WHAT I SAW TODAY.....

[Willpar]

Had a goldfinch come in for some food this morning. Spotted it on the tray in the hawthorn. Have been putting peanut nibs and sunflower nibs out for the tits.

[Placido]

A goldie is always well worth spotting !! The colder weather brings 'em in.

[Willpar]

Had another or the same one come in the afternoon as well. Lovely to see as they are a rare visitor to my garden.

[Placido]

Word's got around - you'll be knee-deep by Christmas, Willpar

[Willpar]

Would be nice to have more than one Placi. And I have the food all ready and waiting.

[Placido]

It's What I Saw Last Night really ...... had recorded and watched last night an episode about HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier which was undergoing sea trials off the coast of Virginia, USA.
The fighter aircraft were taking off and landing but the ship was beset by birds, small and large, and the pilots were getting a bit concerned.
The deck officer (or whatever) said that things had dramatically improved when a peregrine falcon appeared off the port bow - technical term there - and was catching birds.
He said that the falcon was eating small birds on the wing !!

New one to me so I googled it, and it's truuuue - they sometimes do eat in flight and presumably the naval falcon had nowhere peaceful to land, out at sea, so was doing exactly that. They even showed the process on screen.

I guess the birds like to have somewhere to rest but who would have thought that little birds, not just gulls and suchlike, go that far out to sea. Can't think why.

[Willpar]

I suppose it is somewhere nice to land placi. The birds may have been on a journey. North sea oil rigs are always getting birds to land. But with the aircraft carrier it is dangerous for the pilots if a bird gets sucked into the engine.

[Placido]

One small bird was sucked into the engine of a 'plane taking off. No damage to the engine after exhaustive checking but that finished exercises for the day.
The falcon rescued the situation ! Rather like Rufus, the Harris hawk at Wimbledon .

[Jacksparrow]

Small birds can easily get blown off course during migration and a ship to land on is a welcome relief. Most ships do not have aircraft flying around them or landing on top of them. The commentary suggested that the Peregrine hung around for a couple of weeks which would suggest that it realised that the ship was not taking it anywhere it didn't want to go. Bad news for the smaller birds but good news for the aviators.

[Placido]

It was a revelation to me that they actually eat on the wing, presumably that's if they have to rather than as a matter of choice.
It had more sense than to perch on the foremost mizzenmast mast (Naval technicality there) to consume its lunch.
The commentary failed to divulge the bird's rank.