Help Me Identify a Bird

DLaurent

Well-known member
Can't believe I went on a National Trust bird spotting walk earlier this year and enjoyed it somewhat. I don't remember enough to be able to identify much more than a Robin or a Chiffchaff. The Chiffchaffs apparently migrate all the way from Africa. That's about as interesting as the birds get around here, other than crows and pheasants. It'd be nice to have a morning chorus of something more exotic and junglist like a Loon or a Stork.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm counting it as spring cos last week the flamingos arrived in the estuary. They seem to have gone now for the moment but as of this year my definition of spring is it begins on the day when flamingos first become visible from my balcony.

Flamingos2.jpg

Flamingos1.jpg

Last year when one of the guys I know from the village told me there were flamingos in the estuary I thought he was talking out of his arse. I watched every day, walked down there to look from close up and still nothing. But then one day was down there and a flash of pink and black in the sky caught my eye, none of the monosyllabic and basically really unfriendly fisherman (normally if you walk past one you see each other approach from about 100 yards, you slowly get closer together and then finally I say "boa tarde" or something and they glance to the side and pretend they never saw me at any point) batted an eyelid but when I realised what they were and was able to confirm it with the binoculars I was completely wet tipped.
Then later there were more and more of them, their flocks getting closer and closer to our side of the river and larger and larger. I mean, basically once you've seen one flamingo you've seen them all, and yet to me they are still wonderfully exotic and every time I see them they are a massive reminder to me that I live somewhere hot that isn't Hackney any more. I love watching them every chance I get and when the process of their appearance started happening in reverse with the flocks getting smaller and smaller and further and further away I felt a definite twinge of sadness. Been waiting for them to come back all winter and now they're here I'm as excited as I was the first time I saw one of the basts.
 
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