Yet Another Cycling Forum
Random Musings => Miscellany => Where The Wild Things Are => Topic started by: Sergeant Pluck on 08 April, 2020, 09:01:20 pm
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Heavily cropped phone pic. This was gathering worms on this football pitch on which all the grass has gone yellow due to it being, as the sign puts it, “prepared” for a new pitch.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/atrx70hirl6zt3z/2020-04-08%2015.40.10.jpg?dl=0)
Skylark?
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Skylark?
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The contrast is a bit strong for Skylark, but I don't have a better suggestion.
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Thanks. Can’t think of anything else it could be.
I just hope that whatever was making the grass go yellow hasn’t had a harmful effect on the worms and hence the birds. There did seem to be an awful lot of worms - they might have been forced to the surface.
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/9zvwapz4lx1shwm/2020-04-08%2015.40.19.jpg?dl=0)
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Hijacking an existing thread rather than starting anew..
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/Bird%20ID%203.jpg)
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Chukar partridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukar_partridge
Edit:
The chukar readily interbreeds with the red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), and the practice of breeding and releasing captive-bred hybrids has been banned in various countries including the United Kingdom, as it is a threat to wild populations.
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Oooh, thanks!
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Chukar partridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukar_partridge
Edit:
The chukar readily interbreeds with the red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa), and the practice of breeding and releasing captive-bred hybrids has been banned in various countries including the United Kingdom, as it is a threat to wild populations.
It's a red-legged partridge (https://ebird.org/species/relpar1)
Chukar have just a narrowish black band between the white throat and the breast, without the black streaking.
They are also resident from Turkey eastwards, and would only occur in the UK as escapes, or if some gamebird breeder (for shooting) got mixed up.
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Thanks. I thought it looked like a red-legged and decided to check. I then thought Jaded's image looked identical to the chukar so assumed I must have got it wrong.
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If you just google images, there can often be incorrectly labelled hits to mislead
This is a Chukar, with a relatively narrow, well defined black band on the breast, and a creamy throat.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Alectoris-chukar-001.jpg/330px-Alectoris-chukar-001.jpg)
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I expect this is an easy one!
On the last 2 rides which have taken me into upland moorlands, I've wondered what these are.
Habitat is upland moorlands, so probably ground nesting.
Locations were: Approach to Lecht from Tomintoul, and moorland around Redstane Rigg.
Medium sized, perhaps size of a small pidgeon or similar.
Black when viewed from above, but when seen from below, white underbellies and wing patches.
Very characteristic flight: swooping down to the ground, just missing it, and swooping up again. Usually in pairs. Repeat this dive-bombing several times, before finally landing and sitting down.
Also very characteristic: The tops of their heads seem to have a tall crest that curves and hooks forwards towards the top.
Wot is it?
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Lapwing ?
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/lapwing/
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Or maybe a peewit.
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Lapwing ?
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/lapwing/
The head crest thing is not curved and hooky-forward, so no, I don't think so.
That's one of the most characteristic things.
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Check out Google image search. There are examples of lapwings with crests which go forward.
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Or maybe a peewit.
Same thing in the UK.
In Europe's Anglophone countries, lapwing refers specifically to the northern lapwing, the only member of this group to occur in most of the continent and thus the first bird to go by the English name lapwing (also known as peewit or pyewipe).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapwing
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Guilty of smiley neglect.
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Guilty of smiley neglect.
Indeed. I almost said I thought it was a green plover.
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What’s this?
(https://dl.dropbox.com/s/lhn22k43ullro4h/17631716244851.jpg?dl=0)
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Blackcap?
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Dartford Warbler. Were you near heathland or the coast ?
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Dartford Warbler. Were you near heathland or the coast ?
Thanks! Richmond Park.
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Dartford Warbler. Were you near heathland or the coast ?
Feeling a bit smug at this. My immediate thought was "Dartford warbler?" and followed it up with a "Surely not? You don't see them unless you spend ages looking!"
Did you see that whilst on a bike ride, Sgt. P? If so, it's a brilliant spot. I've never seen one. They are quite rare.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/dartford-warbler/
I see they are back on the Amber list after being Red for almost my entire life.
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My partner Rie spotted it in Richmond Park yesterday morning when she was out for a walk with a bird-watching friend.
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That seems like a good sighting. They are often associated with gorse, where I saw one on the south coast last week. They do not do well in a snowy/icy winter.
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It was to the north of Sawyer’s Hill, parts of which are heath-like and there are bits of gorse there, although gorse is more common elsewhere in the park.
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As many of you will know, I know nothing about birds...
These are Turkish, but we are struggling to identify them. Are they common ones like we get here...?
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/Bird%20in%20turkey%204.jpg)
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/Bird%20in%20turkey%203.jpg)
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/Bird%20in%20turkey%202.jpg)
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/Bird%20in%20turkey%201.jpg)
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Don’t know, but if they move as fast as the ones we have here, those are superb photos.
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they were fast!!!
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As many of you will know, I know nothing about birds...
These are Turkish, but we are struggling to identify them. Are they common ones like we get here...?
A delight. They look like (barn) swallows to me.
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Were they carrying coconuts?
Yes, I think they are swallows as well. (Show my ignorance here: is the barn swallow what we normally just call a "swallow" in the UK?)
They nest in all kinds of interesting places. I have a photo somewhere of a swallow's nest, occupied by almost-fledglings, built on a pilot whale's skull in an old fisherman's cottage near Martin''s Haven, where you get on the boat to go to Skomer island.
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Its a Swallow. Put bird species Swallow, into a search engine. Hey presto, its a Swallow.
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(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NOeShNz6FeFkhLZ5zhU7rLxofdErTp7KOFUG7e1xF0pgoclfaSJk_YzYnT2VPBDgTM2r_83LAtJnvDBZ9E1PjL2CfC4DlytGCzIEJZuNqAU9tn4eUDkKVqloh1zzCBIQi5Ms8dAvMBY=w2400)
Swallow's nest on pilot whale's skull.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AJFCJaXUDpMA7iNiBLav0Cp_k5fak09unaa4EY22AlAtoXmdFz4dejdMDUvRQcPijIOfk4D3DyRMS0TBQa1FzLzxq3bGPHCsyQaWaLkJQkAM7jz9VCnilL7u=w2400)
A different Pembrokeshire swallow's nest. That's on a light fitting in the gents' loo at the Old Point House pub, overlooking Angle bay.
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Yes, I think they are swallows as well.
I had assumed Jaded had got as far as “swallow” and was looking for the specific variant. :P
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... is the barn swallow what we normally just call a "swallow" in the UK?...
Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_swallow
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They have a very aerodynamic feet arrangement.
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Barn Swallows :thumbsup:
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A different Pembrokeshire swallow's nest. That's on a light fitting in the gents' loo at the Old Point House pub, overlooking Angle bay.
Yonks ago I remember visiting the gents in the Ringlestone Arms in Kent (a very basic not quite indoor affair) and found myself eyeball to eyeball with a swallow nesting in the corner above a water pipe.
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Here's another fluffy tweety thing for ID.
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/fluffy-bird.jpg)
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It looks like a sunset picture, maybe making it look a little browner than true. I think it may be a willow warbler. Steph will be along soon with the correct ID!
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It looks like a sunset picture, maybe making it look a little browner than true. I think it may be a willow warbler. Steph will be along soon with the correct ID!
That or chiffchaff I thought.
Did you hear it sing, Jaded?
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So, sunset, yes, a bit orangier than it should be.
I heard it sing, yes, from what I remember, short tweets.
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I'd go for chiffchaff.
Supercilium doesn't go much past the eye, there's a noticeable eyering, and the wings look on the short side (somewhat obscured by leaves though, as are the legs).
The chiffchaff sings it's name - chiff-chaff chiff-chaff etc, with the chaff note being slightly lower than the chiff note.
The willow warbler song is a very different csacade of descending notes.
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I think I have a shot of it's wings slightly opened, will look tomorrow.
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Here it is, with the White Balance brought down a bit.
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/fluffy-bird-2.jpg)
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Chiffchaff and willow warbler are notoriously difficult to tell apart from stills. Instantly recognisable if you hear them.
This may help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnz3EyAZRG8&ab_channel=johnluk
When we were cycling in Scotland, in different springs, we noticed that we would cycle through different bits of woodland (mostly birch) and sometimes you would hear willow warblers and at other times chiffchaff. It was almost as though they had entered into an agreement that Wood A was a chiffchaff wood and Wood B was for willow warblers. We noticed this particularly on the ride between Claonaig and Oban.
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I've just read on the Woodland Trust's page "How to tell willow warblers from chiffchaffs":
The easiest way to tell these two birds apart is by leg colour. Chiffchaffs have black legs and willow warblers have light brown legs. This isn’t a foolproof method though, so there are a few other distinctions, if they’ll sit still long enough!
Chiffchaffs constantly flick their tails whereas willow warblers only do it occasionally.
Willow warblers have a whiter belly.
Ref; https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/03/chiffchaff-or-willow-warbler/
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I think of the willow warbler's song, with it's dying fall, as like an apologetic chaffinch.
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Is anyone good at ID by song? I spotted this chap in the field beneath skylark central, and assumed he was a skylark when he landed, but I don't think skylarks carry on yelling on the ground? The Merlin app can't identify the species.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenbait/52944836386/
Sam
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I let Merlin listen to your video and it said Lesser Goldfinch. I'd never heard of these and a google says it's a N. American bird, so I suspect Shome Mishtake.
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Birdnet App is what you need
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BirdNET is 'almost certain' that it is a Tree Pipit.
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I can see why it would think that, but I've now listened t tree pipit, meadow, pipit, skylark and woodlark, and none of them match. Looking closely at the video, I'm sure I can see the white leading edge on the wing and a crest, so maybe a female skylark? They don't sing so much.
Sam
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OK, just had an excitement. A medium sized bird in the sun room. I thought it looked like a sparrow hawk, female.
It left this, 12cm long.
(http://www.alfiecat.co.uk/yetacf/IMG_1516.jpg)
all the little birds have gone from the bird feeders.
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Kestrel?
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Hmm, could be, but there have been sparrow hawks spotted up here.
I had the wrong lens on the camera and it took offence at me trying to photo it with the phone.
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https://www.featherbase.info/nb/species/Accipiter/nisus
https://www.featherbase.info/nb/species/Falco/tinnunculus
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That's a great resource! Thanks.