Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To tell you about the Merlin app - Shazam for birds?

399 replies

HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 19/05/2023 12:35

I have just discovered an app which identifies birds by sound and appearance.
In two days I’ve become addicted to listening to various bird song at different times of day.

From my garden I’ve heard over a dozen different birds from robins to coots and collared doves, jackdaws and great tits.

It’s just so lovely to take a few minutes out of the day and just listen to the sounds around us.

My DD is currently travelling through Bulgaria on her way to Turkey and I’m hoping she will install the app too.

Sadly this app is nothing to do with me , I wish I could have invented it. I’ve no skin in the birdsong game. I just wanted to share it as it’s difficult to find little minutes of peace throughout the day and this app does that for me.

Im in suburban/edge of green belt Hertfordshire and I’d love to hear what other mnetters hear too. Particularly ones outside the Uk.

thread title edited by MNHQ at OP's request.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
21
Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 22/05/2023 16:19

Oh that’s annoying, you have to click on it to see the notification I received. It’s not that interesting really. Except to me 😀

OP posts:
JaneJeffer · 22/05/2023 16:23

HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 22/05/2023 16:18

I was looking at the attached picture and feeling a bit sad when Merlin sent me a notification. Looks like I got my dunnuck after all.

I realised that I need to buy a pair of binoculars as I’d love to see some of the birds, not just hear them.

Poor puffin Sad

Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 22/05/2023 16:46

JaneJeffer · 22/05/2023 16:23

Poor puffin Sad

Show quote history

I know, right? It looked terrified. But I guess that’s nature. As they say, red in tooth and claw.

OP posts:
TabithaTitanium · 22/05/2023 17:04

Oh that pic is so awful 😭

Congrats on your Dunnocks.

NooNakedJacuzziness · 22/05/2023 18:42

Got a green woodpecker on my way home! (didn't actually see it so a little bit sceptical).

OhMrDarcy · 22/05/2023 19:45

It's the robins in the garden I feel sorry for - still singing at 10pm and start up again at the crack of dawn. All the other birds are clearly slacking and not pulling their weight in the song department

BarbaraofSeville · 22/05/2023 20:17

Yes, I wondered one summer if birds got tired due to apparently being awake for about 18 hours a day.

After being woken at 4 am by the bastard seagulls while staying in Scarborough for a conference some years ago, I'm not sure I'd go as far as 'feeling sorry for them' though.

I've also wondered if the birds that live in water get cold in winter after watching them swim around a semi frozen pond.

WarningToTheCurious · 22/05/2023 22:57

OhMrDarcy · 22/05/2023 19:45

It's the robins in the garden I feel sorry for - still singing at 10pm and start up again at the crack of dawn. All the other birds are clearly slacking and not pulling their weight in the song department

All birds get their batteries changed in winter (obviously winter is at different times for the two hemispheres).

However, the system can get overwhelmed leading to a backlog which then requires a worldwide reset event to enable the battery change to be carried out effectively. The last reset event occurred in December 2019 / January 2020 and allowed an extended battery change period.

JaneJeffer · 22/05/2023 23:01

You know what I find strange is how quiet the magpies are unless they're up to mischief!

WarningToTheCurious · 22/05/2023 23:04

JaneJeffer · 22/05/2023 23:01

You know what I find strange is how quiet the magpies are unless they're up to mischief!

They’re smart. They know how to keep their beaks shut.

And they know where the gold is.

JaneJeffer · 22/05/2023 23:10

I love my magpies Grin

WarningToTheCurious · 22/05/2023 23:25

Have you read Corvus : A Life With Birds by Esther Woolfson?

I think you’ll have a soft spot for Spike.

JaneJeffer · 22/05/2023 23:35

No I'll put it on my list!

WarningToTheCurious · 22/05/2023 23:45

JaneJeffer · 22/05/2023 23:35

No I'll put it on my list!

It’s a great read.

I do have a soft spot for corvids.

ThatWhiteElephant · 23/05/2023 00:00

This sounds fab. Just checking I've got the correct app, do you have to download packs for your region?
Thanks

Pixiedust1234 · 23/05/2023 00:14

Thanks for this OP, I've been wondering if there was a decent birdsong app about. I'm pretty good on acutal bird ID, and not bad on nests and some songs but I have a particularly annoying and repetitive singer that I cant place. Hopefully I will catch it singing/chanting in the next couple of days Grin

Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 23/05/2023 02:25

ThatWhiteElephant · 23/05/2023 00:00

This sounds fab. Just checking I've got the correct app, do you have to download packs for your region?
Thanks

Yes you do. But they’re free and don’t take too long.

OP posts:
Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 23/05/2023 02:25

Pixiedust1234 · 23/05/2023 00:14

Thanks for this OP, I've been wondering if there was a decent birdsong app about. I'm pretty good on acutal bird ID, and not bad on nests and some songs but I have a particularly annoying and repetitive singer that I cant place. Hopefully I will catch it singing/chanting in the next couple of days Grin

Oooh keep us updated!

OP posts:
Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 23/05/2023 07:32

Even if it’s just me here now, chattering to myself, I thought I’d write that this morning I’ve had chaffinches, coal tits and swifts along with the usual suspects.

I missed a trick here, we could have played Birdcall Bingo , with a special prize for a Full BirdHouse.

OP posts:
funnelfan · 23/05/2023 09:16

Last night DH played me a recording of a Blythes reed warbler that’s been seen nearby. The app couldn’t identify it at all. I found that if you export and import the sound file, it forces it to re-analyse it and that time it did come up with a couple of other warblers but again not the right one.

perhaps like a PP with the Canada geese, some birds just done have the right “accent” or something for the algorithm to identify.

not a criticism of the app at all, just exploring its limits.

Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 23/05/2023 09:18

funnelfan · 23/05/2023 09:16

Last night DH played me a recording of a Blythes reed warbler that’s been seen nearby. The app couldn’t identify it at all. I found that if you export and import the sound file, it forces it to re-analyse it and that time it did come up with a couple of other warblers but again not the right one.

perhaps like a PP with the Canada geese, some birds just done have the right “accent” or something for the algorithm to identify.

not a criticism of the app at all, just exploring its limits.

That’s very interesting, thanks for the tip.

OP posts:
BobBobBobbing · 23/05/2023 09:48

Thank you so much for this OP. Having amassively stressful time at the moment and this app has encouraged me to take some much needed time out to switch off.

Almost tempted to get up in the middle of the night to try and identify our owl, but bed is still more attractive at the moment!

Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 23/05/2023 10:03

BobBobBobbing · 23/05/2023 09:48

Thank you so much for this OP. Having amassively stressful time at the moment and this app has encouraged me to take some much needed time out to switch off.

Almost tempted to get up in the middle of the night to try and identify our owl, but bed is still more attractive at the moment!

I solved that problem by lying in my bed , next to an open window. Obviously that only works if your bed is close to a window. Do you think a spot of room rearrangement is on the cards?

Seriously though, I do hope things get better for you.

OP posts:
Original poster
HoofWankingSpangleCunt · 23/05/2023 13:20

One word

Buzzard

😮

OP posts:
JulieHoney · 23/05/2023 13:40

I had buzzards yesterday, which made a change from the usual red kites