were very common, behaving like many species of finch and sparrow in cleaning up after [...]
10 Redwings in our Liverpool garden this morning -0-0-0-0 Hi Denis, Thanks for this information. It’s good to know they are thriving. I think they often join with flocks of Fieldfares. They are one of our winter visitors and don’t often nest here. I can’t ever remember seeing one. They stay in the open countryside [...]
I’m excited because I’m having this photo put onto Acrylic. Not sure why I like this phot so much, but I do I took this photgraph about a year ago and have it as my screen saver, but I wonder what other people thinkHurray! A sparrowhawk being chased away from a garden. Here is what happened. Thanks Bev for sending this. -0-0-0-0- From Bev - Our feeding station is positioned near the shrubs and surrounded by the canes which seem to deter the sparrow hawk a lot of the time. As the weather gets worse its not very easy [...]