I want to share the pictures of the birds I saw while traveling in Ireland and England. I'm sure they are nothing special, but I like all birds and like keeping a record of what I see while I am out and about. Ken and I took this adventure with my high school friend and her husband in April, and really enjoyed the trip and their companionship. It started off a bit rocky as far as the flight connections were concerned, but all worked out in the end. Our flight from SFO to London Heathrow was delayed 3 1/2 hours because of a loose screw. This made our connecting flight to Dublin precarious because of having to go through customs and security, but we made it. It was probably because I was wearing my lucky earrings and necklace!
This was taken in York on April 20th. I had three weird dreams the night before. One was that my friend Kristin was pregnant. I will have to ask her what that means since she belongs to a dream group. We spent the day walking around the museum park near our hotel and walking over to the Railroad Museum across the river. This is a wood pigeon. S/he looks very pleased with the find probably for a nest. Here is some information on wood pigeons.
The common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is a large species in the dove and pigeon family. . It is locally known in southeast England as the "culver". The common wood pigeon is gregarious, often forming very large flocks outside the breeding season. Like many species of pigeon, wood pigeons take advantage of trees and buildings to gain a vantage point over the surrounding area, and their distinctive call means that they are usually heard before they are seen. Young common wood pigeons swiftly become fat, as a result of the crop milk they are fed by their parents. This is an extremely rich, sweet fluid that is produced in the adult birds' crops during the breeding season.
This is a coot, and this picture was taken on April 28th. As usual we arose at 7:30 am and met Marty and Marsha at 8:30 am for breakfast. This was our last day in London before flying home. We were all getting a little tired and anxious to return, and get back to a daily routine. We wandered around London visiting famous sights. We took advantage of the Underground to get to the various places. The palaces and parks were beautiful. Spring was a perfect time to visit. This bird was hanging out at Kensington Palace and Gardens. The feet really are quite unique.
An aquatic bird of the rail family, with blackish plumage, lobed feet, and a bill that extends back onto the forehead as a horny shield.OR
Coots have prominent frontal shields or other decoration on the forehead, with red to dark red eyes and coloured bills. Many, but not all, have white on the under tail. The featherless shield gave rise to the expression "as bald as a coot," which the Oxford English Dictionary cites in use as early as 1430. Like other rails, they have long, lobed toes that are well adapted to soft, uneven surfaces. Coots have strong legs and can walk and run vigorously. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are weak fliers, though northern species nevertheless can cover long distances. Ah! mystery solved.
Here is a magpie. We saw these birds in both Ireland and England. They really have gorgeous coloring. I snapped this photo on April 10th while we were staying in Dublin. Leaving the hotel around 9:00 am that morning, we all walked over to Trinity College and bought the tour of the campus and library. Our guide was a student, and he had many interesting stories about the campus and some of the people who had attended. . Tim Westoll 1919–1999 Ornithologist I think is one good person to mention since the focus here is on birds. A. A. Milne 1882–1956 Writer – Winnie-the-Pooh is another. Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson 1809–1892 Poet – Maud, In Memoriam Sir Isaac Newton 1642–1727 Mathematician, physicist; MP (Cambridge University) Sir Francis Bacon 1561–1626 Lawyer, philosopher; Lord Chancellor all attended Trinity College. We had to queue up to see The Books of Kells which is an illuminated manuscript of the four gospels. Afterwards, we headed over to the Long Library. There the books are organized from the biggest at the bottom to the smallest at the top. How could you ever find the book you need?! By this time, we were ready for a break. We found a very nice cafe - Costa Cafe which I figured out is a chain like Starbucks. Anyway, we powered up with hot chocolate and coffee heading back out on our personal walking tour. We spotted Molly Malone who was famous for her "night business". We also discovered the statue of Oscar Wilde at the corner of a park with a children's playground. We then ventured over and across the Liffey River, checked out the harp bridge (The harp is the national symbol of Ireland.), and discovered a memorial for the people who left Ireland due to the potato famine. That was enough for one day. It was time to find our way back to our hotel for a rest and dinner.
Magpies - one of the most intelligent animals in the world - With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there is nothing else quite like the magpie in the UK. When seen close-up its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers, and a green gloss to the tail. Magpies seem to be jacks of all trades - scavengers, predators and pest-destroyers, their challenging, almost arrogant attitude has won them few friends. Non-breeding birds will gather together in flocks.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/m/magpie/
The information on the first two birds came from Wikipedia
This was taken in York on April 20th. I had three weird dreams the night before. One was that my friend Kristin was pregnant. I will have to ask her what that means since she belongs to a dream group. We spent the day walking around the museum park near our hotel and walking over to the Railroad Museum across the river. This is a wood pigeon. S/he looks very pleased with the find probably for a nest. Here is some information on wood pigeons.
The common wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) is a large species in the dove and pigeon family. . It is locally known in southeast England as the "culver". The common wood pigeon is gregarious, often forming very large flocks outside the breeding season. Like many species of pigeon, wood pigeons take advantage of trees and buildings to gain a vantage point over the surrounding area, and their distinctive call means that they are usually heard before they are seen. Young common wood pigeons swiftly become fat, as a result of the crop milk they are fed by their parents. This is an extremely rich, sweet fluid that is produced in the adult birds' crops during the breeding season.
An aquatic bird of the rail family, with blackish plumage, lobed feet, and a bill that extends back onto the forehead as a horny shield.OR
a foolish or eccentric person, typically an old man. Ha,ha - I wonder which it is.
Coots have prominent frontal shields or other decoration on the forehead, with red to dark red eyes and coloured bills. Many, but not all, have white on the under tail. The featherless shield gave rise to the expression "as bald as a coot," which the Oxford English Dictionary cites in use as early as 1430. Like other rails, they have long, lobed toes that are well adapted to soft, uneven surfaces. Coots have strong legs and can walk and run vigorously. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are weak fliers, though northern species nevertheless can cover long distances. Ah! mystery solved.
Coots are omnivorous, eating mainly plant material, but also small
animals and eggs. They are aggressively territorial during the breeding
season, but are otherwise often found in sizeable flocks on the shallow
vegetated lakes they prefer.
Magpies - one of the most intelligent animals in the world - With its noisy chattering, black-and-white plumage and long tail, there is nothing else quite like the magpie in the UK. When seen close-up its black plumage takes on an altogether more colourful hue with a purplish-blue iridescent sheen to the wing feathers, and a green gloss to the tail. Magpies seem to be jacks of all trades - scavengers, predators and pest-destroyers, their challenging, almost arrogant attitude has won them few friends. Non-breeding birds will gather together in flocks.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/m/magpie/
The information on the first two birds came from Wikipedia
