Pishing - Anyone Do It? (1 Viewer)

[Chewbaxter]

Right... let's get these out of the way first.

"I'm pished as a newt"

"Pishing in the wind"

"I'm going to pish off in a minute!"


And so on...


:t:

Anyhow - serious now... quiet please...


Ahem.

Right, I've been reading up on this and have had a wee bit of success with garden birds (although I bet my neighbours think I'm going daft when they hear me).

Just wondered what other forum members thought about this, and if there're any comments/stories about the success or lack of in doing this activity?

Look forward to reading any comments folks.


Neil.

 

[DaveN]

I've tried it a few times with varying degress of success. Just make sure there's no one around or else you'll look like a pishing idiot.

 

[dan pointon]

Pishing does work well in some cases, as does making sqeaking noises etc. In Ireland a couple of weeks ago the Yellow Warbler was extremely responsive to pishing, as is often the case with Yanks. Quite a cool little thing to buy is an Audubon Squeaker - these can be very good at drawing passerines out of bushes etc.

All in all- yes pishing does work!

D

 

[Chewbaxter]

Well, that'll do for me... I might try it later today...

I'm worried that all it will attract is cats though, I'll have to make sure I don't make it sound like a variation of 'puss puss puss'. :t:

Also - the words wasps and crisps seem to have a natural 'pish' about them... just try saying each word (mind you, if we're being daft, say 'beer can' and then realise that it sounds like you're saying 'bacon' but with a Jamaican-style accent).

Righty ho - apologies for being silly, but I WILL try this... now that I know that there are other people in the world doing it, I'll not feel like an imbecile!

:t:

Neil.

 

[Helsinki Birder]

Relocated the Baltimore oriole on Cape clear 2006, which all thought had fecked off, by pishing. Sometimes you think theres nothing around until you pish.

Owen

 

[skatebirder]

I sometimes make pishing noises (when on my own!) - but there seem to be several schools of thought on how to pish most successfully:

1. Tongue-clicking to emulate the sound of, say, a Blackcap
2. Making actual "pish-pish" type noises
3. "Kissing the back of your hand" (maybe only for egotists, that one)
4. My brother's Nuthatch call has Nuthatches streaming in to see what's going on - perhaps they are just more inquisitive than most.

Anyone found any of these (or other noises) to be most productive?

David

 

[yoyo]

Pishing always works as does glentle hand claps (not applause), without both of these methods yesterdays haul of 20+Redstarts & 30+Willows plus lots more common migrants would have been greatly reduced.
Dont worry about looking like an idiot, you have bins round your neck so may as well be a train-spotter to the public.

cheers
jason

 

[John Cantelo]

On my few trips to the USA I found pishing (of all the types listed by skatebirder) to be very effective. In the UK I've had less dramatic results, but it's certainly an effective way of coaxing birds out of cover and worth trying. When I take folks round at Dungeness I sometimes do a bit o' pishing - much to everyone's amusement. Sometimes this attracts a reasonable number of species or persuade birds to appear from cover, but other times it can have the opposite result. It's also worth noting that similar technique can be used to attract stoats & weasels,

John

 

[AndyM]

In my experience it works providing that you see it before it sees you. Once your quarry has identified you as the danger, and considers you to be the reason for all the fuss, you can more or less forget it.

 

[Chewbaxter]

Dont worry about looking like an idiot, you have bins round your neck so may as well be a train-spotter to the public.

:king: That's got to be one of the best 'quotes' I've done on a forum lol.

Never thought of it like that Jason, but it's certainly going to help!

All I need now is my litlle book to write train numbers down!

:t:

Neil.

P.S. Does pishing work on trains? I can do a variation of 'Ivor The Engine' that may be effective:

Ssh-te-ckff-Ssh-te-ckff-Ssh-te-ckff etc.

 

[Dog]

Goldcrests pish out well & if you stand close to a bush come to within 2 - 3 feet of you, but trying to pish out Firecrest seems to have the opposite effect.

Mike.

 

[draycotebirding]

Might be worth you looking at this thread Chew.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=121282

John

 

[Chewbaxter]

Might be worth you looking at this thread Chew.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=121282

John

Chees for that John... some good links in there too!

:t: particularly this one which is good but looks mad... I'd hat to be at that seminar by mistake - I'd freak out!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ev2EPyzY8&feature=related

:king:

N.

 

[Jaff]

I usually do it behind a tree, works well.

 

[steve west]

Pishing success rate is usually high with Goldcrest, Firecrest, Chaffinch and the tits, and much less so with most other birds in my experience. I've tried making all kinds of noises, but I think the birds here in Spain have managed to survive to this day by getting to know all the tricks.
Maybe making owl noises so the birds come and mob you? Anyone tried that?

Steve
http://www.BirdingInSpain.com

 

[Hanno]

Works for some birds here in Vietnam. Around the hotel where I work it works well with Tailorbirds and Babblers.

 

[ColinD]

Pishing always works as does glentle hand claps (not applause), without both of these methods yesterdays haul of 20+Redstarts & 30+Willows plus lots more common migrants would have been greatly reduced.
.....

One theory I have is that some birds actually show better if you make yourself obvious (i.e. don't try to hide from them). Obviously there are birds such as waders, in fact most other non-passerines, which you need to sneek up on if you want a good view, but many passerines actually seem to show better if you make no attempt at hide from them.

So within reason, if you make it obvious that you're there and don't move too fast, many passerines will come to you. I wonder if that's all that's happening when we pish (or clap).

 

[johnraven]

I'm not sure I'm a believer in pishing. I find trying to impersonate the birds contact call works better, however crap my impersonation is. Also bizarre high pitched squeaky noises made by pursing one's lips into strange shapes seems to work as well. I think its just so odd the birds just cant contain their curiosity/amusement.

But I've found all of these things tend to work a lot better outside of the UK. Perhaps they've got used to ludicrous birders making stupid noises here?

 

[wetlands_wedge]

I have tried pishing before with very varied results. I have, however, found a fantastic way to attract tits. Whilst in the garden not so long ago I found myself surrounded by a small mixed flock of these little birds. What had drawn them was my old pair of secateurs! I hadn't noticed until then that the little sqeak that they produced was just like one of our little freinds calls! This is now a regular occurence, start chopping plant debris and the birds come in to the garden! I am hoping that they bring something a little more unusual with them soon!

All the very best,
Reg

 

[chris butterworth]

I must admit I've found pishing to work better in the Far East and the Americas than in Europe, particularly GB (could be we're all Pish----. Sorry, I promised myself I wouldn't do that!!!). There again waders seem to be far more aproachable outside Europe as well.
Chris