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Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby jmarkb » Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:07 pm

denfinella wrote:1. One of those unidentifiable small brown birds...


Female chaffinch, I think.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby CharlesT » Tue Apr 21, 2020 5:09 pm

jmarkb wrote:
denfinella wrote:1. One of those unidentifiable small brown birds...


Female chaffinch, I think.
Concur.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby denfinella » Wed Apr 22, 2020 11:47 am

Thanks both. As for the goose - I'm going for juvenile greylag goose for now, unless anyone thinks otherwise?

A few more photos added to the list in the first post.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby MrsOrr » Wed Apr 22, 2020 2:20 pm

Weird goose is, I think, an Egyptian Goose.
Little brown bird, I agree, is a Female Chaffinch.
The Greylag could be partially leucistic, an abnormality the bird hatches with and stays for life when some of its feathers are white, not albinism which is total lack of pigment. Quite common in blackbirds and corvids.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby mmill » Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:23 pm

On our walk along the almond near perth Sunday morning was treated to a low level fly passed of 2 swans in formation, then 10 mins later 2 herons, not so good formation!
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby jmarkb » Wed Apr 22, 2020 7:21 pm

First swallows in Edinburgh today!
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby denfinella » Wed May 06, 2020 1:15 pm

MrsOrr wrote:Weird goose is, I think, an Egyptian Goose.
Little brown bird, I agree, is a Female Chaffinch.
The Greylag could be partially leucistic, an abnormality the bird hatches with and stays for life when some of its feathers are white, not albinism which is total lack of pigment. Quite common in blackbirds and corvids.


Thanks, that's useful. I'm not sure about the Egyptian goose, but apart from that I agree!

mmill wrote:On our walk along the almond near perth Sunday morning was treated to a low level fly passed of 2 swans in formation, then 10 mins later 2 herons, not so good formation!


Lovely - we also finally spotted a few herons yesterday, for the first time during lockdown.

jmarkb wrote:First swallows in Edinburgh today!


We've seen them now too!
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby denfinella » Wed May 06, 2020 1:25 pm

Something newish yesterday - we combined a long-overdue trip to the Asian supermarket in Slateford with our daily (not actually daily!) exercise, which meant a slightly different start point from usual. A few of the avian highlights / ones where IDs would be welcome:

1. This song thrush was absolutely singing his little heart out at the start of the walk - an amazing variety of phrases.

IMG_6489.JPG


2. We think this is a willow warbler, but open to suggestions!

IMG_6519.JPG


3. Finally a few herons for the first time since lockdown:

IMG_6535.JPG


4. Treecreeper - also for the first time since lockdown:

IMG_6552.JPG


Also a solitary goosander and swallows for the first time since lockdown.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby jmarkb » Wed May 06, 2020 2:13 pm

denfinella wrote:We think this is a willow warbler, but open to suggestions!


I think you are right, based on the pale leg colour and yellowish appearance. Helpful guide here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wixRxZ94dMc
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby denfinella » Wed May 06, 2020 2:24 pm

jmarkb wrote:
denfinella wrote:We think this is a willow warbler, but open to suggestions!


I think you are right, based on the pale leg colour and yellowish appearance. Helpful guide here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wixRxZ94dMc


Thanks, that is an excellent video. I find the birds are much easier to tell apart in actual photos than in the sketches! I'm now convinced it is a willow warbler (and also fairly sure that a previous sighting / photo was a chiffchaff). The differences in songs are useful too - we hear the chiffchaff song almost all the time, even though we don't actually see the bird as often.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby CharlesT » Thu May 07, 2020 10:55 am

Thanks for your pictures, you're doing very well to capture so many varieties. Agree it's a Willow Warbler by the way and nice to see a Tree Creeper again, haven't seen one here in Oxfordshire. When I lived in Hampshire I had a thatched cottage and a pair of Tree Creepers nested in my gable end eaves one year just above my sun terrace. So I could sit out there and watch them going to and fro.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby jmarkb » Fri May 08, 2020 11:47 am

jmarkb wrote:First swallows in Edinburgh today!


And now the swifts. Heard the first ones yesterday: today there's at least 4 doing circuits round the back of our tenement block.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby Mal Grey » Sat May 09, 2020 12:40 am

jmarkb wrote:
jmarkb wrote:First swallows in Edinburgh today!


And now the swifts. Heard the first ones yesterday: today there's at least 4 doing circuits round the back of our tenement block.


I love the scream of the swifts, something just utterly associated with summer. Seen 3 so far this year, pretty early for me, but then again this year is somewhat different as I've been able to watch a wonderful spring blossom in front of my eyes. A lovely feeling that balances the dread and awfulness.
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby denfinella » Sat May 09, 2020 2:56 pm

IMG_6580.JPG


We thought this was a wren on our local wander today, but... is the head the right colour?
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Re: Denfinella's lockdown birdlife diary

Postby denfinella » Sun May 10, 2020 6:02 pm

Bump. Any thoughts on the photo above? :)
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