Nairn, Scotland.
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A House Sparrow; common but still a fine-looking bird.
Also, after last week’s Swallow sighting, I saw four House Martins at the harbour last weekend (@Collywobbles) if this is of interest.
Cheers,
Ian
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Some of this weekend’s sightings.
The Robin who ‘owns’ our garden this Winter!
Knots
Also saw a Dipper, a pair of Snow Buntings and a 10 strong skein of Whooper Swans flying over, up in the hills this afternoon.
Cheers,
Ian
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And a few surfers.
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I took these (heavily cropped) photos of snail kites at the Paynes Prairie State Park on a recent trip to Florida. They were taken with my Canon R6 and a Canon EF 100-400 ii L lens (with EF adapter) borrowed from a friend. Unfortunately, in my eagerness to catch the birds before they flew off I completely forgot to bump up the shutter speed, so the shots aren’t as sharp as they might have been. The joys of being a part-time photographer!
Despite the photos not being as sharp as they might be - entirely my fault - the 100-400 mk ii lens is a very impressive lens indeed. I have an EF adapter for my R6, so I’m very tempted to splash out on a good used example. Much much cheaper than the RF 100-500 L equivalent!
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No pictures unfortunately but I think we have had a small flock of the rarest of european warblers graze our field earlier. I noticed five or six small birds slowly moving across the field and thought it unusual. Then a further 20-30 followed in. Binocs out and their fronts suggested a thrush like colouring but these were much smaller birds. They also had the warbler stripes around their eyes. Checking the internet the only bird that looks similar is the aquatic warbler. I am happy to be corrected but I don’t see anything else similar.
Internet pic
They only stayed for a max of five minutes and were spooked by something, one suddenly uplifting and the rest followed.
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Hard to be certain without photos but I’m pretty sure aquatic, and the similar sedge, warblers would be in their African wintering grounds by now. The aquatic is known to spend time in France before migrating but it does seem quite late in the year. Having said that, the mild Autumn has seen swallows still here in northern Scotland into December so why not?
Blackcaps have arrived and today a Red Wing.
Phil
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Probably…. However difficult form pics
Dark bill, dark legs, yellow feet ?
The Little Egret is not a UK visitor these days. They are resident in UK on south & east coasts as far north as the wash and becoming more common around all coasts. They move inland during winter.
I’m not convinced the photos are Little Egret as I don’t see a black bill & it doesn’t look to have Little Egret leg length, or it’s very long grass.
But I don’t have any other suggestions other than an albino of some sort.
Totally confused here. Not a goose, not a white heron, probably not an egret but then I’m out of ideas.
A white Duck??
Wrong neck.
Yes, you are right.
-21 C degrees this morning, -32 factoring the wind. The birds are developing an extra appetite in these freezing temperatures. I am filling the feeders three times a day.
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Good on you👍
Birds scattered when I stepped outside to snap this with my iPhone but I just loved the icicles that formed overnight on the top of the feeder. As a side note putting the baffle on the pole has kept the squirrels at bay and paid for itself quickly. The squirrels could climb that pole and jump to the feeder and drain it empty very quickly. Now they drop by and hang out down below looking for the crumbs that are dropped.
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