birdwatching whilst cycling

footybet.net said:

I will be cycling through Wales on a Camping holiday during the summer
and spotting/watching birds will add extra interest to the journey

But remember that twitching while cycling can lead to Unfortunate
Incidents :-)

--
Brian G

I stop the bike and look through binoculars ;-)

"footybet.net" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I stop the bike and look through binoculars ;-)

You know you've got it sorted when the birds fly alongside your head, thus
easing identification of bird. I've had an obliging barn owl & kestrel do
this for me.

It's not just birds that you can see a lot of - I see far more wildlife when
I'm on the bike than when in the car. For some reason deer *stare* when I
cycle by. Many's the fox that's been spotted, bunnies, hares... weasels,
stoats...

Cheers, helen s

had an bit of virtual birdwatching this morning at about 0100 whilst
riding through Wiltshire; two owls talking to each other, they seemed
but yards away but we could not see them. Also heard the clatter of a
badgerbadgerbadger's claws as it scurried up the tarmac and the crash
as it went through a hedge. Unfortunately the road kill of the ride
was on the way back to Havant, a chiuahua ;-(

wafflycat said:

"footybet.net" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I stop the bike and look through binoculars ;-)

You know you've got it sorted when the birds fly alongside your head,
thus easing identification of bird. I've had an obliging barn owl &
kestrel do this for me.

One of my all time great cycling memories is of going along a narrow country
lane with a barn owl flying ahead and just above me for a hundred metres or
so with just moonlight and my dynamo lighting up the situation. It was
excellent.

A

"footybet.net" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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I have just been on a cycle ride of about 3 miles near to where I live

there is a woodland with a bridleway and the 1st bird I saw was a Wood
Pigeon, then I was lucky enough to see a Robin Redbreast as I
approached a tree, as I got off the bridleway and on a lane passing a
farm, a Blue [censored] was just flying across the lane onto the farmhouse
roof

there were a few Magpies on the way, and Crows/Ravens
and there was a pond with Mallards on, and the females were out of the
water, possibly nesting

the thing that got me interested was going to Martin Mere Wildfowl and
Wetland Trust yesterday, where I saw many different interesting species

from around the world
I bought a book of the Birds of Britain and Europe and a small pair of
x8 binoculars for £15

I will be cycling through Wales on a Camping holiday during the summer
and spotting/watching birds will add extra interest to the journey

A few years back I was cycling home when I felt this almighty thud against
the side of my helmet. I was convinced a brick had been thrown at me and was
looking around for the culprit. I could see nobody around until I noticed
this stunned Starling on the road, which after a few seconds flew away. So
beware of low flying birds when you're out there twitching.

John

Ambrose Nankivell said:

One of my all time great cycling memories is of going along a narrow
country lane with a barn owl flying ahead and just above me for a
hundred metres or so with just moonlight and my dynamo lighting up the
situation. It was excellent.

For us we were family tandeming near Lake Vyrnwy in Wales and had a
goshawk with a 5-6ft wingspan gliding along the road just in front of us
for several hundred meters. The RSPB Centre at the lake helped us
identify it and got quite excited about it as it is apparently quite rare.

--
Tony

"Don't argue the matter, the difficulties will argue for themselves"
-W.S. Churchill

wafflycat said:

It's not just birds that you can see a lot of - I see far more wildlife
when I'm on the bike than when in the car. For some reason deer *stare*
when I cycle by. Many's the fox that's been spotted, bunnies, hares...
weasels, stoats...

While riding round Arthur's seat the other day, the car I was following
had to slam on it's anchors as a pair of young foxes tumbled mid-fight,
out of the undergrowth on the right (A drop of about 1.5m) and rolled
across the road. One dived straight over the other side while the other
looked around a little before bombing after it's mate.

I just wish I'd had a camera to hand.

Jon