UK Birdwatcher Help Needed

[Steve Wooler]

Hi All

Can someone who knows British birds please identify the bird below. I took the photo a few minutes ago through my office window, here in sunny Suffolk in the UK.

This bird is large - almost the size of a magpie. I've never seen one before and couldn't find it in a fairly comprehensive bird book. It has visited half a dozen times over the past three weeks or so but this is the first time I've managed to get any shots. I'm fascinated to know what it is.

Before anyone says I'm off topic (Tobago), the shots were taken (through a very dirty office window, I'm ashamed to admit) on a camera bought for our work in Tobago and only every normally used over there.

[Jack Hargreaves]

Hello Steve,
The bird is 100% Jay. They are fairly common, but a bit shy. The behavour is much like a Magpie.
Nice picture.
Regards, Jack

[Steve Wooler]

Look at that - the power of the Internet. 12 minutes and I got an answer - half the time it took me to go through the Reader's Digest Book of British Birds, or whatever it is called.

Thanks Jack. I've never seen one before. The first time it visited, it was sitting on a window box immediately outside the window - little more than the width of my desk away. We both sat there in stunned silence looking at each other.

Seeing as they are so common (to others, if not to me) here's one that is a little rarer (I hope). This is, I believe, a kestrel. He's visited a few times. I didn't see him bring down this wood pigeon, but it was certainly alive when he started work on it. Sometimes its hard to get any work done there's so much activity in the garden outside my office.

[Carol Townsend]

Hello Steve!
'Twould be a sparrowhawk. Kestrels take small mammals.
Hope I'm first in answering this time!
Noe

[Steve Wooler]

Ignorance is a wonderful thing!

Well, if I'd bothered to look at Google images, I would quickly have seen that you are perfectly right. Mind you, I have seen this same bird (???) sitting on the deck outside my office (a wooden cabin hidden in the trees) eating a large rodent. One of the neighbours said a kestrel was neighbouring somewhere in the trees at the back and I assumed this was one and the same.

Incidentally, Sparrowhawks have nearly killed me many a time. I think they are fascinating and they used to be a fairly common site here in East Anglia, but seem less so these days. There's many a time I've nearly driven off the road because I was so intently watching a hawk hovering in fields adjacent to the road.

Anyway, thanks for correcting me. Yes, you were the first reply, but it would be appreciated if you would avoid hanging around next time - that took you 22 minutes.

[David Watkins]

Yup Steve definitely a juvenile Jay bird.Don't forget to say!"Good morning Mr Jay how are you and the wife today" its an old superstition.
David(less than 42 days till touch down)

[Steve Wooler]

What strange people you must all be down in Cornwall, going around talking to wild birds!!!!

[GillMathews]

Last summer loud screeching in the garden made me rush to the open french doors.A Sparrowhawk had a large adult Blackbird pinned upside down on the patio only a couple of yards from the house.The Hawk's wings were spread arond it's prey like a cloak.It looked really menacing. Startled by my loud clapping it loosened it grip and the blackbird escaped only to be caught again in mid flight within a few feet.Then miraculously the Blackbird was dropped as the Sparrowhawk tried to gain enough height to rise over the 6ft fence.It flew onto dense foliage from where it continued to send out the alarm for a long time. I think the Sparrowhawk was quite young and inexperienced but nevertheless I was stunned by the ariel speed and acrobatic skill they displayed.No time for a camera I'm afraid
Steve, thanks for the lovely picture of the Jay. I havn't seen one for about three years.Such striking plumage.
Gill xx

[Carol Townsend]

What's wrong with talking to wild birds? I do it all the time.
Steve my dear chap, the birds you saw hovering were probably kestrels, they hover when hunting for mice, voles etc. Sparrowhawks swoop on birds, and predators are not averse to a bit of carrion at times. You must watch Springwatch on BBC1 next year, and Autumnwatch which starts on October 27th.
Anything else I can help you with before I blackout?

[Steve Wooler]

Well, whenever I talk to wild birds, I invariably get my face slapped (by Jill).

Hmmm! Maybe I have confused the two then. I must admit I love programmes like Springwatch but they tend to be on while I'm still at work. In fact they're so much my sort of program that I could even suffer that Oddie Bill who presents it. Did you see him on the One Show the other week? What a piece of work he is. Even the presenters Adrian and Christine looked embarassed. Anyway, I'm moving too far off topic so ignore me.

[Carol Townsend]

I've always fancied being a Wild Bird, but have never quite managed it...
We see jays in the garden sometimes, and have had the odd visit from a sparrowhawk.
I was at a bus stop once which is in front of some dense bushes and trees. I saw feathers fluttering down from above the bus shelter, turned and found myself face to face with a pair of evil looking yellow eyes. It was a sparrowhawk plucking a pigeon, and was I glad that I am not a bird! I shouldn't say evil of course; it's just nature.
So does that conclude our ornithological discussion? Hope not!
Noe

[Kevin Pallant]

Great pictures Steve, they would look better through the sights of a rifle though!!

As I wish to remain friends with those that post here I shall refrain from making too many comments, but if you really want to know about nature and its ways then Springwatch and Autumnwatch are not the best places to start, neither is watching a Bambi film.

Must dash, off to skin a rabbit

[Bill B]

Kevin,

I think it might be a good idea for you to run for cover

Bill

[Paul Tallet]

Hmm ... I have to agree with Kevin ... those birds would look much nicer in a pot with a few carrots and potatoes ... yum yum

Regards

[David Watkins]

The pigeon yup......the bird of prey,no,you can go to jail for taking/killing any British bird of prey
David

[Carol Townsend]

David and Kevin,
You are welcome to come and dispatch some of our feral pigeons and ring-necked parakeets, which are fast becoming pests.
Paul,
If you are a Public Relations Consultant for Mother Nature, you should be a vegetarian!
Steve,
check out the RSPB site, where you learn a lot, and can hear some birds. My favourite is the eider duck, which sounds like it's gossiping: "ooooh! ooh!"

[Paul Tallet]

I thought ducks did 'Quack'.

Whilst on the subject of interesting animal phenoma, does anyone know why Cows have lips?

Just go find the nearest Cow in your area and check it out ... look forward to your findings ...

Regards

[David Watkins]

Same reason we do.....to stop the edge of it's mouth fraying

[Carol Townsend]

This thread is supposed to be about birds. I'm going to report this deviation to Mr Wooler...
OK, you know what these birds are but where are they?


And why do cows moo?

[Steve Wooler]

We'll have no deviants on this board, thank you very much Carol.

Thank heavens someone has got this thread back to Tobago. You've got me as to where it is though.

Paul's question about cow lips intrigues me. Can't say I know the answer, except to say that many years ago someone I know referred to a girl I had gone out with for a short time as "cow lips". I knew exactly what he meant; kissing her was like putting your face through a car wash.