Topic: Bird watch

[Bob Kurac]

Just back from a few days in Donana. Red-necked Nightjar, Red-knobbed Coot, White-headed Duck, Spanish Imperial (plus Booted and Short-toed) Eagle, Pin-tailed Sandgrouse, Collared Pratincole, Griffon Vultures, Great-spotted Cuckoos we're the top birds for me, against the background of Glossy Ibises, Herons and Egrets of many types, Little Bittern, Flamingoes, Spoonbills, Stilts, Marsh Terns, Black-Necked Grebes ...

[Mal]

I saw a Spanish imperial eagle once, circling in the mountains 20k in land from Malaga. Saw black vultures during the same jolly. Daughter #1 was only 2, maybe 2 and a half at the time, she's still only 9 but it feels a long time ago...

[Bob Kurac]

You did well to see Black Vultures; I've only ever seen them once in Andalucia. Plenty of Griffons though

[Mal]

It was on the way to Ronda, and they were definitely black vultures. (Edit: - I was in andalucia so I guess that stacks).

My skills aren't what they were, I'm shocking with water fowl, waders & the like but I'm still good with birds of prey. Guess I just got lucky

[The Gulleysucker]

Spotted our first Housemartins of this spring just before dusk down here below Exmoor.
A pair circled around our house and then a gang of about 20 or so flew over a bit higher up in the sky going in a straight line coming from the South towards the North on their spring migration up from Africa.
It's been quite a warm and calm two days here with plenty of insects hatching and flying around so I had expected them any day now, but the forecast for the weekend is cold again here but hopefully not for a long spell.

[MichaelA]

That must have been a happy hour.

[Mal]

I saw swallows last week. Mind you I was in Bavaria & it was 22C.

Keeping my eyes peeled here for the swifts, swallows & housemartins. I do like the swifts screeching to each other on a hot sunny day

That must have been a happy hour.

Go find a mirror & take a long hard look at yourself 

[mulfella]

We had our first Swallow last week

[ACLE]

Saw first swallow outside the ale house tonight sitting on the telephone wire (West Cumbria). Resident Ospreys at Bassenthwaite Lake should also be back soon as AA road signs 'Osprey Viewpoint' are out.

[Mal]

Saw first swallow outside the ale house tonight sitting on the telephone wire (West Cumbria). Resident Ospreys at Bassenthwaite Lake should also be back soon as AA road signs 'Osprey Viewpoint' are out.

They returned around 11th of April from what I can see. I'm a bit pissed off cos I'd hoped they'd be back when I was last in the lakes i.e. the 9th of April. Grrrr.

[kavah]

Jay on my Balcony eating bugs.

[kavah]

Swallows returned a day late this year, they nest in the Eaves at my work on the loading dock, nice and sunny here on the west coast today - watched these 2 and dozens of others while having my lunch. perfect.

[damian]

Can anyone tell me what bird this is?



We live behind a crisp factory, above which there are always loads of seagulls circling. However, today my wife spotted a couple of birds much higher up that looked different . I got my camera and took this picture, though its using the 30x optical zoom hand held (I couldn't keep track of them on the tripod) so I couldn't get a much better picture, but interested to know what it is (a buzzard or kite?)

[John C]

If its wings were more square with end feathers I'd be convinced it was a Buzzard. Bob or Gulley will be along soon with a more educated opinion mate. Looks ace though.

[damian]

If its wings were more square with end feathers I'd be convinced it was a Buzzard. Bob or Gulley will be along soon with a more educated opinion mate. Looks ace though.

Thanks, that's what I thought from looking at Google images, but wings do look too pointed.

Will be keeping more of an eye out in future, and will give it more of a go with the tripod to try and get a sharper image.

[The Gulleysucker]

Can anyone tell me what bird this is?



We live behind a crisp factory, above which there are always loads of seagulls circling. However, today my wife spotted a couple of birds much higher up that looked different . I got my camera and took this picture, though its using the 30x optical zoom hand held (I couldn't keep track of them on the tripod) so I couldn't get a much better picture, but interested to know what it is (a buzzard or kite?)

You're right, it's not a Buzzard or Kite, the feathered ends of the wings are quite obvious on them.
The angle is difficult but I think it could possibly be a Manx Sheerwater or similar...Bob will probably know.

[Thush]

Starting to entice a local crow onto my balcony railing.



Got my camera set up to take some better shots in future.


Edit: Got a better one today.

[theredguy03]

Went to my local park at the weekend.

I was standing a few yards away from a Canada Goose, it was on some grass minding its own business with its feet curled into its body. I know birds chase off people who go too near but this goose sat there doing nothing and showed no hostility apart from quacking. 

[Homo rubrum]

You're right, it's not a Buzzard or Kite, the feathered ends of the wings are quite obvious on them.
The angle is difficult but I think it could possibly be a Manx Sheerwater or similar...Bob will probably know.

Not my area of the world, but the coverts on that picture don't look like any shearwater pictures I can find.  Also the wings look a little broader than I would expect on a shearwater, and the tail is very square -coupled with it flying higher than all the gulls makes me think it's some sort of raptor.  But then the highish aspect ratio wings lack of distal primaries sticking out throws me. 

On a separate note- found a second pair of roosting great horned owls at work today, hopefully when the wind/dust dies down in a few days I'll get some good photo ops. 

[Homo rubrum]

I have a tendency to err on the side of birds I am more excited by/haven't seen personally, so take this with a pinch of salt, but grey/dark morph gyrfalcon?
The tail is a little squarish and short for a falcon, but the angle of the picture makes it hard to really tell how long the bird is tail to beak.  And it could've been fanning its tail to bank for this one picture or something. 

[damian]

I have a tendency to err on the side of birds I am more excited by/haven't seen personally, so take this with a pinch of salt, but grey/dark morph gyrfalcon?
The tail is a little squarish and short for a falcon, but the angle of the picture makes it hard to really tell how long the bird is tail to beak.  And it could've been fanning its tail to bank for this one picture or something. 

That looks like the one - they did seem to keep swooping down. When the wife first saw them they were actually lower down, she came in and told me so I ran out with my camera but they were higher by then.

The patten on the wings certainly looks similar.

We were at the park earlier, I was hoping to see some around there as we occasionally see them hovering above trees, but nothing was about today unfortunately.

[Homo rubrum]

You occasionally see some gyrfalcons in the park?  I am very jealous indeed.  I live in the desert of southern California, so there isn't much chance of my seeing one. I went to uni in Vermont, and kept a hopeful eye on the skies during the winter, especially around Lake Champlain, because I've heard reports of them there, but as of yet I haven't had the pleasure.  What an incredible bird, though. 

[damian]

You occasionally see some gyrfalcons in the park?  I am very jealous indeed.  I live in the desert of southern California, so there isn't much chance of my seeing one. I went to uni in Vermont, and kept a hopeful eye on the skies during the winter, especially around Lake Champlain, because I've heard reports of them there, but as of yet I haven't had the pleasure.  What an incredible bird, though. 

I'm not sure what they are to be honest, they are usually at a good distance and I've not had this camera for long so never had the zoom to get close-ups. We live not far from there though (we can see the park from our house), so I wondered whether they were from there somewhere.

[Mal]

Damian, where do you live? How far from the coast...? And aside from the crisp factory what's the local geography like...? Woodland, fields, coastal??? All this might help.

Have to say my first glance says buzzard but zooming in on that image makes me less sure...

[damian]

Damian, where do you live? How far from the coast...? And aside from the crisp factory what's the local geography like...? Woodland, fields, coastal??? All this might help.

Have to say my first glance says buzzard but zooming in on that image makes me less sure...

I live in Leicester, so about as far from the coast as possible in the UK  

Not far from here is a country park (Bradgate Park), which is quite big and fairly varied, with woodland and a reservoir. We can actually see it from our house so not a long flight for a bird, so it makes me think that whatever they are they might be nested somewhere there. We often see quite large birds hovering and swooping over the woodland when we go there, but too far away to get on camera.

To give an idea of what is around us, we live around the middle of this map:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=leicester&hl=en&ll=52.675133,-1.158543&spn=0.065781,0.209255&sll=52.673455,-1.161795&sspn=0.008223,0.026157&t=h&hnear=Leicester,+United+Kingdom&z=13

You can see the Walkers factory to the left of Birstall Golf Course (just under the "Bennion Rd" label, its above here that the birds were.

[damian]

A couple more pics taken last week at Hartsolme Park in Lincoln.

[Homo rubrum]

A pair of ravens chasing a great horned owl away from their nest site.  Almost every day I go to check in, the owl is sitting in a tree about 60 meters from the raven nest, and they don't seem to care.  Then I come, and the owl gets agitated and takes off.  As soon as it is in the air, the ravens set to, and will continue to hassle it even once it has landed elsewhere, usually within a few hundred meters of the first tree.  On this particular day they were feeling particularly aggressive, and the owl was more willing than usual to put up with it. 
I got a few decent shots of the interaction.

I like these two because in the first I think it looks like the Duke of Owls from Rock-a-Doodle (the raven adjusting its wings behind the owl) and in the second the owl just looks straight up at the raven hurtling towards it and does nothing. 

[The Gulleysucker]

I live in Leicester, so about as far from the coast as possible in the UK  

Leicester! I see...

I thought you are up in Liverpool, that's why I suggested a Sheerwater or something similar as a possibility.

The Sheerwaters are passing down the coast at the moment on their way to North Wales, Bardsey Island usually has around 7000 pairs.



...though it would have been highly unusual to have seen one over land and never over Leicester, they are deep water birds.

Sadly, there's been a few getting washed up dead on Ainsdale beach just the other day.



As to what your bird actually is, it's definitely a difficult one to identify positively with that photo and the angle of the bird in it.

[Mal]

Right, I'm calling it.

Damian, that bird is a buzzard. Impossible to be 100% but based on altitude, location etc... It can't really be much else.

[Homo rubrum]

Right, I'm calling it.

Damian, that bird is a buzzard. Impossible to be 100% but based on altitude, location etc... It can't really be much else.

This is where my Eurasian faunal knowledge fails me- I have looked in to some of the color I am officially changing my guess to buzzard as well. 

[The Gulleysucker]

The problem I have is, even accounting for the difficult angle, those wing tips in that photo just don't look anything like the Buzzards round our way below Exmoor.



I've had a thought though. I see there's a wildlife park just 5 miles out of Leicester called Watermead Country Park that has some occasional interesting visitors, Terns and such. I'm wondering if it's something from there.

[Mal]

Here in Bucks I see Buzzards with, lets say, peculiar shaped wings, in fact by comparison with our Red Kites they seem to have relatively 'normal' wing tips. Chuck in the altitude, a bit of aberration from the lens & I'm convincing myself that really the ONLY option is a buzzard...

That said, I wouldn't rule out an interloper .

[Crimson_Tank]

Saw a mess of wild turkeys on campus the other day.

 

[damian]

A buzzard then

Annoyingly I've not seen them since, though I've been at work all day. Working from home Thursday though so will keep an eye out, really want to get a better picture now.

[John C]

A pair of ravens chasing a great horned owl away from their nest site. 

Round ours, Crows and Raven are very territorial mate, they'll chase buzzards, herons and just about anything that flies through their space. I watched a Crow chase a Buzard for about a mile the other day. I could practically hear the Buzzard saying "all right ffs I'm going".


(Lawnmower man will be along soon to tell you how they'll even chase me round Caldies park, angry vicious fuckers )

[Mal]

Some further evidence. These too are buzzards. Their primary feathers aren't always spread

[damian]

I've zoomed in on it in Photoshop and also done an "auto colour", and it's come out slightly different, as below:



I'm not entirely sure how the auto colour function works in photoshop, or which of the images is the correct colour, or whether it actually matters, but it gives a slightly different view of it   As you say though, the wings don't always look the same, and the second of your photos looks very similar to mine in terms of wing shape.

I actually put a picture on a bird watching forum to get their opinion (not that I don't trust any of yours ), and they also said common buzzard.

[Mal]

100% Buzzard.

[Homo rubrum]

Well I don't know about you all, but that was a bit anticlimactic.  Maybe it's because I finally saw Chinatown for the first time last night, but I just feel terribly disappointed at that conclusion. 
Anybody else got a photo lying around oh an as-yet-unknown bird I can distract myself from work (which is, oddly, wildlife biology) with?

[Bob Kurac]

Can anyone tell me what bird this is?



We live behind a crisp factory, above which there are always loads of seagulls circling. However, today my wife spotted a couple of birds much higher up that looked different . I got my camera and took this picture, though its using the 30x optical zoom hand held (I couldn't keep track of them on the tripod) so I couldn't get a much better picture, but interested to know what it is (a buzzard or kite?)

Buteo buteo, the Common Buzzard.