Today I'm happy about......

[thebish]

Got most of those you mention Bish (although not seen the thrushes for a while) but there's one I can't identify; sparrow size, brownish main but rusty red around the chest and head. Wife thinks it's a chaffinch. Not managed to get near enough for a pic.

chaffinches (male and female) are both more colourful than brown...

female:


female chaffinch (fringilla coelebs) by revnev, on Flickr

male:


chaffinch in the dogwood by revnev, on Flickr

see if you can get a photo - get your best stalking hat on and report back!

I suppose - rusty red might describe it - if it seems to be mainly a ground-feeder - then that would indicate chaffinch too...

[thebish]

alternatively - the male sparrow could be described as having a rusty-looking head:


the humble House Sparrow (passer domesticus) by revnev, on Flickr

the female being a lot blander....


female house sparrow by revnev, on Flickr

[TANGODANCER]

Definitely not a sparrow, saw it through binocs. I'll keep trying. It was seen on the ground pecking around.

[thebish]

Definitely not a sparrow, saw it through binocs. I'll keep trying. It was seen on the ground pecking around.

if it is sparrow sized - and on the ground - then it is a chaffinch or a dunnock - and dunnocks are grey&brown - so it looks very much like your missus is correct!

[Dujon]

Kookaburras; Kurrawongs; Native Black Birds; Eastern Mynahs; Indian Minas (fortunately diminishing in numbers - they're exotics and grubby, bullying little buggers who compete with native birds for food and nesting places); Sulphur Crested Cockatoos; Red Wing Cockatoos; Yellow Wing Cockatoos; King Parrots; Eastern Rozellas; Crimson Rozellas; various Lorikeets; Butcher Birds (glorious singing voices); Eastern Whip Birds (they really do sound like a whip, particularly if the male's mate is close by - like the Kookaburra their calling can easily be thought of one call rather than two). Then there are some wrens which have taken up residence over the last few years as our garden has developed to a stage where they have nesting and foliage protection. Add to those the Mopokes who haunt the night (it's a form of owl), the Frogmouth Owl (during the day it finds a fork in a tree and sits there like a statue until evening - it also ugly and looks nothing like the Barn Owl). That's a few of my garden visitors. Many are migratory and so cannot be called permanent residents but, nevertheless, are regular visitors. As I type there is a group of Magpies, which are gregarious, warbling away and the wrens are darting about in the back garden like little streaks of blurredness (by crikey they move fast!).

Of recent times my biggest surprise was the sighting of a Lyre Bird a few yards over my back fence. In my fifty-odd years of living in this country I have seen only one other Lyre Bird, and that was on a bush walk in one of our state national parks; in other words miles from nowhere. If you haven't heard of the Lyre Bird before they have a lyre shaped tail when it's displayed and they are incredible mimics, not only of other birds' calls but also of chain saws and other man made sounds.

Sorry to barge in, but I love birds - scrawny as they are below the feathers - and regret that I cannot show photographs of my residents and boarders. Thanks for the images you have posted.

[thebish]

Sorry to barge in, but I love birds - scrawny as they are below the feathers - and regret that I cannot show photographs of my residents and boarders. Thanks for the images you have posted.

that's not barging at all! wow - that makes our UK gardens sound grey and dowdy!! A friend of mine has a pair of wrens nesting in his garden - was watching them as we supped some beer the other day - I don't know what it is about them because they are not striking or colourful in terms of plumage - I reckon it is about their "attitude" - anthropomorphic, I know - but they do "strike a pose!"


wren by revnev, on Flickr

[Dujon]

Yes, thebish, they do don't they? To me the wrens seem to be enjoying life to the full whilst all the while being cheeky little so-and-soes.

In some ways the various parrots seem to have the same joie de vivre. When the King Parrots pass through it's fun to watch them play like children in the trees; they'll do strange things, such as hanging up-side-down whilst chuckling to themselves and looking around as though waiting for applause. They are also good parents. I once had the privilege of viewing an incidence of parental control imposed by these lovely birds. A pair of adult 'Kingies' landed in a tree just five or six feet away from me (I was standing on my back balcony) accompanied by a juvenile. The adults had a chat with the youngster, shepherded it into a, presumably, safe place and then left. Unlike my own children the youngster behaved itself. Apart from the odd movement to maintain balance or relieve its muscles it stayed quite still. It did occasionally utter a quite soft word or two, but whether this was communication with the adults I don't know. Nevertheless some time later - half an hour or forty five minutes - the adults returned, gathered up the youngster and off they went. No, within my view, they didn't feed it.

As far as concentration of bird life is concerned I suppose it could be said that I live in an area blessed with such. There is a good reason for that. I live in a narrow strip of development that straddles part of what is known as the Great Dividing Range. North and South of me are national parks which extend for hundreds of kilometres and to the West about 50 to 80 kilometres. thebish I've had kangaroos and wallabies hopping down my street, goannas - five to six feet long - foraging in my garden and climbing trees. By the same token I've had Tiger Snakes, Red Bellied Blacks and Brown Snakes slithering around the place. Then there's the spiders . . .

Would I move? No way, although my driveway and front steps seem steeper at every climb and I might be forced into such a change.

[thebish]

Yes, thebish, they do don't they? To me the wrens seem to be enjoying life to the full whilst all the while being cheeky little so-and-soes.

In some ways the various parrots seem to have the same joie de vivre. When the King Parrots pass through it's fun to watch them play like children in the trees; they'll do strange things, such as hanging up-side-down whilst chuckling to themselves and looking around as though waiting for applause.

[Bruce Rioja]

Memory foam mattresses.

[Worthy4England]

Memory foam mattresses.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck no, after a while, they remember where my fat ass normally lands and it causes a dint.

[Lofthouse Lower]

4 weeks today since the young'un came along. Worth celebrating.

[thebish]

Memory foam mattresses.

does it remember important stuff like where you left your keys?

[Harry Genshaw]

My last big run before a marathon in 2 weeks. 20 miles including some shocking climbs over Rivington has left me with a burnt head and sore nipples but a fortnight of lovely tapering before the big day.

[Hoboh]

My last big run before a marathon in 2 weeks. 20 miles including some shocking climbs over Rivington has left me with a burnt head and sore nipples but a fortnight of lovely tapering before the big day.

Please forward the route to Owen old boy

[Hoboh]

Msn comments, love them, the world can be influenced by the tramp

[bobo the clown]

That I (& all others) were missed by the car wheel, avec tyre, which bounced over the central reservation, landing between the car in front and myself and proceeded to the hard shoulder between braking & swerving cars on the M40 south near Wycombe this evening.

Bloody weird as I just spotted a black thing coming toward me before it bounced past.

[Dujon]

I sincerely hope, bobo, that the driver of the vehicle from whence the wheel and tyre came was as fortunate as you were.

[Raven]

Finding Mallory Park...well I knew it was there but actually going, fantastic place to watch Motor Sport, Autoglym Classic Saloons, did not know there were that many Capri's left Only downer was realising how much I still want another A35.

[bobo the clown]

I sincerely hope, bobo, that the driver of the vehicle from whence the wheel and tyre came was as fortunate as you were.

There have been no re[ports on the local news, so I guess so & yes, I agree I hope that driver is OK.

[thebish]

I sincerely hope, bobo, that the driver of the vehicle from whence the wheel and tyre came was as fortunate as you were.

There have been no re[ports on the local news, so I guess so & yes, I agree I hope that driver is OK.

sounds like a lucky escape!

(aren't clowns quite used to bits falling off the car??)