UrbanBirdWatchersSocietyWeblog

This is a wonderful project created by the students of Codman Academy Charter Public School. The students have done a wonderful job collecting urban bird sounds and putting them together in a comprehensive soundtrack. CDs and booklets are available through their website. What a wonderful project!

This is a guide that came out a few years ago in conjuction with an exhibition on at the Otago Museum. It is a comprehensive guide to birds that live in Dunedin, New Zealand.

One of the descriptions is of the “Hen” which features the Port Chalmers population at Scott’s Memorial, a semi-feral colony which has become one of Dunedin’s many odd little features. Apparently the spot has established itself over the years as a drop off point for unwanted chicken (many of them are roosters). There have been controversial attempts to exterminate the established population, however judging by locals reactions to the attempts

I think the birds are likely to be there for some time to come.

I watched in amazement yesterday afternoon as a Song Thrush ate slugs from my yard. She would pick up a slug then wipe it back and forth on the grass, drop it, pick it up again and repeat several times before swallowing it whole. She ate at least 4 slugs in the same way. She wanted the slug, not the slime, seems fair enough. Has anyone else ever seen this strange behaviour in birds before? I know they have their own little rituals but this observation reminded me how smart and quirky birds really are! I wish I had my camera on me to record the whole thing. I’ll keep an eye out for her and see if I can get something on camera to post at a later date.

This was the first time I have seen a wood pecker. It was pecking out food from between the cracks of this stone wall. Please do let us know if you know any more about this bird.

In Jaipur India. These Swallows were nesting amongst the electrical wires in the Bazaar area.

It’s really neat that each truck had similar shaped birds with the painter’s personal touch.

Is this just for decoration? or is there other meanings? We’d love to hear from anyone who knows more about these beautiful birds on trucks in Northern India.

Love the flag with “I love my India.” And here is another Urban Bird.

We recently visited India where we met many urban birds. Here is a beautiful painting of a bird on a truck.

O.k, so Sandfly Bay, Dunedin isn’t that urban, but hey, it’s less than half an hour from town. These little guys move fast and are fairly shy, so I was rather pleased to get this shot.

The kereru was on a powerline outside our house.

Cheers;
Nick Duval-Smith

These are some shots of an ‘Oyster-catcher’. I snapped this little fellow out on the rocks at Oriental Bay, Wellington, New Zealand. There are heaps of these guys around on the Petone foreshore, and in the Evans Bay area, but I’d never seen one before on Oriental Bay; this is more of a popular swimming beach.
Tre cute.

Thanks for sending us the photos Ann-Marie!