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.

This thread is getting to me - there was a Bullfinch in my dream last night, lol.

We live close to one of the WWT reserves and I often walk along the river near it but always forget to set Merlin going there. We see so many varieties of waterfowl but I’m rubbish at recognising them from a distance and I’m usually too busy wrangling the dogs to get the binoculars out. Lots of little egrets there.

That is exciting!! I really really want to see a bullfinch. It is in my top 3 picked up on app (even then rarely) but never seen birds, along with a firecrest and little owl. I quite often see a Goldcrest and I do love them they’re so tiny.

🤣

I had a bullfinch visit my feeder a few times this spring, though I’ve not seen him recently.

Bullfinches are a nice bird to dream about!

They tend to be shy, so it helps to know what they look like when they fly away from you as that’s unfortunately what they usually do. You want to look for a bird with a broad white stripe across the lower back. It’s really distinctive and something only bullfinches have.

Having said that, I’m lucky to have a small flock of them regularly visiting my garden. I see them so often, I suspect they may even be living here (did I mention my garden is a mess?! 😂). They bring a little bit of joy every day!

I occasionally get a pair of bullfinches eating the dandelion heads which are somewhat rampant in my ‘lawn’.

You’re all so lucky to have bullfinches in your gardens! We have a lot of goldfinches and various tits, robins, blackbirds, magpies and jackdaws and of course pigeons. Also this evening swifts screeching and diving around.

i just had the first ever sighting of bullfinch fledglings in my garden 🥳

Also spotted in the garden this morning - a juvenile jackdaw (I adore jackdaws!) and-spotted from the garden- a red kite having a close look at one of the jackdaws’ favourite trees. This was clearly not appreciated and within a minute all the town’s jackdaws had gathered to chase the kite away. I almost felt sorry for the kite. You do not mess with jackdaws!

Back from Lundy and really enjoyed seeing the puffins again. DH took his spotting scope (first outing) and it was amazing.

Merlin picked up a curlew while we were there but it’s totally not the right environment for one. However the Bird Obs guy said that a song thrush has been mimicking a whole range of birds and it was probably that!

So many little birds on my sunflower hearts feeder, including lots of adult and juvenile goldfinches, as well as greens, chaffs, blue and great tits.

my new pal Woody

Amazing!!
I often hear woodpeckers but have never seen one.

That sounds like an amazing trip to Lundy @DiggoryVenn!

I had no luck spotting puffins at RSPB South Stack today. Thick fog meant it was difficult to even see the path! I did however hear lots of seabirds, but Merlin couldn’t identify any of them. Perhaps it struggles to pick up individual species in a wall of sound?

Once the fog lifted a little, I spent some time watching a chough fledgling harassing its parents for food. It was so noisy and persistent, it started to do my head in after a bit. No idea how the parents cope 😂 Still, nice to see the next chough generation are full of life!

I’ve only just found this thread!! What good luck. I adore this app and I start my day early with it every day. I get the dawn chorus in various places though I must admit that 13 birds has been my max. I haven’t been anywhere very interesting. Just Europe and north Scotland.

I went out to do late watering just now and heard the sound of newly hatched chicks. My resident blackbirds have only made a new nest (in a different place to their original) and had a second clutch after only just waving goodbye to their last fledglings in recent days. I was just taking a photo of my lovely perennial sweet pea which has climbed 8 ft up a tree this year then spotted the Mum on the nest (just 3ft from the ground)

Hopefully you can see her on her nest in the 2nd photo. I didn't want to be too obtrusive.

very noisy song thrush in my garden this morning as well as a wagtail,
would not have recognised them without merlin

Blackbirds are incredible at churning out chicks! A lot of nests are unsuccessful (partially because blackbirds tend to pick crazy sites..) but if you have a more switched on pair, the chicks keep on coming!

I spotted a mystery bird in my garden this morning, which always gets me excited. It was stripping the berries off the amelanchier tree and gave me just enough of a view for me to conclude it wasn’t one of my regulars, but not enough to help me work out what it was. I’ll be keeping an eye on that tree, in case it comes back.

It's true about the crazy sites blackbirds sometimes pick. We had a nest on top of a security light one year.

Sounds interesting @Festina . I hope it comes back so you can get a better ID

I went to a talk and Q&A session with Mya-Rose Craig (aka Birdgirl) this week. Was really interesting and her love of birds is so infectious.

@RainbowZebraWarrior that little blackbird nest! I wonder if it is normal for it to be so low to the ground?

Yes, blackbirds often make low nests, the idiots. Keeping the cats away from one 2 foot off the ground was a complete pain one year.

I love Merlin. DS got me onto it a while ago. I've just had a look and realised it must delete recordings as mine only go back a few weeks and so I haven't got the ones I've picked up on holidays.
Lots of the usual wrens, robins, chiffchaff .
A few sandpipers, dunnock, plover, and linnets. Got two birds of prey together last week.

I’ve not heard of BirdGirl before @DiggoryVenn, but always refreshing to come across anyone who doesn’t meet all the usual birdwatching stereotypes!

I had a greenfinch on my bird feeder yesterday. I get a fair few finches, but have not seen a greenfinch in my garden for years.

I could hear it sing all morning and was keeping my fingers crossed it would make an appearance, which it did in the afternoon followed by many return visits in the evening 😊

I’ve got all my recordings, over a year’s worth. Maybe there’s a setting or perhaps it depends how much memory your phone has?