Yes and no - mostly yes, goose was definitely exaggerating . They at best a little smaller than a small goose like a cackling and much smaller than a large one like a Canada. But they are a little larger than cattle egrets. All About Birds and wikipedia differ on the specific ranges, but generally while they have overlapping wingspans, American bitterns are longer birds at 23.5-33.5" vs 18-22" and average a bit heavier (or a lot if you believe wikipedia). I just tend to think goose when I see them because of what to me looks like a vaguely goosey shape with that roundish schmoo-like lower-body.
Meanwhile least bitterns (the other marsh bird I always search for in that spot) are quite small, smaller than the very similarly-shaped green heron.
Today in nature I saw… a newspaper article. Yeah, I know, but stick with it.
Just down the road from us (I posted about a previous visit).
The storks are thriving again on the Knepp wildland, the first major lowland rewilding project in England. A record-breaking 53 white storks fledged from wild nests here in 2024, mostly in the tops of ancient oak trees.
For context - you know how long it took to get this far?
White storks are native to the British Isles and visit frequently. In 2020, the first two wild breeding pairs successfully nested at Knepp Estate in Sussex following reintroduction efforts. This was the first time in 600 years that white storks had bred in Britain.
So that’s a day out booked for a little later in the year.
You might reasonably wonder, “What’s a stork village, then?” Well, I’m glad you asked.
I’m slightly annoyed by the fact that the other two places I have seen storks (besides Knepp/Storrington) - Selçuk in Türkiye and the Cotentin peninsula in France* - don’t make the list.
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* - We were in Alsace, France at the wrong time of year, but I swear there isn’t a village in the region that doesn’t have at least one nesting platform. Also not on the list.
Alsace? Reminds me of Strasburg, where I used to go to work. Here is one random picture I took on the way there, just by the Parc de L’Orangerie (link in French). I count five stork nests, two with storks at the moment of taking the picture:
And here there are even more:
There must be scores just in that little parc. They are loud when they clap their beaks! And it is a pleasure seing them aero-braking with their legs extended downwards when they come back in the evenings.
You must go there again at the right time of year: Storks, murders of crows and starling murmurations, you would love it.
Here a couple of crows too:
We only found out about this place months after we had been to Strasbourg, from this TV show (not very good, but cued to the relevant bit). If I understand the show correctly, the storks in the Parc de L’Orangerie don’t migrate? In which case we missed out.
At least some of them don’t migrate, I have seen them in winter there. Perhaps some do, but they have too good a life there. They stay.
ETA: Ooooh, they have trained them not to migrate because they were being eaten in Africa? OK, that is interesting. It can get cold in Strasburg. Here is a winter picture of the Parc de L’Orangerie:
I thought they had just pampered them until they stayed out of laziness, but they actually kept them caged until they forgot how to migrate.
Saw a pair of ring-necked ducks today. Mildly chuffed, as like redhead ducks they’re one of those common species that are spotty and uncommon locally. I don’t see many. Dig that crazy neck ring!
Pretty neat, huh? Where else will you see a neck ring like that?
19th century biologists who identify and name animals based off of dead, taxidermy specimens they’re holding in their hands just piss me off . Can you see it now?
Now?
That’s the closest I’ve come, I think. It annoys me that I was pleased to have seen even that much. They could have named them Ring-billed Ducks, but noooooooo. Stupid, dead taxonomists.
This was the scene in our yard today, five or six meters from the back door.
Probably need a big screen to make sense of that. It’s a carpet of feathers - I’m guessing pigeon - and I think that’s the work of a sparrow hawk. We watched one pluck and eat a pigeon in the yard opposite a year or two ago.
After I filled the bird feeder this am, as I was rounding the garage I saw a hawk in the front yard not very far off at all. I paused and just watched. It was gently using its talons to probe the turf. I knew then what it was doing. Moles appeared in my front yard over the winter. I had already bought worm bait but hadn’t yet put it out, waiting for nicer weather.
The is the first time seeing a hawk on the ground in our area since we moved here.
Eventually, I saw that it had gotten a mole but was continuing to probe, perhaps for another. I walked carefully to the porch and in. It was still there several minutes later.
As usual, my bird books are useless. It sort of looks like a Cooper’s hawk: generally gray all over. But the tail did not look banded and it had a mottled pattern on the lower back.
Things to think about: 1. Putting out the worm bait my not be a good idea now. 2. Many hawks also eat birds visiting a feeder, such as the one in our back yard. It can have all the pigeons it wants, but leave the others alone. Although I have some negative thoughts about orioles since they drink at the hummingbird feeder.
Back on July 21 of last year I posted about this sort of thing. This photo, which I took at lunch today, is exactly what it appears to be. It’s a herring gull flying along a row of tables at barely more than head height, looking to steal food. If you are inattentive, they really will land on your plate and snatch whatever they can get.
(The Hummingbird Cafe at Shoreham Airport, BTW. Note the art deco terminal building on the right and the taxiway on the left).
What happens when you get up to leave? Well, I had got this far - I suppose that takes 3 or 4 seconds.
The thing is, it’s not like we leave food anyway. The gull on the left has the wrapper off an individual butter portion in its beak.
Saw the biggest badass raccoon ever. Country dirt road farm fields both sides, lined with oak and maple trees. Raccoon briskly waddling along the edge of the road. It was the size of a bear cub What is that in its mouth? A freaking fat chipmunk or something. Rocky defied me straight in my eyes, I jumped back a bit. Don’t mess with Rocky. Then he went ripping up a stout oak tree with that varmint in his mouth.
Today I learned that there is such a thing as a nesting box for kingfishers. I bet there are all sorts of birds called kingfishers, so this is the one I’m talking about:
and it nests in tunnels dug into eg a riverbank. So the nestbox looks a bit like a dove cote positioned just above the water level. It’s referred to as a “bank”, and here’s an example:
I know this because today I saw one, at Weir Wood Reservoir, complete with resident kingfisher sitting outside on an overhanging branch.
(I was there on my annual fool’s errand - migrating ospreys stop off there, and that’s what I was actually looking for.)
Great article! I am building one of those too, nice inspiration, looks feasible. I want to see a kingfisher in the wild, I know there are some close by. A neighbor has told me.
. They at best a little smaller than a small goose like a cackling and much smaller than a large one like a Canada. But they are a little larger than cattle egrets. All About Birds and wikipedia differ on the specific ranges, but generally while they have overlapping wingspans, American bitterns are longer birds at 23.5-33.5" vs 18-22" and average a bit heavier (or a lot if you believe wikipedia). I just tend to think goose when I see them because of what to me looks like a vaguely goosey shape with that roundish schmoo-like lower-body.
OK, that is interesting. It can get cold in Strasburg. Here is a winter picture of the Parc de L’Orangerie:
. Can you see it now?
