I really love this. I was researching the history and etymology of the goldfinch because ive always loved its distinctive colours both on its plumage and its wing, so recognizable and beautiful in such an immedielatelly refreshing way.

Myself and my Dad collaborate on a bird blog together and he provides a more birder focused analysis or history but I focus on the histories of the words but I really love this about the goldfinch so much.

Sorry for the bad resolution of the second photo - this is my phone camera! I think the first photo is maybe a Pied Wagtail?

sorry for terrible quality had to get it with a phone

Please can someone help identify this? First thought was curlew or whimbrel but the beak doesnt seem curved enough

This was at elmley reserve in southeast kent

I set up a birdNET pi in my garden recently: **0 Red Kites** in ~12,000 clips since mid-August. We normally have loads here in North Yorkshire around Harrogate; I’ve barely seen any since the heatwaves.

Same pattern on public BirdWeather stations within ~50 km. May–August kite detections **1,242 → 320** vs last year, while all-species detections actually *went up* (figure). The drop starts in **June**; May was still busy. Two stations that ran both summers still halved.

Anyone else in Yorkshire noticing fewer kites this year? Is this related to heatwaves...

graph of birdweather detections 2025 Vs 2026 within 50km of me shows the same. Reduced red kite detections through the year Vs last year while general bird species detection numbers increased.

Just saw this very graceful and peaceful little bird perching on my garden fence shortly after the heavy rain here in North Yorkshire! I first thought Robin but then thought maybe that's far too simplistic an answer, anyone clued up want to educate me?

Saw it while on a walk, not in my garden. Is it diseased or injured? Seemed to be acting normal.

We aren’t likely to be going properly into the west coast but we know there are some nice spots for choughs in the north. Has anyone had any recent sitings? We will be checking iNaturalist etc in case.

We were in Trevose Head today and had no luck, but finally saw a gorgeous raven 🥹

Unfortunately this is the only photo she took, I assumed it was a juvenile chaffinch or another finch but it doesn’t quite match any photos i’ve been looking at. NE england ty!

I hope this is ok to ask here. I want to feed the pigeons that come to my garden but we also get a lot of seagulls. I have nothing against seagulls, they just won’t share so I’m trying to find a way to feed the pigeons that doesn’t also feed the gulls.

Thank you ❤️🐦

Weekly chat thread

Happy weekend everyone!

Let us know which birds you've spotted over the last few days, or whatever's on your mind about birds right now!

Have you seen any interesting articles, or learnt something new? Have you visited a reserve recently?

Every week I'll post am irish bird folklore blog and my Dad provides his birder expertise overview after I publish mine. This week was on the Iolar Fíréan, or the Golden Eagle in Ireland. My Dad has pointed out a few of the great nicknames and bits of knowledge about the Eagle in Ireland.

I loved that nicknames!!

Can’t find any copies in UK, went out of print in 2016 as far as I can tell. I’ve recently started training to ring and one of the trainers in our group recommended it. I already have a Svensson but would like this too.

Just looking online to see if I can get one before ordering from Europe. Happy to pay for the book and any postage (if required, I’m in central Scotland).

I took this photo of a Heron over the weekend. Was curious if it’s a Grey Heron as my phone seems to think it’s a Great Blue Heron (but I think that’s almost definitely wrong)

My wife and I were at Botany Bay, Kent, over the weekend and snapped this bird. I’m not too into birding, but a friend thinks this is a Ross’s Gull and that they’re rarely spotted within the Kent. Just wondered if others agreed?

I am a Dane visting Scotland during the coming week, and will be spending about a week in Edinburgh. I would love to see some of the local species (even though most of our fauna is very similiar), so are there any species and locations that I should be aware of when visiting? Are there any chances for roseate terns in the area without needing a spotting scope, as I wont be able to bring one?

Flying away from me - the other side of Chichester towards the sea - maybe buzzard size, a little bigger?

Weekly chat thread

Happy weekend everyone!

Let us know which birds you've spotted over the last few days, or whatever's on your mind about birds right now!

Have you seen any interesting articles, or learnt something new? Have you visited a reserve recently?

Hi all!

I’ve been using a 8x25 monocular but I’ve recently lost it… now I think it’s time to upgrade. Preferably a higher objective than 25mm, would love to hear about people’s experiences.

Thanks for reading!