Garden birds today according to my Merlin app

[Delphigirl]

The Birds in my garden are all out and enjoying the breezy sunshine this morning. This is what I’ve caught in 16 minutes… would love to see others’ lists!
pS the chiff chaff is particularly noisy

I had Merlin pick up the sound of a whimbrel in my garden the other day - despite the fact that I live nowhere near the coast.

Blackbird.
Goldfinch.
Blue tits.
Horrible pigeons that eat the fruit tree.
Not seen any house martins yet but should be back soon.

did you scan the sky? I hear oystercatchers a fair way inland not that uncommonly and quite often see them too once I’ve looked properly. They’re fairly distinctive.

Today we have a very loud blackcap. And despite my cynicism, we really do. I saw him up there shouting away.

Here's mine - pretty much the same as everyone else's! My app keeps registering a black cap too, but I've never seen one. I'll now be keeping my eyes peeled (albeit I can hear chiff chaffs everywhere but have yet to see one of those, too). My app also picked up a buzzard today, but that's cut off at the bottom of the screen.

There are feral peacocks here but Merlin doesn't recognise those! It doesn't seem to pick up seagulls and some low-frequency calls, either, although the crows don't usually present a problem.

We are walking distance from a river estuary here and often get oyster catchers and curlews, plus the odd heron. Also tawnies and screech owls.

Don't they have the most beautiful nests?

That’s why they’re called bumbarrels.
Bumbarrel’s Nest by John Clare

The oddling bush, close sheltered hedge new-plashed,
Of which spring’s early liking makes a guest
First with a shade of green though winter-dashed –
There, full as soon, bumbarrels make a nest
Of mosses grey with cobwebs closely tied
And warm and rich as feather-bed within,
With little hole on its contrary side
That pathway peepers may no knowledge win
Of what her little oval nest contains –
Ten eggs and often twelve, with dusts of red
Soft frittered – and full soon the little lanes
Screen the young crowd and hear the twitt’ring song
Of the old birds who call them to be fed
While down the hedge they hang and hide along.

I could try a different 'big bird' @DeanElderberry- I live on the coast so a seagull won't deter this little blue tit!

The window my obsessive wagtail was in love with looked out on a flat roof overlooked by taller buildings we were occasionally treated to the sight of a black-backed gull killing and devouring a pigeon. Very red in beak and claw.

I didn't realise the l-t-t nests were stretchy - I knew there was spider silk in there but not why. I hope the eggs will hatch soon.

It did pick up parakeets the other night which might seem odd for my location in the north west of England but there’s lots of them living nearby and I see them in my trees from time to time.

I’ve seen (and heard!) them for the first time up here in Lancashire quite recently, though not in or near my garden.

Mine today include a rare bird the Garden Warbler. Singing it's heart out!

I think I need to find an app more local to me, as it is not doing well at picking up sounds. It does tell me that it can only pick up 15% of sounds in my zone. Which is South Africa. I'm thinking it's a more European based app.

And then I have to identify the bird myself and they have very particular calls 😂

Hadeda Ibis
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Common Myna

This is all I have that it picked up (with my help) so far. I will keep trying, but it has not given me the satisfaction that I hoped.

It’s based on the Cornell database so mostly American, although if you go into settings/bird packs you should be able to download one that is more suitable for your location

It’s developed by Cornell University so I’d guess they developed the models for US birds first, and then other areas. Not sure if they collaborated with other unis and wildlife organisations etc for data but obviously the training must require a lot of accurately identified sound recordings as input.

Has anyone else found that the app doesn't pick up Red Kites? I had 2 whirling above the garden this morning, screeching and arguing with each other very loudly and the app didn't identify them at all!

Yes, I noticed that it hasn't picked up red kites. We have loads around here. It's picked up 48 other species in the last few days, including other raptors. Just no red kites.

I have the same issue with the red kite sound not being detected. But it's such a characteristic noise & is instantly recognisable.
I picked up another Warbler last night walking the dog in the adjacent national trust land. This time a Willow Warbler but this isn't on the rare bird list.. Apparently Warblers are not that rare around here.

I am really enjoying the Merlin app. How accurate is it?

I don't think Merlin is always accurate, I got this the other day!

Loving some of these lists, I miss our garden birds since I have moved away from a more rural location.

I’m loving the Merlin app. Though I mostly get robins and wood pigeons!

From what I’ve seen so far, I’d say it’s pretty accurate most of the time. I’m a “serious birdwatcher”. I’m not quite in head to toe camouflage gear every weekend, but I’m not far off 😂

I’m sceptical about one or two of the birds it’s picked up for me, but can confidently say it’s got the majority of them right. I’d expect to see warblers starting to appear as they move around a lot in April, so am not surprised people are picking those up. I can’t wait for them to arrive where I live!

The app does appear to have a blindspot for some species - herring gulls are the ones I’ve picked up where no matter how much noise the birds make, the app just can’t work out what it is. I’ve noticed European Herring gulls are not in the long list of supported species, but are on the much shorter U.K. list. Same for the Red Kites. I wonder if the issue is something to do with that. They’re sort of in the app, but not completely. Hopefully someone will sort that out at some point.

I’ve just downloaded this app after my dd1 told me about it. I love it, I’ve just sat in the garden and had all these. I’ve never seen a chiffchaff here but I’ve realised I’ve heard it singing for years and never knew. The chiffchaff was at the top but missed the screen shot

Here's my list - thank you for the recommendation!

Also a willow warbler now