Forum birdwatching 2009

[Kestrel]

I think it's a female white-rumped shama Copsychus malabaricus

http://www.geocities.com/tgrey41/PagesBirdsHawaii/WhiterumpedShamap.html 2nd and 3rd picture.

There's a fleck of white visible on the rump in your photograph. Can you remember if it was apparent when you saw it?

I don't remember, but looking at the photos in your link it probably was a female white-rumped Shama. The book on Hawaiian birds I am using only has a photo of a male of that species.

Thanks for helping with the ID.

 

[Rolfe]

I'm 99% sure I saw a hoodie crow trying to figure out my bird feeder this morning. It wasn't a rook (of which we have plenty), and it was bigger and less neat than a jackdaw. And it had the "hoodie" pattern. Unfortunately I was already late for work and had no time to try to get a photo.

Rolfe.

 

[mummymonkey]

I'm 99% sure I saw a hoodie crow trying to figure out my bird feeder this morning. It wasn't a rook (of which we have plenty), and it was bigger and less neat than a jackdaw. And it had the "hoodie" pattern. Unfortunately I was already late for work and had no time to try to get a photo.

Rolfe.

There are hybrids of varying degrees which can be seen quite far south. I've seen almost pure hoodies down as far as Anstruther. Young birds seem to show the hoodie pattern more than adults.

 

[EHocking]

Web Page Updating (v1.1)

Everything bar the galleries updated.

The count may still be off by one or two here or there (those subspecies are killing me without Kotatsu's fine taxonomists input).

Stay tuned for gallery updates.

 

[Kotatsu]

Home from England now, and off to Canada tomorrow. We visited quite a few places in ten days (1), and I have made no effort keeping track of what I saw where and when. Thus, I will add the following species merely as "England", and on the 6th of July (2), in no particular order:

Mallard
Mute Swan
Wood Pigeon
Domestic Pigeon
Collared Dove
Swift
Buzzard
Common Guillemot
Fulmar
Oystercatcher
Herring Gull
Mew Gull
Greater Black-backed Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Black-headed Gull
Kestrel
Red Kite
Curlew
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Green Woodpecker
Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Great Cormorant
Little Tern
Moorhen
Coot
Grey Heron
Common Sandpiper
Marsh Harrier
Canadian Goose
Common Tern
Honey Buzzard
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Rock Pipit
Yellow Wagtail
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Dunnock
Wren
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Starling
Carrion Crow
Rook
Raven
Magpie
House Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra
Linnet
Goldfinch
Blackbird
Fielfare
Song Thrush
Sand Martin
House Martin
Barn Swallow
Chiffchaff
Willow Warbler
Blackcap
Garden Warbler
Greater Whitethroat
Nuthatch

Uncertains:
There were some very small auks at Portland Bill, which I assumed to be Puffins, but I had no binoculars, and thus cannot say for sure. The same goes for a suspected Siskin in Dorchester which I thought I heard sing a few times, but I never saw it, and there was too much background noise to exclude a mimicking Starling or something similar.

---
(1) Cities visited: London, Brighton, Southampton, Portsmouth, Dorchester, Lyme Regis, Salisbury, Portland, Weymouth, Devizes, Oxford, Windsor, Southend-on-Sea, Braintree, plus a lot of small villages and stuff.
(2) As most of the stuff has already been seen, and I have to go to work and get some stuff and then start packing, I will list only Common names.

 

[sphenisc]

...
Thekla Lark - Galerida theklae ????? –still checking this
...
Great Black-headed Gull - Ichthyaetus ichthyaetus probable
...

Thekla Lark, I think is okay - my pictures below if anyone would like to express an opinion.

Great Black-headed Gull, I'll withdraw. I noted it as having an all black bill, which I can't find in any pictures of this species.

 

[Fiona]

Speaking of gulls: does anyone have a set of good pictures showing the readily identifiable features which distinguish them. I have a bird book but I find the pictures members take helpful because that is much more like what I am likely to see: the book illustrations are almost "too good" because you never catch all the points.

 

[sphenisc]

Speaking of gulls: does anyone have a set of good pictures showing the readily identifiable features which distinguish them. I have a bird book but I find the pictures members take helpful because that is much more like what I am likely to see: the book illustrations are almost "too good" because you never catch all the points.

Everything you wanted to know about gull identification - but should've been afraid to ask! A lot depends on where you are and if you've any idea of what species of gulls you're likely to come across. More info here, (which ruins my first comment).

 

[Kotatsu]

The same goes for a suspected Siskin in Dorchester which I thought I heard sing a few times, but I never saw it, and there was too much background noise to exclude a mimicking Starling or something similar.

This should be serin, not siskin. I blame sleeping at Stanstead airport.

 

[Fiona]

This should be serin, not siskin. I blame sleeping at Stanstead airport.

I have been in Stanstead airport: if you had to sleep there you should get a medal or something..... No error is so big that it is not fully excused by such a horrific experience

 

[sphenisc]

This should be serin, not siskin. I blame sleeping at Stanstead airport.

Rare Bird Alert reports a serin on the Isle of Portland, Dorset on 28th June and 4th July. They're the closest records I can find.

 

[Kotatsu]

I have been in Stanstead airport: if you had to sleep there you should get a medal or something..... No error is so big that it is not fully excused by such a horrific experience

It's not too bad, actually. I've done it every time I've been to England, except once when we went by boat. This time I even got a seat and didn't have to sleep on the floor, and at least with Stanstead you know when you're going to get home. Staying for an indefinite time at the airport in Bangkok and being woken up when we evacuated was much worse.

Rare Bird Alert reports a serin on the Isle of Portland, Dorset on 28th June and 4th July. They're the closest records I can find.

So there might have been one in the area, then. This would have been on the 2nd. Well, I cannot rule out Starling entirely, so I'll have to let this one slide....

 

[Fiona]

Everything you wanted to know about gull identification - but should've been afraid to ask! A lot depends on where you are and if you've any idea of what species of gulls you're likely to come across. More info here, (which ruins my first comment).

Some great pictures there Sphensic: thank you. I still find it hard though

I have only recently realised there are a lot of kinds: so I have not been careful in looking at them cos they all just went in boxes marked "black-headed" and "seagulls"

So having looked at your site I am still not sure:

For example: I am fairly sure this is a herring gull:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3514/3263068616_f08948ab71.jpg?v=0

and I thought this was a young one of the same and still do)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3497670953_875f35677a.jpg?v=0

But I also thought these were the same:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/3263041622_e285c62fe8.jpg?v=0

and they are not. Their faces are similar but they do not have the black tail feathers. So maybe they are glaucous gulls? Probably I think, from your site.

And I thought these were herring gulls as well but their feet are yellow not pink

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3557405620_1b38f694f0.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3498498776_8a84653138.jpg?v=0

The site says they should definitely be pink but it says the lesser black backed ( which was my next thought) also has pink feet. However the pictures on the sight seem to show them as having yellow so I don't know

This is not easy you know

 

[sphenisc]

For example: I am fairly sure this is a herring gull:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3514/3263068616_f08948ab71.jpg?v=0

Adult herring gull. The dove grey mantle excludes both black-backed gulls, black wing tips excludes glaucous and iceland gull, and pink legs, yellow-legged gull.

and I thought this was a young one of the same and still do)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3497670953_875f35677a.jpg?v=0

The dark grey mantle, (but not almost black), indicates lesser black-backed gull. The head has a gentle, doveish quality unlike the "thuggish" greater black-backed. It's a 3rd year bird.

But I also thought these were the same:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/3263041622_e285c62fe8.jpg?v=0

and they are not. Their faces are similar but they do not have the black tail feathers. So maybe they are glaucous gulls? Probably I think, from your site.

These are herring gulls, the rear (flying) one is 3rd year - brown in the wings and tail, the front one is an adult. Note the identification features pale grey mantle, dark wing tips (with mirrors in the adult) and pink legs.

Not sure where you're seeing black tail feathers - are you confusing the wingtips with the tail?

And I thought these were herring gulls as well but their feet are yellow not pink

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3557405620_1b38f694f0.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3498498776_8a84653138.jpg?v=0

The site says they should definitely be pink but it says the lesser black backed ( which was my next thought) also has pink feet. However the pictures on the sight seem to show them as having yellow so I don't know

These are lesser black-backed, mixed 3rd years and adults - I'm not sure where you get them having pink feet. That's not the case for birds of this age. That's one of the reasons it's useful to age the gulls you're looking at while you're identifying them.

This is not easy you know

I know.

 

[Fiona]

Wow. Thank you sphensic. And yes: I was confusing wings and tails so that is good to know.

 

[EHocking]

Wow. Thank you sphensic. And yes: I was confusing wings and tails so that is good to know.

You mean you don't know your arse from your elbow?

 

[Kotatsu]

Kotatsu, the pictures have arrived. Thanks, they're great!

Looking forward to seeing more of your photographs from Japan.

Missed this one; glad you liked them! I'll try to find a nice prize for this year's as well, but I'm hoping there'll be more interest^^.

Anyway, dead tired in Vancouver now, I add a few species to the Canadian list, which I believe is well nigh empty:

Barn swallow Hirundo rustica
American Crow Corvus macrorhynchus
House Sparrow Passer domesticus
Mew Gull Larus canus
Domestic Pigeon Columba livia domestica

So far nothing special. Or that's what I want you to believe, at least, for I have one more species on my list for today:
Bushtit Psaltriparus minimus
Or so I believe, at least. The way it looked fits perfectly, but there's no mention of the sound in the National Geographic Society's field guide. The ones I saw (about a dozen!) sounded almost like Blue Tits doing small talk, or like those annoying sounds Goldcrests and Treecreepers make soemtimes that make it impossible to tell them apart:
"tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi-tsi"
or variations thereof. Anyone with prior experience with this bird who can tell me if I'm right or wrong?

Now: nap. Tomorrow: birdcatching.

 

[Kestrel]

Everything bar the galleries updated.

The count may still be off by one or two here or there (those subspecies are killing me without Kotatsu's fine taxonomists input).

Stay tuned for gallery updates.

Looking good.

It looks like birds seen in Hawaii are also being included in the USA figures. Was this intended, or did I screw things up by listing the place for my sightings as Hawaii, USA?

 

[Fiona]

You mean you don't know your arse from your elbow?

Steady: I know my arse from my elbow: gulls - not so much

 

[I Ratant]

Going thru some photos from when I got my Canon SX10, I found this female house finch with something quite wrong with both feet!