Calling All Bird Nerds

Yeah I get it, this is where everyone will actually post.
Ent Ancient
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Hi @Ankala Teaweed ! Such a shame you cannot have a feeder :( I know its not the same but here's my favorite virtual live streaming bird feeder at the Cornell Lab in Ithaca, NY - https://www.allaboutbirds.org/cams/corn ... ederwatch/

Does anyone have a hummingbird feeder? And if so, is it lots of work to maintain/keep clean? I was thinking of getting one but thought I'd read they need daily cleaning? I don't want any birdies getting sick.

New Soul
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Cool! Yeah Cornell does important work. They inspire me.
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Fea
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Behold red kites of the Chilterns!


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I've had worse views from the office! :grin:

Ent Ancient
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Ooo Nia they're gorgeous!! Thanks for sharing. :grin: Are they year-round residents in your region?

Chef
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Oh they're beautiful! I love the white wing patches and notch in the tail.

We're having an unseasonable snowpocalypse here and I've been bringing the hummingbird feeders in every few hours to thaw out. I have no idea how our little Anna's hummingbirds are wintering over in this, but it's nice to see the feeder appreciated.
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The snow has also brought my very favorite bird, the varied thrush. This is the moment when I wish I had an actual camera, but he came up and ate from under the feeders, which they don't usually do when the ground is clear.
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they/them/actual hobbit in search of a merrier world

Fea
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Thanks, Lail - yeah get them all year round here, which is just lovely!

Gosh that does look cold outside, Menolly! Glad to see the birds are making good use of the feeders!

Ent Ancient
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Oh they're so pretty Nia! Someday I'll get to birding over there, I hope.

hello hummingbird and thrush! I bet the hummers are glad you were so attentive to their feeders! It is interesting that the thrushes don't normally do that when there's no snow. Do you have any theories on this @Menolly?

Chef
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@Lailyn my best guess is that, since they normally forage on the ground for bugs, they come to the feeder for suet or fallen seed to supplement their diet when the ground is covered in snow. I threw a few handfuls of peanuts out during the worst of the snow and while the jays ate most of them, one varied thrush came by and picked up a nut or two as well.
they/them/actual hobbit in search of a merrier world

Ent Ancient
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Oh that makes sense! It both worries and fascinates me when adverse weather or other events seem to cause a change in bird behavior.

This is not a recent photo but one of my fav backyard birds the Dark-eyed Junco! They're so cheery during our dreary winters and fun and easy to watch. I heard one singing its spring song for the first time this past week! It was very exciting.

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Ent Ancient
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Oh Nia, he is so cute! Thanks for sharing. Your Robins remind me of finches...they sing such sweet songs!

I've been feeling extra stressed and burnt out lately. At least spring is my favorite season and there are so many lovely birds returning. The weekend before last, I saw my first swallows of the season, which was really uplifting. I could watch them swooping and chittering for hours!

Last weekend, I saw my first osprey (3 in fact!!) of the season AND the funniest thing - they have a nest situated high up on top of a bridge where I've seen them in prior years. But the day I was there, it was being rudely occupied by Canada Geese! I thought this was the oddest thing, but since looking it up, apparently geese and osprey will sometimes compete for nests! Nature is crazy and endlessly fascinating.

Swallows and osprey are two of my favorite birds (though it is impossible to choose, really, these two are extra near and dear to my heart). Seeing them gave me a small, but much-needed boost and I am thankful I have the opportunity to go watch them.

High Warden of Tower
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*prods the bird thread* The lake is freezing over, so swans have barely any water left to stay in. Expecting the men to flock on the ice soon to do their fishing, actually surprised they are not there already - usually they start sitting and fishing as soon as there is any ice at all.
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High Warden of Tower
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A new year, new... bird watching activities? Just usual events outside the window, and white-tailed eagle pair to watch on webcam. Probably fights over the nest and territory will ensue soon.
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New Soul
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I had two swans in the pond behind our house yesterday. But this morning they were gone again. I hadn't the time to shoot a picture of them. It was pretty nice to see. It is a long time ago we had any in the pond. :nod:
Just call me Aiks or Aikári. Notify is off.
Find me stuff in Gondolin.
And let us embark to Valinor!

High Warden of Tower
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Heh. I have lots of water birds in the lake: there were cormorants and herons for a while, a whole variety of ducks now, gulls, swans... Also, the eagle drama webcam nest seems settled a bit: Milda and her new hubby Voldis have 2 eggs to care for. Hopefully this season will work out great for them.
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Newborn of Imladris
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A lone Snow Goose flew past my bathroom window this morning! In my neck of the woods the Canadian Geese are the main water fowl but they fly higher up and in their V formation.

Khazad Elder
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An exciting occurrence has happened in my part of the world (Southeastern Ontario, Canada) with Robins. My husband and I have been waiting and watching for the Robins to announce the coming of Spring for years, and when we would see one, we knew the warmer weather would not be far off. But this year, and it may have occurred before, but we didn't notice (we only moved back to this area a few years ago), we saw our first Robin at the beginning of February. The bird was digging in the snow, for gosh sakes. :lol:
Upon further investigation, we discovered that it has been a few years now and that the birds do not migrate anymore. They have learnt how to fish and dig in the snow. It was fantastic to see a Robin in the middle of winter, but we were a little sad that the ritual of watching for the Spring bird was over. We still have the geese, at least. :smile: Also, we will be putting out hummingbird feeders this year and are looking forward to seeing the Ruby and Black-throated ones, starting a new spring tradition, I hope.

We did get a photo of the bird on our phone, but the quality is not so good.
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The world was fair in Durin's Day

High Warden of Tower
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The crows have rebuilt their nest in the tree across the street, sitting on eggs. :D Lots of water fowl in the lake. And yesterday I ran from a lovely but angry looking swan - one of the controls for orienteering was set up by the pond, and the swan was not happy with so many visitors.
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High Lord of Imladris
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@Winddancer and @Silky Gooseness I would just like to state that I am mildly disappointed that this thread did not have an egg.
Sereg a Dîn

Arien
Arien
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Fuin Elda wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:02 am @Winddancer and @Silky Gooseness I would just like to state that I am mildly disappointed that this thread did not have an egg.
:lol:
cave anserem
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Master Torturer
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Hey I made sure one was in the Egg thread! Doing it in both would have been too obvious.. yeah, that's my story and I am sticking to it

High Lord of Imladris
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Uh-huh. I COMPLETELY believe you :lol:

In other news in the past week I've seen 3 swans (standing around in a puddle in a field I took a photo it was hilarious how stupid they looked in this puddle.)
more Canadian geese than you can shake a stick at\
Dark eyed juncos
Chickadees
Blue Jays
And Magpies (I will be terrorizing the magpies as soon as I find their nest so they leave my cute birdies alone)

No robins yet but soon I think
Sereg a Dîn

Ent Ancient
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Fuin Elda wrote: Mon Apr 25, 2022 11:02 am @Winddancer and @Silky Gooseness I would just like to state that I am mildly disappointed that this thread did not have an egg.
but what if a rogue bird laid a rogue egg in their own post in this thread????

I mean, I'm not going to do it.

or am I?

just saying, it could happen...


in other news, scrub jays have been visiting my sunflower feeder lately, looking comically too big as they stoop to get their beaks into the tiny hole. then a baby jay appeared and got fed and it was the cutest.

High Warden of Tower
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*finds no eggs* :lol: Probably there are a plenty on the nearby island in the lake - there's a large colony of gulls nesting there. I can't really see their nests properly, even with binos. All would be great, just that they are poop-bombing all over my car (and those of other people).

Also, the crow from the nest in a birch tree across the street visits my balcony occasionally. Soon the tree will have proper leaves and the nest will become invisible.
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High Warden of Tower
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Well... It seems that I have taken to birding pretty seriously. Signed up for online classes of bird identification, got myself a spotting scope...
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Khazad Elder
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Bird watching is a great hobby. My husband and I did it when my youngest son was only a babe (27 years ago, my my). We did not have online classes then, but a bird book to help us identify. We did the backyard adventure with a squirrel-proof bird feeder. The Cardinals were my favourite.

Have fun with your spotting scope, Pele!
The world was fair in Durin's Day

High Warden of Tower
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@Drifa Oh, it really is fun, and I spend quite a bit each day observing the lake. Hundreds of swans, white-tailed eagles have been visiting for about a week since the lake is mostly frozen, all sorts of ducks and gulls, rather shameless crows, and even a fox. I'm so sorry that I didn't manage to grab a shot with a fox and an eagle, and a couple crows all in one. It would have been foggy and all, but a great shot nonetheless.
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Wainrider
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I use the Merlin app to catalog all my new bird sightings. Lots of new ones from doing fieldwork. Loved cataloging all the new ones on my honeymoon in Hawai'i last year!
Not all who wander are lost...except that guy. He's DEFINITELY lost.- JRR Tolkien, probably

Khazad Elder
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Congrats to you, Reik! Hawaii, what a great place for a honeymoon! :clap: :heart:

Supposedly, the merlin is making a comeback in my part of the world (Ottawa, Canada). I think it's time to dig out the old bird books. An excellent hobby to pass the winter months. And our neighbour has put out her birdfeeder, which she stopped doing because of Covid. Going to check out the app too. :thumbs:
The world was fair in Durin's Day

High Warden of Tower
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Merlin is interesting and helpful, though it couldn't identify jackdaws from the pic I took. :lol: I had put out some seeds and grain that was spoiled by food moths, aiming for great tits and sparrows mostly, but now I just have pigeons visiting. A couple of them seem intent on choosing my balcony as a nesting spot (yet again even though I've been careful to chase them around with a broom when they wake me up at 5 am in summer and tried not to let them nest). Perhaps they'll win me over. Or not. And then there's a couple other regularly visiting pigeons, one I can easily identify because it is brown. Seems like I might be stuck feeding them through the winter - they come looking for breakfast every morning and wake me up with their cooing.
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Wainrider
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Put out a new suet feeder I got for Christmas. No visitors yet, but it might take them a bit to realize there's new food out.

Recently we've had a couple woodpecker varieties kicking about. Love seeing them, but I'm worried they're damaging the already-distressed pine tree in our back yard. 😓
Not all who wander are lost...except that guy. He's DEFINITELY lost.- JRR Tolkien, probably

High Warden of Tower
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I suppose they'll find it sooner or later, Reik. Poor tree though.

I like that life list on Merlin, though taking pics of birds is still quite difficult with the phone. I've collected 13 this far, mostly water fowl.
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Wainrider
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I find the most difficult task I've had using Merlin was telling different seagulls apart at the beach. :lol:
Not all who wander are lost...except that guy. He's DEFINITELY lost.- JRR Tolkien, probably

High Warden of Tower
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I still can't distinguish all gulls, perhaps 3 of them (if I don't mess up).

There are so many goldeneyes by the nearest islands in the lake! They are very pretty, just that hard to make high-quality pics with the scope and phone, rather foggy.

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Craftsman of Gondor
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Meet 'Muffin'. My morning greeter who flies up to the window as soon as she hears my espresso machine firing up.
She is a very smart Australian Magpie and has adopted us into her family.


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Here is most of the rest of the family singing a quartet in the back yard.
From left to right: Kylie
(mom, she has a malformed right leg and foot as her two side talons stick out 90° from the middle talon), Bubba, Muffin's younger brother, Muffin, and the resident old male and Kylie's husband Terry.

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Last edited by Hanasian on Sun Feb 05, 2023 4:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
Annalist, Physician, & Historian
of The Black Company of the Dúnedain,
The Free Company of Arnor

High Warden of Tower
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Oh, this is so lovely, @Hanasian ! Beautiful and brave birds.

Haha... I can't get my pigeon to trust me. I've chased him around with a broomstick for years because of cooing at 5 am in summers, suppose he is not sure I wouldn't whack him now, feeder or not.
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Istari Scholar
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It's lovely seeing all the pictures of our feathered friends. I have 4 birdhouses, bird table and a large birdbath that has been known to hold over a dozen starlings. I have 2 apple trees, pear tree and mature shrubs. My bird table and bath delights me every day. My main garden visitors are starlings, robin, blackbird, house sparrow, great tit, blue tit, feral pigeons, wood pigeon, collared dove, jackdaws, rooks, bullfinch, chaffinch and my favourite, the goldfinch. I mostly feed them black sunflower seeds, premium fastballs and a seed mix, I keep away from any nuts as the squirrels destroy everything...

Craftsman of Gondor
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I love birdwatching. We have a greenway park with a paved walking/riding trail behind the back fence so a lot of Avian life drops in. This morning we had two King Parrots stop by and we gave it the one strawberry we managed to harvest before getting eaten to it. Loved demolishing it! A week ago a Cockatoo visited to see what the magpies were eating, and they didn't get along too well. Magpies chased it off, but a couple days ago, the cockatoo showed up with seven friends. I'll get my pix uploaded to Imgur and share them soon.

I'll also reduce the size of them as the ones I posted of the Magpies are quite huge. I had to edit the family pic as I had misidentified two of the birds. The far left one is Kylie and you can see the curved right leg she has. Also, Bubba who was a yearling when we moved in has gotten its adult feathers, shedding the last of its grey/brown juvenile feathers, and with its white head brightening almost daily, it is clear it is a male. The only one missing from the family is 'Moz' who was this spring's new birth. Pretty sure Kylie is the mom. Muffin also had a nest and a baby in the greenway, but I suspect it died around the time Moz was learning to fly. I suspect its maiden flight didn't go too well. :cry:


Edit: Here are the pix from the last few days of the cockatoos and King Parrot that graced us with a visit.

This ornery band of troublemakers were behaving themselves this day. The ringleader is looking over the gutter at me as its friends are just having a good time.
I'm glad they didn't decide to disassemble the house.
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This pretty boy drops in once every month or so. He just decided to come have a sit while its mate lingered in the tree.

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Annalist, Physician, & Historian
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High Warden of Tower
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@Dumenelion Sounds like my type of birds. I love blue tits and their chirping.

@Hanasian Those cockatoos look somewhat mischievous!
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Wainrider
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Hanasian wrote: Sun Jan 29, 2023 10:45 pm Meet 'Muffin'. My morning greeter who flies up to the window as soon as she hears my espresso machine firing up.
She is a very smart Australian Magpie and has adopted us into her family.

Here is most of the rest of the family singing a quartet in the back yard.
From left to right: Kylie
(mom, she has a malformed right leg and foot as her two side talons stick out 90° from the middle talon), Bubba, Muffin's younger brother, Muffin, and the resident old male and Kylie's husband Terry.
My wife wants to know how you made friends with this magnificent creature!
Not all who wander are lost...except that guy. He's DEFINITELY lost.- JRR Tolkien, probably

Craftsman of Gondor
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Reikon Suchi-ru wrote: Fri Feb 17, 2023 6:19 pm My wife wants to know how you made friends with this magnificent creature!
It was an odd thing really. Shortly after moving into that house in July 2021, she came and landed on the rail of the verandah while my wife was out eating a toasted English muffin. Of course she threw a couple leftover crumbs out and she investigated them, and that was how she got her name.

Anyway, it was a gradual thing. We got some bird treats from a pet store and started tossing a few out whenever she would show up. She learned to trust us and would get closer each day. Then her parents (Terry and Kylie) started watching from the tree that overhung the back corner of the yard along with Bubba, her year-younger sibling. It wasn't long before Muffin was taking the treats right out of my hand. That was when I figured out she was counting them.

She would then start coming to land on the windowsill of the kitchen window and watch us. One day I foolishly went outside with part of an English muffin in my hand, and she hopped from the windowsill to my arm and grabbed a beak-full of muffin right out of my hand! She obviously felt safe and trusting enough to interact with me. It soon was routine for her to hop on my arm to get treats from my other hand. She only landed on my shoulder a couple times, and when she figured out we were moving, she got a bit grumpy with us. We have moved now, and I do miss my 'Skycats'.
Annalist, Physician, & Historian
of The Black Company of the Dúnedain,
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High Warden of Tower
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"My" pigeons have decided that since I fed them through the winter and didn't chase them with a broom a random box in my loggia would be a good enough place to nest. They've got 2 eggs...

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Also attempting to use the spotting scope and phone to sneak a pic of birds visiting the trees across the street:

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Kind of foggy though; not sure how to improve the quality except for saving money to get a good camera or something.
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High Warden of Tower
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The pigeons were not successful in their nesting, I think a hooded crow ate their eggs or something like that. Checked in and it was empty. :(
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Khazad Elder
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Sorry to hear about the pigeon eggs. Thief!! Hmm, a hooded crow. I see from Google they have grey on their wings. They look regal (but evil too). We have just the black crows in my part of the world. And the woodpecker in the second photo seems like what we call the Hairy Woodpecker. And the wee chickadee. We call them, Black-capped.

I finally took my camera out and put it where it was easily accessible. I would recommend getting a good camera, Pele. It is a great hobby when you have the time. :thumbs:

A flock of these birds just arrived in the tree outside our house. We have identified them as Bohemian Waxwings. I got some fun shots of them. Although I will have to clean my camera lens, tsk tsk. :smile:

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New Soul
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Oh a lovely waxwing at that! :tongue:
Just call me Aiks or Aikári. Notify is off.
Find me stuff in Gondolin.
And let us embark to Valinor!

High Warden of Tower
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Waxwings! We only get them in winter and call them 'zīdaste' - silk tail.

This is the hooded crow which is nesting in the tree across the street, and I can peek at her while the trees are not full of leaves yet. Perhaps the same one who stole the pigeons' eggs.

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Khazad Elder
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Oh, it is a lovely black and grey colour. Interesting. So that is where the waxwings go in the winter, to your place. :smile:

Canadian Geese. Pretty bird with a bad reputation. Snapped a photo of these two on the side of the street in the city. They are all over the city. I used the portrait effect on my phone to take the photo.
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The world was fair in Durin's Day

High Warden of Tower
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I have 2 pigeon eggs on my balcony again, but I suspect it is the other pigeons, not my 'resident' ones. There was quite a competition going on between the two pairs.
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High Warden of Tower
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And... guess what? Returned from a week or so away and found the nest empty again. This is the likely culprit =

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High Warden of Tower
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And also... my pair of pigeons got used to me to the point where they dare to eat from my hand, though still always ready to fly off in case I revert to chasing them with a broom instead.
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