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.

@Igneococcus I love that piece of music and also the last part of Sibelius' 5th symphony which is just so evocative of the swans taking flight. To me there is something so beautiful about the swans in the desolate landscape of the North and them going off on their long migrations.

I love it too. I wish it were performed more often.
I heard someone who considers himself a classical music expert call Sibelius "a second rate composer" once and my opinion of him (of the self-declared expert) has never recovered. How dare he?

After yesterday’s rain, bird levels (and noise) have returned to normal in my garden.

Swallows were also out in force on my local beach. I suspect it may have been one of the first outings for the fledglings, as there was a lot of chattering and quick regrouping on fence wires going on. It was lovely to see, as I’d not seen a lot of them this year ☺️

@Igneococcusive just put this on my Spotify, thank you for the recommendation.
my morning walk this morning picked up some redstarts, a coal tit, great tit, goldfinch and gold crest, and a tree creeper.
has anyone seen Birdsong on BBC4, a documentary about ornithologist Sean Ronayne’s attempt to record all the birds in Ireland? Me and my DD loved it, and the last scene of the starlings remuneration made me cry it was so beautiful

@Freesolo1975 I've not come across that documentary, it sounds like a programme I'll enjoy.

I'll have a look for that documentary, thanks.
It's almost like someone at Radio 3 is reading here, on the way home from work, they played Sibelius' The Swan of Tuonela on In Tune :)

i went to a fete and there were birds, including a noisy harrier hawk,
merlin did not identify it, is that because it is not my area?

Probably, if it wasn’t a European type of harrier. (Or did you mean Harris hawk - IME they’re the commonest display bird, they’re American).

I’ve had Merlin running at the WWT reserve and it picks up mallards, pigeons etc but ignores the very noisy flamingos.

oh it could have been a harris hawk, there was also a bald eagle and owls which were very quiet

My DD and I were up bright and early yesterday morning and were at a lovely lake and forest walk by 6 a.m, highlights were a crossbill and a ring ouzel. Also lovely to see lots of jays up close as we caught them unawares

@Freesolo1975 thanks for the heads up about that documentary, I will take a look. I have to say I was pretty emotional when I saw my first starling murmuration earlier this year.

I took a walk to a local water meadow yesterday where Merlin picked up a Cetti’s warbler and a Dartford warbler. It was really beautiful.

A question for those in the know: when Merlin identifies a Barn Swallow, does that just mean a regular swallow - I can’t find a reference to a barn swallow in my RSPB book?

i wondered this too @DiggoryVennbut my DD informed me that because Merlin is an American app the names sometimes show like this, so a barn swallow is just a normal swallow. Not sure if this is correct! She’s only 11 but seems to know her stuff with birds

My merlin completely ignores the very noisy peacocks we walk past sometimes - it's set for Europe and peacocks ('SKWAAA! SKWAAA!') Do Not Compute.

And yes, the rain has brought back the bird noise - Merlin picked up 3 types of tit, sparrows, jackdaws, woodies, goldfinches, a wren, a robin and a song thrush in my garden in under two minutes.

Yes, she’s right. Merlin uses terminology suited to a global application eg Eurasian blackbird, European goldfinch etc.

Correct - it's the same forked tail, shiny blue, cute red face guys & girls. As per Wikipedia 'In Anglophone Europe, it is just called the swallow'.

If you spend enough time in bird books/apps (like me) you'll eventually learn the scientific names, which can help a bit. Hirundo rustica means rural swallow.

I'm more familiar with eBird, but I think it uses the same American list? See also Eurasian blue tit/robin/wren/skylark/coot, common woodpigeon, great cormorant. Can be quite annoying.

You can change so it uses UK names. I found out when I was puzzled why I couldn't find red grouse to record on my life list after spotting some in Yorkshire. Changed the settings and it appeared.

I quite like that it uses ‘Eurasian’ etc - it reminds me that many of ‘our’ birds have a wide range, and of how many other species there may be.

Merlin picked up the sound of a chough from my garden ☺️

Speaking of choughs, I was in RSPB South Stack yesterday where one of the volunteers told me that some of the choughs have been “befriended” by a juvenile peregrine! I was told that this is something that happens most years - chough are phenomenal flyers and the juvenile peregrines like to hang out with them to pick up some tips. It’s apparently all perfectly amicable. My mind was blown!

Merlin seems determined that there are oystercatchers everywhere I go. I was out on the moors earlier and it kept identifying one. 🤷‍♀️
There were lots of meadow pipits and reed warblers, and some ring ouzels which I’ve never seen before.

It’s probably correct, their piping is quite distinctive. As is the case with many waders they don’t stick to the shore - I’ve often heard them inland over moors and farmland and seen them too, they’re visually distinctive both on land and in the air.

We were surprised to see so many oyster catchers in the Yorkshire Dales.

The RSPB website says they’ve spread inland during the last 50 years. The distribution map shows them all across northern england, much of Scotland and east Anglia too.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/oystercatcher

A lot of waders breed inland. I've seen masses of curlew and a fair few golden plover on a couple of visits to the N York Moors.

this morning's walk fairly quiet but managed to hear black cap, wood pigeon, goldfinch, coal tit and goldcrest.

yesterday by the sea side there was a huge amount of starling, i had not seen a starling for so long but the app would not pick them up at all! they sung en mass which may be why?

Just in from a late watering of the garden tonight. The garden is still full of nests (Collared doves, House sparrows and Blackbirds on their 3rd brood)

Some lovely bird sightings tonight and all caught on Merlin.