What birds or bird have you seen today – communal thread, I hope!

Yikes... A pterodactyl

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Oh... my mistake it's just a Heron......

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Spotted on Sunday at Whalley, overall it looks like it should be a Moorhen, but everything about it's colouring (feathers, beak and eyes) are completely wrong.

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Juvenile Dipper, taken 5.30 am !!! and had been waiting 40 mins for them to turn up as I wanted to get there early before their morning feed. Dark conditions, as even though the Sun was shining it was low in the sky, also a canopy of trees either side of the river didn't help.

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Nice interaction shots Ingrid :)
 
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More from the Dipper Family at Whalley, they're still relying mostly on the adult bird to feed them, but they're also starting to look for their own food, maybe not quite as successful as the parent bird. Alas the light wasn't great this evening... but they do tend to come quite close....

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I'm really sorry to have to admit I don't know what bird this is.
Taken today at Draycote Water with D7200 and 16-80mm f2.8-4.0.
Didn't have the right lens with me, so quite a large crop.

??? by Malcolm Fisher, on Flickr
 
Malfis said:
I'm really sorry to have to admit I don't know what bird this is.
Taken today at Draycote Water with D7200 and 16-80mm f2.8-4.0.
Didn't have the right lens with me, so quite a large crop.

??? by Malcolm Fisher, on Flickr
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I've realised now it's a juvenile gull (black headed?) doh!
 
This is not a particularly good photograph but this is the second time ever I have seen one of these - often heard them but not seen. It was darting out, feeding and in again.
Bearded tit.
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gramps said:
Dunnock (anyone know why a Dunnock needs to be ringed? :confused: )

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so people can study both their movements and life span. Dunnocks are very important ecologically. Just because they are not rare or gaudy does not mean they are not important.
 
Little Egret, I think, on the River Calder at Whalley.

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I was just about to go, so had packed up the big Sigma when it landed, by the time I'd got the Sigma out and attached it was in the air, so only had time for 4 shots as it was flying and these 2 were the only ones in focus.
 
Had an hour over at St Aidens, nr Leeds yesterday and was surprise by a Bittern

Heavy'ish crop but it was excellent to see, a lifer for me and was lucky enough to rattle a couple of record shots off, if only we'd spotted it before it was flying away! :)

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gramps said:
Personally I think it's overdone but that's just my opinion. :)
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Agree with this, for the ringing to be of any value whatsoever the bird must be netted at least once again after it's initial ringing. How can anyone measure how stressful this is for the bird itself?
 
JackBell said:
Agree with this, for the ringing to be of any value whatsoever the bird must be netted at least once again after it's initial ringing. How can anyone measure how stressful this is for the bird itself?
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People do not just ring birds at random. If a dunnock has been ringed it will be a part of a long term survey looking into dunnock behaviour. I do not personally know why that would be, but they will have sufficient reasons to be able to attract scarce funding.
 
BTO Reports for the Dunnock show:-

Total recorded birds rung: 941,014
Total recorded re-trapped: 13,578 (i.e. 1 bird in every 69 rung)
Total returned after death: 125 (i.e. 1 bird in every 7,528 rung)
 
john.margetts said:
People do not just ring birds at random. If a dunnock has been ringed it will be a part of a long term survey looking into dunnock behaviour. I do not personally know why that would be, but they will have sufficient reasons to be able to attract scarce funding.
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I wasn't going to reply to this post as I don't intend to get into an online argument, but........... of course they don't ring birds at random, sometimes it may be justifiable, as data may be required. But..... it seems to me they (scientists/researchers) never can stop, maybe it's their job/livelihood and they don't want to lose it, I don't know. For what it's worth I'm old enough to remember when 'they' were still forcing Beagles to smoke cigarettes years after the link was proven between smoking and lung cancer.
 
JackBell said:
I wasn't going to reply to this post as I don't intend to get into an online argument, but........... of course they don't ring birds at random, sometimes it may be justifiable, as data may be required. But..... it seems to me they (scientists/researchers) never can stop, maybe it's their job/livelihood and they don't want to lose it, I don't know. For what it's worth I'm old enough to remember when 'they' were still forcing Beagles to smoke cigarettes years after the link was proven between smoking and lung cancer.
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This is a good opportunity to update your beliefs by doing a little research into what ringing projects are for, who carries them out, and what can be learned from the data that comes out of such research. A little self-education can do wonders in nipping online arguments in the bud.
 
This is my 'tame' female blackbird enjoying the sun. She runs round the garden within feet of me, ignoring me completely, rearranging the bark mulch while she looks for insects. She leaves me to tidy up but if she helps keep the ants down I don't mind. I really could do with a green woodpecker........ Today she was spreadeagling herself on the bark, beak wide open 'panting', hopping onto the bird bath for a drink then doing it again. She's also one of the noisiest blackbirds I've ever met. Yesterday the sparrowhawk had a go at her but missed. I had the privilege to watch the beautiful male hawk sit on the fence less than ten feet from me for a while. Did I have the camera out with me? Of course not, but sometimes that doesn't matter. The hawk then had another go at something, but over my neighbour's hedge so I couldn't see if it killed or not. This is also the noisiest blackbird I have ever heard. She's constantly talking.

Basking blackbird by Jannyfox, on Flickr
 
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