ILE Bird Watchers! Your Help Please!!

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A friend and I were greeted by this bird while enjoying the sunshine in St James' Park this sunday...

http://photos21.flickr.com/26644666_a2964f02a1.jpg

But what kind of bird was it???

― stevie (stevie), Monday, 18 July 2005 13:45 (twenty years ago)

Looks like a pelican to me.

― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 18 July 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

omg

I WANT ONE

― emsk, Monday, 18 July 2005 14:01 (twenty years ago)

it does look like a pelican.

― kelsey (kelstarry), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:01 (twenty years ago)

that is called an american white pelican.

― jody heatherton (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:04 (twenty years ago)

are there a lot of birders on ILX?

― kelsey (kelstarry), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)

Greeted? It approached you?

― nathalie's body's designed for two (stevie nixed), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

http://www.animalmakers.com/Secure/RigsPuppetsFolder/BirdsFolder/images/Pelican.jpg

― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

It's definitely a sparrow.

― C J (C J), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:06 (twenty years ago)

Surely some kind of hen?

― Raston Worrier Robot (alix), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:07 (twenty years ago)

sort of flapped about a few feets away from us actually, nath, but it seemed to wink on approvingly while we necked later

― stevie (stevie), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:07 (twenty years ago)

http://www.secondchancewildlife.com/photogallery/2004%20Photo%20Gallery/2004%20Photos/AWPelican2004-08-13.JPG

― jody heatherton (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:07 (twenty years ago)

Wow! I love bird watching. It can be so peaceful & amazing, although sometimes despite guide books you incorrectly identify birds!

― PinXorchiXoR (Pinkpanther), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

ex member of the Young Ornithologists Club, Skelmersdale branch here.

It's a Pelican.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

Big bastard bird that. Strange for it to be wandering around central London. Probably not the time to get out your fish paste sandwiches, I reckon.

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

it was soon chased by a bunch of stone-wielding 7 year olds who seemed affronted that it had invaded their playspace. they turned tail pretty much the exact second the pelican spun back at them.

― stevie (stevie), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

> Strange for it to be wandering around central London.

they are quite famous

http://www.thestaffordhotel.co.uk/destination/parks.html

"Charles II had a series of aviaries on the south side of the park (hence the name Birdcage Walk), and the public was allowed to watch him feeding the birds. A Russian ambassador once gave him some pelicans as a present and there have been pelicans in the park ever since."

― koogs (koogs), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:27 (twenty years ago)

what a wonderful bird is the pelican.

I was in St James Park at lunch time too!

― beanz (beanz), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:29 (twenty years ago)

I was not in St James Park the other day, I was in a garden on Martha's Vineyard, watering a flowerbed, when a yellow warbler came down to the puddled water at my feet and took an extensive bath! Odd doings in Birdworld.

― Beth Parker, Monday, 18 July 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

nine months pass...

New to the backyard menagerie this year: a gray catbird. Claude and Claudia, the cardinals, are back. More blackbirds and brown thrashers than usual, but it's not crowded enough to chase away the rest of the crew (mockingbirds, robins, wrens, etc).

Is there anything I can add to hummingbird food to keep it from souring so quickly?

― The Jazz Guide to Penguins on Compact Disc (Rock Hardy), Monday, 15 May 2006 12:56 (nineteen years ago)

Ooooh, hummingbirds... do you think you could mail me one? Swifts and a buzzard over my back garden at the weekend, and have had visits from a couple of warbler species (whitethroat and blackcap) plus a great spotted woodpecker over the past few months, not bad for a little concrete town patio. Blue tits busy nesting by my study window - sort of worried the the chicks are going to be munched by the neighbours cat just as soon as they fledge, but I guess it's either that or the sparrowhawk, poor bastards.

Cardinals are dapper little buggers aren't they?

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 15 May 2006 13:24 (nineteen years ago)

The last two weekends at Central Park I've been seeing lots of warblers, a Scarlet Tanager, some woodpeckers, and several Finch-like birds I couldn't positively identify, as well as the familiar array of sparrows, robins, cardinals, ducks and so on.

I thought hummingbird nectar was basically sugar syrup...how does that go sour?

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 15 May 2006 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

Catbirds, they're hilarious -- their whole life seems to revolve around tossing up bunches of dead leaves.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 15 May 2006 16:21 (nineteen years ago)

It starts to ferment, I think. It definitely gets a sour smell if it's been out too long. We don't have enough hummingbirds around to need to refill them very often. I need to soak the feeders in a light bleach solution before I refill them next time, according to hummingbirds.net. (xpost)

― The Jazz Guide to Penguins on Compact Disc (Rock Hardy), Monday, 15 May 2006 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

The sugar solution ferments and gets nasty. I don't know any way to fix it besides changing it every day and giving the feeder a good washing. Maybe moving it to a shadier spot might help? Changing it once a week seems to be recommended.

Here's a recipe and some info (one batch of the syrup will keep for a few weeks in the fridge): http://www.backyardbird.com/howtomakhumn.html

Our neighbor the western kingbird returned to gobble bugs from the yard, and a rufous hummingbird makes my flowers his last stop before heading home for the night.

― patita (patita), Monday, 15 May 2006 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

I was told that St James's Park had an excellent selection of ducks. But I only saw dux in the canal. Interesting, sporty-looking black-and-white ones. Anyone know what those are?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 15 May 2006 17:17 (nineteen years ago)

If it's just sugar syrup, then increasing the ratio of sugar to water will prevent fermentation. Put it on the stove and reduce it by half and see if the birdies still like it.

― Paul Eater (eater), Monday, 15 May 2006 17:17 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5401369

― youn (youn), Monday, 15 May 2006 23:04 (nineteen years ago)

I make the hummingbird food at a 3:1 ratio – one cup of white granulated sugar to three cups of water. Mix sugar and water in a clean pan and ring to a boil. Once mixture begins to boil, stir well & allow to boil 2 minutes and remove from heat to cool completely. This creates a simple syrup that the birds love and it doesn't spoil for a week or more. (Usually they finish the food before any spoilage occurs.) Do NOT add food color, they will find the feeder on their own; it may take a couple of weeks, but be patient they will come. The food color is bad for them and makes their poo red. Clean the feeder really well every week and discard any unconsumed food. The birds will love you for it and will likely nest nearby another reward for your efforts. Tiny bird nest with tiny eggs.

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Monday, 15 May 2006 23:41 (nineteen years ago)

we get orioles - they are awesome! so pretty and they make a ballsack of a home

― Mr Jones (Mr Jones), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 06:39 (nineteen years ago)

> Interesting, sporty-looking black-and-white ones.

i'd guess at tufted ducks. they always remind me of trainers.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/t/tuftedduck/index.asp

the ones in ravenscourt park have disappeared recently. we have lots of recent coot hatchlings (tiny, red heads) and 3 canada goslings (fluffy grey and yellow) at the moment though.

― koogs (koogs), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 07:46 (nineteen years ago)

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