h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

hi
its me

i havent been on much lately
but i am popping in because i just haaaaaaaaaaaaaave to know...

two bbc series i have recently watched... ballykissangel and foyles war... both have this ungodly bird call in the background...

it sounds like a with a bad toothache is venting its rage

it really is awful

what bird or ...thing... is making the noise?

thanks

sincerely

fluffy kerfuffle
american

Both were filmed near the coast so possibly seagulls?

Dervla Kirwin wasn't in Foyle's War and, as far as I know, she's the only bird in Ballykissangel with a hateful cawing voice.

Voles with vuvuzelas?

Jackdaws?

Can you describe the sound? Is it a cawing (crow, rook), a loud 'chack' (jackdaw) or is it 'chack-ack-ack-ack-ack' (magpie)?

Foyle's War is set in Hastings, so gulls are possible for that one, but I don't know if Ballykissangel was set anywhere near the sea.

They have sound file on the page for types of gull:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/families/gulls.aspx

And outside chance would be the Manx Shearwater. A man found faith in God after hearing a Manx Shearwater, he believed it to the sound of the very Devil Himself.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/manxshearwater/index.aspx

They also have the call for the magpie here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/m/magpie/index.aspx

The "monster with toothache" could be the soundd of a flock of something from the corvids:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/h/hoodedcrow/index.aspx

Yes, that's why I suggested crows and rooks. However, magpies are the birds I notice most often in programmes like Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders, etc.

Are you sure it's not the Upper Classes?

Peacocks are another favourite sound effect for British TV drama, usually when the action is around a stately home.
http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Peacock_Sounds.aspx

My vote's for peacock. (Up the peahen!)

ahh thank you all!


however... none of them were what i have been hearing...
tho some of them totally cracked me up they were so awful

come to think of it ...the calls come at night
and that somers murder series is really not very good is it...

i will try to search on that site you kept referencing...
ta
fluffykerfuffle
american

but alas alack i fear i have no time to look
(on a library computer with only one hour)
anyone out there know the night birds of the uk?
this bird is also on ballykissangel which i am guessing is northern ireland...
if it IS a bird...





terry pratchett is suggesting it might be a ...banshee?

Screech Owl?

True screech owls are restricted to the Americas. The barn owl is sometimes called a screech owl (it's not closely related to them, though), so that's a possible.

sure it's not foxes?

Seems to be a fox hat Robyn.

It's a raven with a Boston Brahmin accent quoting "Nevermore".