Birding Time, Your local and international patch…

I’m not sure but the same has happened the last two years as well. Last year, they were here until mid-November and the year before, a pair were still flying up and down the beach on 8th December! However, we then had some cold weather and they disappeared. Probably too late to migrate anywhere by then, so I suspect they perished. The stragglers always seem to be around the harbour and beach, where insects living on kelp must be pretty much the only available food.

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Surprised how hardy your birds are!
Can’t see the pins well in your picture but if a juvenile it could be a poss 2nd brood or even third!
I suspect a lot of the later chicks have a much higher failure rate than their older siblings

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A huge influx of Waxwings here over the last couple of days; Redwings and Fieldfares too. The Waxwing flock where I live was around 60 strong; unfortunately, I didn’t manage to get a proper sharp image before they moved out of range. I like the way the yellow of their tales was lit up though. I then saw some others in trees along the edge of town but they were against a dull but bright sky making it tricky to capture detail. Still, some shots are better than none!

Cheers,

Ian

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You lucky so and so…….very jealous.
:crossed_fingers:they’re on their way down to Cumbria

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Having watched him(?) for 15 minutes or so, I decided this was a rather perplexed young sparrowhawk. The pigeons and blue tits seemed unworried about its presence. Not sure whether he didn’t know how to hunt or was worried about the approach of Storm Ciaran but he certainly looked as if he didn’t know what he was doing or meant to do.

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Stormy

Looking at the good photo, he may not know what to do…. But a close up of the eyes tell you exactly what he WANTS to do :wink:

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That was the most determined looking photo I got. Most of the time it was along the lines of “Sometimes I sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits”. :grin:

Pitstop

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Long-tailed ducks rarely come too close to the shore and you usually have to go out on a boat if you want to get close enough for photos. These two came closer than most but this is still a huge crop, even off my 200mm lens. Still, if you’ve never seen a Long-tailed Duck before…

Cheers,

Ian

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Phone camera, maximum zoom through a rain streaked window, but a bird that I cannot remember seeing in a very long time.
Yellow wagtail, which should be on its way to Africa by now.

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Not wanting to doubt you but…it looks much more like a Grey Wagtail; unless the rain is making the back of the bird appear more grey than it actually is. The Yellow Wagtail has a distinctly olive coloured back.

Cheers,

Ian

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If photo colours are representative then agree with @IanF . Looks like a grey wagtail not a yellow…… Still great birds to watch

The photo colours are are not good, the remains of the hydrangea blossom is crimson and the lily pads in the pond bottle green.
It was the general yellowness that that caught my eye as it flew down and the tail was definitely shorter.
Then looking at the pictures on the RSPB website, the only thing I would put money on is that it’s not a pied wagtail!

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A deceit of peewits flying nearby.

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And one on its own.

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I noticed a pair of unusual birds in my front garden today (North Yorkshire). They’d gone by the time I got my camera, but looking them up from what I remember, I think they might have been waxwings. Is this likely, or any other thoughts? The noticeable thing was their crests.

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Here’s one from my visit to Lyminton, a nice Turnstone.

Tim

Little Stint Feeding

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If you look at post 1309 above, you will see my recent Waxwing images. Waxwings have a unique look, do have crests and there is currently a large influx of them coming to our shores.

Hopefully, those images will help you confirm.

Cheers,

Ian

Hi Timbo Thought little stints had dark legs, I’d suggest It appears more like a Turnstone.
Regards.

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Thanks Ian, I’m pretty sure that’s what I saw.

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