Merlin App Appreciation plus General Birding Chat

[DiggoryVenn]

A thread for all lovers of the Merlin app (app that allows you to identify birds by their sound). A place to share what you have spotted, ask questions and any other bird chat.

Caveat: I am pretty much a novice birdwatcher myself.

Mine for today: not sure about the Cetti's warbler but I could positively identify the rest.

i got a tawny owl on my merlin but didnt save it sadly
then i heard an owl last night and rushed in to get my phone, still no record, will have to try harder

They seem to have integrated well hear for some reason, and within five minutes of recording, I also picked up loads of other birds which you can see on my screenshot. Thankfully, I don't think there's enough of them here to bother the crows, starlings, magpies and blackbirds. There was also an oystercatcher as this is quite close to the coast / river mouth. I guess Kew is a bit of a microclimate / one off environment.

Lovely to hear a tawny owl. I have one locally but not heard it for a few weeks.

I saw a parakeet at Saltram, Plymouth last weekend. I have no idea if they are common there as I was just visiting but it was a tremendous sight.

We have flocks of Parakeets here in NE England (North Shields / Wallsend area) It really is the most incredible sight and sound. I think I mentioned it on this thread a couple of months ago and another poster said they were a bit of a menace at Kew. They have fully integrated here and certainly don't seem to bother or bully any of our usual native feathered friends. Love seeing them.

Haha, this might have been me - though I usually say they're like a blackbird on cocaine. Warm and warbly at high speed. Glad it's memorable, I occasionally lead birding walks (for adults) and the phrase usually makes people laugh.

disappointed - i have recently heard and recorded a tawny owl and a short eared owl early in the morning
in fact yesterday i heard so many birds while out walking at lunch time including a buzzard.
only to find that i now need to press the save button which i havent been doing since perhaps an upgrade, in october

I finally downloaded Merlin a few weeks ago - after years of only using eBird. I've simultaneously downloaded Couch to 5k. Yes I'm doing birding while running! My route is along a track and back again, so turn on Merlin while I run and listen to music, then walk/cool down and search for the birds it heard on my walk back. Then add the silent birds that I physically and put them all on eBird. I'm probably taking this far too seriously!

Has anyone had issues with Merlin hallucinating extra birds? It identified a rook (very rare here), when it actually heard a school playground. I'm not too sure about a siskin either.

my app heard a jay and i think it might have been fooled by a squirrel, but i will take a Jay as they are very hard to spot!

It's "heard" both a bittern and a kingfisher in my garden. I very much doubt either were in my pondless garden, on my neighbour's small garden pond or the troughs in the horse paddocks behind us. Pretty sure the bittern was workmen next door.

I heard and then saw two jays squawking at each other. This area is also good for goldcrests although I’ve never seen one!

Merlin totally fails to hear the peacocks that infest this locality, but sometimes tells me I've heard something wildly unlikely.

I didn't need it this morning to ID the several hundred starlings bubbling and squawking. I can manage that on my own.

Ha, I'm glad I'm not alone in getting imaginary birds then! This morning I brushed the microphone and it was identified as a long-tailed tit.
Still an overall positive though - it also picked up on a goldcrest mixed in with a small flock of blue tits, so that was nice.

We hear a goldcrest a lot here but rarely actually see it. They hide in a massive cypress tree next door.

Has anyone else noticed an increase in bird sound yet? I went for a walk yesterday and there was so much general chattering, as well as a few birds singing (blackbird, mistle thrush, greenfinch, bullfinch and of course robins)

The blackbird in my garden has started singing as well. I read somewhere that early singers tend to be 1st year males who need to get some practice in before breeding season kicks off properly. At this point he definitely sounds as if he’s still getting his head around this singing lark - incredibly repetitive and without the usual creative flair I’d expect from a blackbird.

Yes, I even talked to dd who is in Edinburgh about it yesterday. We have mostly various tits here at the West coast but she recorded about seven different birds just outside the uni library.

I was out gardening today and noticed a lot of birdsong. There was a robin singing very close to where I was working.

They've been chattering in the hedgerows too.

YES!! I noticed loads yesterday at 0700hrs.

In fact I recorded them as it was soooooo noisy!! I only recorded for 3 mins as I was getting in the car and got at least 7 birds. Not including pigeons and seagulls! Loads and loads of robins singing merrily away!

It was a blissful way to start the day!

Although got to admit not so keen when it's summer and they wake me up at 0500hrs!

It’s lovely isn’t it to notice these changes?! Makes you feel as if Spring can’t be that far away, even though it definitely is.

I also saw proof of that yesterday, because even though I wasn’t far from my town I saw ravens, who usually stick to the hills. I imagine snow and frozen ground meant that they needed to look a bit further afield for their food.

Wow @TheFireHorse that is an impressive list.

On a bird related note, I visited RSPB Arne for the first time at the weekend. Not much captured on Merlin, but we did see Spoonbill, Curlew and Whimbrel. I was quite excited to see the spoonbill in particular.

The birds are noticeably more active here on the NE coast of England, despite the minus temps and accompanying frost and icd this week. They are awake now and already singing (i can hear a Robin and a blackbird so far) It's also noticeable just before sunset that there's a bit of last minute frenzied activity in the garden. It definitely makes me feel like spring is on the way, despite the fact that sunset is still only just after 4pm. I also heard a Partridge on adjacent farmland at dusk last night and saw a pheasant striding through our beach car park earlier in the week. I cannot wait to be out and about more in the lighter evenings and hearing the blackbirds singing from the chimney tops!

@DiggoryVenn yes I was surprised at how many and it was only in 3 minutes!!

I'm moving away from my rural location to a town so will be sad not hear them anymore.

I will try later this week for longer and see how many I get.

It’s a beautiful day in South East London and the birds are all singing their hearts out. Merlin App picked up the usual suspects (robin, blackbird, song thrush, wren, blue tit, great tit, crow, dunnock, rose-necked parakeet, goldfinch, greater spotted woodpecker) but also picked up blackcap, siskin, bullfinch and kestrel. I did listen to the recording after and could identify the kestrel (probably flying overhead as we are very near ancient woodland, river and large parkland) but I’m not so sure about the bullfinch as I’m a keen birder and have lived here for many years without seeing one.
We do have peregrines nesting in trees behind us (very rare but confirmed by London peregrine trust) so it will be interesting to see if the app picks them up.

We regularly hear goldcrest but they are tiny and like the big cedar next door so very rarely actually see them.

@MajorBumsore in my experience bullfinches are generally quite secretive. There’s a family group that frequents my garden, but it’s taken years (and probably multiple generations) before they were relaxed enough to let anyone come close enough to have a good look. Often all I see is the white stripe across their back when they fly away.

They often come into gardens at this time of the year to look for new buds on fruit trees/ bushes, which is their favourite snack.

I will watch closely for them and see if the app picks them up again. Here’s hoping!