Your migration questions and observations

I'm still curious to know whether woodcock are common in urban areas (plse see my previous posts re our sighting of one right in front of us in Wapping in London a couple or so weeks ago) - especially as I see elsewhere in these blogs that a dead one was recently found nearby (slightly further east in the Royal Docks area). Thanks again, TB.

Here in Essex, most of our Short-eared Owls arrive at this time of year, but where do they come from? do they arrive from over seas or just move from other parts of the country? They must be stronger flyers than I thought if they come from over seas!



Thanks, Tom

just wondered if snipes can bob like jack snipes do?



Thanks Reem

Arran Murray

12

Perth, Scotland



Can you tell me why my garden sparrows are trying to get into my neighbours empty swallows nests + it was interesting and amusing to watch it went on for 15 mins and i feed them every day

Arran Murray

12

Perth, Scotland



Can you tell me why my garden sparrows are trying to get into my neighbours empty swallows nests + it was interesting and amusing to watch it went on for 15 mins and i feed them every day.

Queston for the team



I recently observed two corvids picking acorns from the very top of a tree, fying up a few metres on the breeze, dropping the acorn and immediately swooping down to try to catch it again.



Could they have just been playing or was it behaviour to show off their aerobatic skills to a potential mate?

Do Kingfishers migrate?

Noise noise noise

hello there i follow your facebook page quite alot and recently read about one of the trackers attached to the osprey that it was not moving. have you got any updates? i hope its good news

how many barnacle geese are there in the UK?

Hi why do geese fly in v shape

many thanks

Hi autumnwatch :) i have sparrows in my garden which is rural and they feed on seed and not nuts but if i go to my nans urban garden just 10 miles away, she also has sparrows which feed on nuts and won't touch seed, is this a regional thing or something?

Can Chris tell us if all birds can see colour

about what percentage of our british birds migrate in one way or another

Hi why do geese fly in v formation

many thanks

3to5eggs

Hi,



When there is a large group of geese is there anything to determine which skein they fly in; do they fly in family groups or is it just random? Thanks

just to say that I have a Sparrowhawk in my garden nearly every day. I have a good population of feeding Sparrows so the bird knows it has easy pickings. I've seen it go in one end of my beech hedge and weave through, come out the other end with a Sparrow in it's mouth.

Having just seen the beautiful geese, I'm curious to know where the team have seen their most spectacular sights/flocks of birds in the UK, please?

How can I identify geese in flight as it's dawn or dusk and poor light when I see them flying over? I'd love to know what they are.

hi there! We have a house in the Limousin region of France, in a small hamlet called Boissieux. Every year we are treated to the migration of the cranes who fly right over our house and for some reason always pause (we assume) searching for a roosting spot. How on earth do they navigate with such accuracy and where are they going? It's always around the same date (18th October) and the same time of day (late afternoon) we see them. we also have photo and video footage of this amazing sight.

Loved the film of the sparrow hawks, we have had a family of sparrow hawks in the woods less than 50 metres from house, all summer. Do they migrate, as we have had very few birds on our feeders in the garden for months. Today they have started visiting again.

A few days ago we rescued a frog from the road & put it into our pond. The frog looked really large & fat as if it was full of eggs - is this possible at this time of year? Thanks!

I love watching geese flying overhead in their classic 'v' formation. I think they fly in a 'v' because of air currents; I could be wrong, hopefully one of the presenters will tell us.

why do pigeons panic at the sight of a kite? can they not recognise there's no danger?

Why don't birds bump into each other when changing direction - a group of humans would !!

We would like to know how you know how many birds migrate? For example the Barnacle Geese. Does some one count the birds and make a guess or is there a certain method used?

Every week so far, my husband has asked me, 'how do all these birds know where to go when they migrate?' Each week I say the same, 'they either have some sort of built in sat nav, or it's down to instinct'. Please tell us the correct answer, as my husband is driving me nuts!! Love the programme by the way!

Hi. We moved to Lancaster 4 years ago and every year we have two whole fields of pink feet geese arrive in our back yard! the noise is tremendous and i would like to know more about where they come from and where they are going to.

Hi, I have just returned tonight from the West Coast of Scotland (25 miles south of Oban) and whilst there I noted a complete White pink-footed goose with a flock of pink footed geese, I have never seen this before, will this bird survive with the rest of the flock? I have managed to get pictures of the goose within the flock if anyone wishes to see it.



Best regards Gillian

How far do the geese migrate each year?

Hi, My husband and I live in Godstone, Surrey and every evening around 18:00hrs we see large flocks of Canadian (canada) Geese fly over the pub which we live above, there are around 60 (roughly counted) when will these migrate and where are they going each evening? as we have two ponds either side of the pub and they do not sleep here. Oh they come back over around 06:00hrs the following mornings :o) x x

If you took the eggs from a Swallow, House Martin or Swift's nest in London and put them under the relevent bird in Manchester, where would the young return to nest the following year? Regards, Chris Ward, Nuneaton.

Since seals are part of tonight's program i thought i would share my painting of a Grey seal https://www.flickr.com/photos/67247620@N05/6312777805/in/pool-1170602@N25/

What is known about how geese communic ate

Do swans mourn when they lose their mates? Is this why Dario (?) has been solitary for the past two years? Also, why are mute swans the most commonly seen swans in urban-type areas (at least in our experience)? Do the other types of swan have a greater propensity to form flocks and thus need far greater expanses of water and grazing etc than can generally be found in built-up areas? Thanks and best regards, TB.

When birds migrate, how high do they fly? Does it vary on the weather? Do they get a better view/orientation for which direction they need to go, assuming that oversea there are no landmarks?

Hardly seeing any birds in my garden,lots of bird feeders

Has Crinkley Neck the ?Swan? arrived at Slimbridge yet??? I always watch out for it's arrival. Is he / she OK??

hi, could you tell me if there is any thing I can do to attract owls to my garden, or if I can do anything to help to feed them in tne cold weather.

Thanks

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Would Hawfinches also eat grit, or are they able to crunch up most seeds with their beak?

I live on the edge of the Peak District. Every year we see huge numbers of what I think are geese flying north, very high in the sky. This happened this year about a week ago. Are they likely to be geese and if so, where are they going, considering that other geese and swans are flying south from Greenland to Scotland and England at this time?

Having been brought up in Northern Ireland, we always call Loch Neagh 'NAY' and not 'NEE' as pronounced by Chris!

is it correct that swans pair up for life or have i been told wrong

what is the muscle called that uses grit to grind food and do they use acids.

Why do birds eat birds and fish eat fish isnt this cannibalism?

Hi. On saturday just past, driving north from Elgin to Inverness I saw 2 swans flying east. Is it possible they were Buick Swans? They did not appear to have such long necks as the Hoopers.



Also - The Cromarty Firth is a really good place to see Geese (possibly Barnacles) and seals - common seals I believe.

Thanks Chris youv'e just answered my blog question.

6:30am this morning North to South across my garden in Runcorn Cheshire were a flock of Twite.

Last weekend my husband was standing on the cliffs above Rossnowlagh beach (Co. Donegal) watching the surfers below. He said seals were 'racing' the surfers into the shallows. The seals raced ahead then waited for the surfers to catch up, then they swam back out to meet the next batch coming in. They did this several times. Were they playing?

Can someone please tell Martin he's made another mistake. It's the Isles of Scilly not the Scilly Isles!!!

Thanks :)

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Chris - Lough Neagh rhymes with 'nay' not 'knee'!!

I heard a skylark singing at Donna Nook, Lincolnshire last Friday. Was it migrating?

hi i live in essex and can any geese or swans migreate over here because every year on one morning i geese or swans i cant tell because im walking my dog and they are flying?

Hi whats the rarest animal or bird to migrate

Please could Chris Packham remind us how many song birds domestic cats kill each year? As he did on a sketch a few years ago?

a) Canada Goose

b) Wigeon

c) Shelduck

unfortunately we found a dead blackbird in our garden this week as it had flown into a window. Interestingly it had a black beak. we are in mid bedfordshire.

Great show Thanks anne dimmock

Please could could I ask why migrating geese fly in the shape of the letter "V"



Amber Graham Scottish Borders

hi



how long does it typically take a bewick swan to migrate from russia to england?

why do migrations occur - is it simply too difficult to survive a UK winter for the ospreys? surely not as treacherous as the route across the sahara...?

A Canada Goose

B Wigeon

C Shelduck

Please can you tell me how to tell the difference between a whooper swan and a bewick? I saw 6 last week on a fresh water loch in Lochalsh, having just flown in.

I was just wondering, how long roughly does it take for a

Ospray to migrate?

I will stand corrected but this is a bit of a bee in our bonnets .... if Sahara is desert or grand desert, surely the Ospreys are to migrate over the Sahara, not the Sahara desert?

quiz, 1 canada goose, 2, widgeon, 3, shellduck.

A. Canada Goose

B. Mallard Duck

C. Shelduck

a :canada goose

b : mandarin

c: shellduck

canada goose

teal

shelduck

Canada goose,

teal

Shelduck

A) Canadian Goose

B) Widgeon

C) Shelduck

A Canada goose, b mandarin, c shelduck

Hi Autumnwatch,

This ones for Chris. What impact is desertification having on ospreys in the Sahara and Sahel, is it making migration tougher and longer?



Alana,13

Woodcock was spotted today, friday, in Kintyre, Scotland.

Woodcock seen in Moidart today

I've recently returned from an attachment with the Royal Navy. During our time in the Med and North Africa I observed a Kingfisher on and around the Ship. Until that point I'd only ever seen Kingfishers in fresh water areas. Is this unusual to see Kingfishers so far out at sea?

a) canada goose

b) mallard

c) Shoveller

Jeremy - I am more than happy if you want to use any of our wildlife videos at

https://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RyeHarbourUK latest ones are of a Curlew roost...

Why have so many short eared owls arrived just recently this year ? there was a count of 46 seen coming in off the sea in just a few hrs at Titchwell a few weeks ago . I watched 6 coming into roost at Burwell fen ( cambs ) this evening , stunning birds , well worth some Chris style thigh rubbing !

I live on the west coast of the Isle of Skye and have a small (4 acre) mixed wood,planted in 2000. Woodcock take up residence here every winter now,and I had my first sighting today,flushing one from cover as I walked through the wood. Are there other sightings to show a general movement now?

My wife and I have recently seen a Humming Bird Hawk Moth in our back garden.

We live in Nuneaton Warwickshire. How unusual is that for the area, time of year or locality?

Arran Murray

12

Perth, Scotland



can you please try and answer this question on the show



i saw our garden sparrows trying to get in the vacant swallows nest is there a reason for this i watched it for 15-20 mins and it was amazing to watch

your glorios ooooooooh baby i want u to stay in my life never say goodbye even if you cry im still by your side .i really do.

Why are there so many ladybirds around in my garden this time of year, is it the mild weather

We allways talk about birds flying south for winter, seemingly from that all birds nest further north and spend the cold months further south even Artic Turns fly from the south pole to breed at the norh pole, do any birds world wide nest in the south and spend the off season furthrt north