tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63042465974087358122024-03-16T11:52:14.765-07:00A Welsh Birder in DorsetA bit of birding and a bit of ringing in and around everyones favourite holiday destination..... Weymouth!Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.comBlogger211125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-21332259588752689842014-02-08T03:25:00.000-08:002014-02-08T03:25:43.154-08:00Gulls, gulls, gulls...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Really should apologies for leaving you so long with that
last post about Herring Gull races. It really was quite cruel. My offering this
time is again sadly gulls but more interesting ones you’ll be pleased to hear!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since well before Christmas, an adult Glaucous Gull has been
wandering up and down Chesil beach and has completely ignored Radipole until
now! I’d never seen a Glauc at Radipole and it’s been on my most wanted list
for a few years so imagine how pleased I was a few days ago to look out of the
window and see this beauty flopping around!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And obviously it’s on my Radipole patch list which I really
should add up...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The storms which have been giving people plenty to whinge about
(completely understandable in some cases) has been sending a few interesting
gulls into Radipole. Little Gull tally for the year it getting somewhere near
the staggering figure of three of four and Kittiwake is probably approaching
half a dozen! This poor fella came in a few days ago and even came to bread
though just once when I didn't have the camera to hand!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will finish up with this ‘interesting’ bird. I’m very sorry
but it’s gull races again! This Common Gull really stood out from the crowd. Took
a few pictures and like most things, I forgot about it. This morning I noticed the
pics on the SD card and had a closer look. I started wondering whether this
bird could be of the race heinei which is from Russia I think. It’s a very
dark, slightly larger bird and the tail pattern I thought was interesting. In fact
I first clocked this bird in flight due to it’s speckled tail pattern. Usually
Common Gulls have very white tails with the black band. Some do have spotting
but this bird certainly had more than normal. Don’t know whether this race is
ID’able in 1<sup>st</sup> winter plumage and don’t even know what I’d look for
really but this bird looked quite different from the norm. Comments would be appreciated
and apologies for the dodgy pics!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-29626454841543802252014-01-12T09:33:00.004-08:002014-01-12T09:33:59.728-08:00Argy bargy<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll get the nice bits over before moving onto my usual
winter topic, gulls! Friday I spent the day trying to boost the girlfriends
year list, as things at her work are starting to get somewhat competitive and I
can’t just stand by and see her beat. First stop was Portland Harbour where
most things were miles away but I persuaded her that she’d seen some
Black-throated Divers, Slav Grebe and Black-necked Grebe. She’d already got the
Black Guillemot and Great Northern Diver on a visit last week. Then we nipped
off to Cheselbourne where the two juv Cranes showed nicely. Last stop was poole
harbour where we dipped the Surf Scoter but had a good range of waders plus a
nice male Hen Harrier. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good constructive days birding!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At Radipole things still haven’t changed much, gulls are
still pretty much all that’s about of interest...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This morning I noticed lots of these things moving through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lesser Black-backed Gulls. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past interesting gulls have often put in an
appearance when these guys start appearing and no sooner had I though that this
morning, this things appeared. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A rather brutish Yellow-legged Gull, a nice 3<sup>rd</sup>
winter bird.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Almost certainly nothing but this one appeared somewhat
darker backed than other I’ve seen. Light was awful and there’s going to be
variation so nothing to worry about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This afternoon I had a repeat visit from the suspected,
probable, possible, plausible argentatus Herring Gull from last week. Showed
better and managed a range of flight shots. Not particularly sure what to make
of them but it’s pretty... and bloody big!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can’t really add much more to what I said on my last blog
post about this bird. But I know the pictures will be of interest to a few
people so worth posting... interesting bird!</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-91796894248264345732014-01-05T11:02:00.002-08:002014-01-05T11:56:10.648-08:00Off to a flying start!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I said on my last blog of 2013 I was going to have a go at
this Patchwork Challenge thing which involves outlining a patch and seeing as
many species within the patch as possible in a year. The new year arrived and I
still seemed keen on the idea so off I went. Started the year with this nice
patch tick!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It arrived over Christmas and thankfully stayed long enough for
me to get it on my patch list. Not that this species is unlikely to turn up
again sometime during the rest of this year... their getting like bleeding
Little Egrets! Which, by the way is also on the patch list...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the end of new years day I’d accumulated a few birds and
spent a good bit of time pondering whether to included our infamous Hooded
Merganser?! Jury’s still out! Seems like most locals have been in to tick it
for the year so I guess nobody can say too much if I stuck it on my year list??
Including ‘Hoody’, I’m on something like 55 with tons of common stuff still to
get. I’m pacing myself...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Locally over Christmas there appears to have been a few good
birds about! Including this rather bland looking Guillemot...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only joking!!!! Cracking bird and glad I caught it before it
croaked or whatever it did. Certainly didn’t look at the peak of fitness when I
saw it new years eve but then again, after the xmas hols I doubt any of the on
looking birders were either.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s been a few white winged gulls knocking around
locally for a few week or so. I’m desperate for one of the Glaucous Gulls to
drop in. An adult came close today and was seen off Weymouth Harbour. This is
closest I’ve got so far at Radipole... </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkzwUbYdk4MpCSrIHb_Medr9M5EpF02qCftGGCZgm1SrLjwI4NwXahrP1BkT6LkrXGboJtKya-Nevct2spEpz7nARIWubpblGhumjcov4mo-WJFApZjlropP4d7EMNkBiCEZW5lNqCvI/s1600/IMG_9960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkzwUbYdk4MpCSrIHb_Medr9M5EpF02qCftGGCZgm1SrLjwI4NwXahrP1BkT6LkrXGboJtKya-Nevct2spEpz7nARIWubpblGhumjcov4mo-WJFApZjlropP4d7EMNkBiCEZW5lNqCvI/s400/IMG_9960.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A pale Herring Gull.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve managed to get a few other good gulls on the patch list
so far including this Little Gull yesterday (and saw it again today).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBDctiRmVKpNF2r0nmbhgJG7VleJUoHpFi3FeRZ9kxnlWwdw_5U4bxiFezLc3HZCzhJ2v4FbBzmKM2OF91X5H8X-sG3dGJO0OGoD90P1QFdzJzAf2wdijLV7m7RMmmLOekEjYtkhVDno/s1600/Copy+of+_MG_7768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBDctiRmVKpNF2r0nmbhgJG7VleJUoHpFi3FeRZ9kxnlWwdw_5U4bxiFezLc3HZCzhJ2v4FbBzmKM2OF91X5H8X-sG3dGJO0OGoD90P1QFdzJzAf2wdijLV7m7RMmmLOekEjYtkhVDno/s400/Copy+of+_MG_7768.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers Brett Spencer for a lend of the pic!! Mine were
dreadful for some reason... ;-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also got Kittiwake on the patch list which is a bit mental.
Not an annual species at Radipole and only my second in 5 years! Shame it was smothered
in oil though</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0DZICAj-Tgr9R2YgtYdbZR1FKal71XGy7k4nSrZg6Wp9qt0QpfTXG4370T1YuhAubuMyyJ7Qs53MnVHpVCbDevoqSLsuIDnbjXU5QG-Fg0PaYb9P7qu0x3jQ-E5oMvGsr4qUPxGAuA8/s1600/IMG_9953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji0DZICAj-Tgr9R2YgtYdbZR1FKal71XGy7k4nSrZg6Wp9qt0QpfTXG4370T1YuhAubuMyyJ7Qs53MnVHpVCbDevoqSLsuIDnbjXU5QG-Fg0PaYb9P7qu0x3jQ-E5oMvGsr4qUPxGAuA8/s400/IMG_9953.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll just finish up with a few shots of this odd Herring
Gull from this afternoon. A large looking 1<sup>st</sup> winter bird with
features perhaps consistent with Scandinavian Herring Gull?? </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Gvd6YKY50nvXabOofl0LpSEMrjnnh6WPQuch-QmNAlcWaiQ_hQrOi_PnNLa3lU9sgMRtJyjUMX6xHh26cR_FDoSWPHWfOcvjQTTOLz_85oenCxF094BNiX0G8LyJwEkc04sdVQJYoeg/s1600/IMG_0045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Gvd6YKY50nvXabOofl0LpSEMrjnnh6WPQuch-QmNAlcWaiQ_hQrOi_PnNLa3lU9sgMRtJyjUMX6xHh26cR_FDoSWPHWfOcvjQTTOLz_85oenCxF094BNiX0G8LyJwEkc04sdVQJYoeg/s400/IMG_0045.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh47u_mOStR6lLEbkQxIDBEEkSogGZvNIxMLzQX8y3rM8jDbPkV2K5UfrtYnPLWwLG6uz0uUIXZoIdGtd1It-81HBAa07aGlDoxB54MJNlBJS-Fpw6ZD98wMqDuMxYUCUElh-NTkfdH7M/s1600/IMG_0035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh47u_mOStR6lLEbkQxIDBEEkSogGZvNIxMLzQX8y3rM8jDbPkV2K5UfrtYnPLWwLG6uz0uUIXZoIdGtd1It-81HBAa07aGlDoxB54MJNlBJS-Fpw6ZD98wMqDuMxYUCUElh-NTkfdH7M/s400/IMG_0035.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty pale inner primaries. Interesting to compare the two
wing tips visible in this shot.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqTfltZprV5oc8oTx82jM1ArRURQOzlaq3tXpauz2hUW-wPmvgugS8DcqkcfbEgEfc2Ed9M6aip-tCQ7_Vy6eh5ShmlmIjjp2eHrvG0GgJn8eLaO7YZu5EeNx8NaTOXu-L_8zBrdJjDM/s1600/IMG_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqTfltZprV5oc8oTx82jM1ArRURQOzlaq3tXpauz2hUW-wPmvgugS8DcqkcfbEgEfc2Ed9M6aip-tCQ7_Vy6eh5ShmlmIjjp2eHrvG0GgJn8eLaO7YZu5EeNx8NaTOXu-L_8zBrdJjDM/s400/IMG_0046.JPG" width="360" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And cropped. Firstly the bird in question</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SCOkOC0NHts2riWlpOG5Hw1KqQ2y0k2G5WbaHGxSMMd3vuxFOCAC9BygmwFqr-2hG4KKCWytphkkplrpQO8vCqv3s5eD7CGU0DH3toZNgWPY9SDrTASWXLqW4B9yd_22a1ufsGRoPJo/s1600/IMG_0046-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SCOkOC0NHts2riWlpOG5Hw1KqQ2y0k2G5WbaHGxSMMd3vuxFOCAC9BygmwFqr-2hG4KKCWytphkkplrpQO8vCqv3s5eD7CGU0DH3toZNgWPY9SDrTASWXLqW4B9yd_22a1ufsGRoPJo/s400/IMG_0046-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And this ‘normal’ Herring Gull.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwEqZ45jRcqsHu2zNWNboNb_PVLuL-8btu6U5SZlxOTD_FkMwwjuoR04z7U1wt_aR5WaVj7FoX6fAxwP57wfdxfhSMFbkLR2t_O8-mwGBjsdzE0FCTLXn3bn7tpgIGSgc5kELGGxqUFg/s1600/IMG_0046-002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwEqZ45jRcqsHu2zNWNboNb_PVLuL-8btu6U5SZlxOTD_FkMwwjuoR04z7U1wt_aR5WaVj7FoX6fAxwP57wfdxfhSMFbkLR2t_O8-mwGBjsdzE0FCTLXn3bn7tpgIGSgc5kELGGxqUFg/s400/IMG_0046-002.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The fifth primary from last is interesting. Don’t know much
about these birds though did see one a few weeks ago which was an interesting
experience. I’ll leave it for someone else to comment further on this bird!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally (again), this gorgeous Great horned Owl in Wyke Regis. Obviously come across on a ship with all these American Snowy Owls... or possibly not!!!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-37555713171456326052013-12-22T09:09:00.001-08:002013-12-22T09:09:39.724-08:00Ho ho ho... Merry Christmas!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just thought I’d wish anyone who has time to read my blog a
Happy Christmas! This was my only excuse to blog up until this morning. The
last few weeks have been quiet and a bit samey as in more Med Gull ring
sightings and other gulls etc. The was a brief Ring-billed Gull at Radipole
(found by Dave Chown) a couple of weeks ago and had my camera been to hand it
would have made a nice post but the camera was safely in the house whilst I was
watching the bird. However, this morning I heard back about DNA results of a
possible Siberian Chiffchaff that Steve Hales and myself trapped and ringed at
Abbotsbury Swannery back last month. There was never much doubt about this bird
as it was a cracker but always good to air on the side of caution hence we
stuck with the possible or probably theory. Now the results are back we can
call it a definite Siberian Chiffchaff cos that’s what it is.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQMQQ7CD-E_OtrvXHEgeS-CGMd1dqc1cqvBOhbmFd2cso5ZkiK-_4LBCWo44A7hf6o8inOn4A3K3823lm7SwbtULbealL_RMg4dYg9of6m0-Lsk-Y8ZX4VlCr4b1KHnxQPNs_Tlioi5w/s1600/IMG_9561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVQMQQ7CD-E_OtrvXHEgeS-CGMd1dqc1cqvBOhbmFd2cso5ZkiK-_4LBCWo44A7hf6o8inOn4A3K3823lm7SwbtULbealL_RMg4dYg9of6m0-Lsk-Y8ZX4VlCr4b1KHnxQPNs_Tlioi5w/s400/IMG_9561.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So there we go, another year gone. Next year should be fun
as I’m planning on doing a patch year list with the patch being Radipole Lake! Makes
sense as I can see the site from my house... So if anyone see’s anything at
Radipole which is vaguely interesting at the site please get in touch! I’ll
even twitch a Treecreeper or Coal Tit. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Merry Christmas all! I’ll leave you with a pic of a Bearded
Tit I took last week. Happy new year as well!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCRHYVDwx6kF1O_dbY0MyJxqqiNihLEPYkxXz6hHli2L8p62ZbZ1fHia92zYCqDQ4Aoet4NbUT95A1Z9u6l-RmRP6TxRUO5ukvbUnHefkQBb6ZeLM68tUg7d7gzI-96FBm64Wp8wPwEQ/s1600/IMG_9676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCRHYVDwx6kF1O_dbY0MyJxqqiNihLEPYkxXz6hHli2L8p62ZbZ1fHia92zYCqDQ4Aoet4NbUT95A1Z9u6l-RmRP6TxRUO5ukvbUnHefkQBb6ZeLM68tUg7d7gzI-96FBm64Wp8wPwEQ/s400/IMG_9676.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-11922997731725755522013-12-03T09:34:00.000-08:002013-12-03T09:34:03.987-08:00A Penguin plus more gulls...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RSPB and RSPCA are often confused with each other. One does
conservation and the other rescues animals but this confusion can often lead to
some interesting things being brought into the Radipole visitor centre. In the
past we’ve had Peregrine, Red-throated Diver, Shag, Buzzard plus an assortment
of little birds and tons of pigeons! Thankfully there’s a local lady who’s
willing to take on injured wildlife otherwise we’d be really stuck! Today’s surprise
was a rather smart Guillemot which was picked up on Weymouth beach. We had one
brought in a while ago but that one was identified as a Penguin before we
obviously explained the difference! This one felt really skinny so is probably
doomed but the RSPCA came along and took it off to their seabird centre up in
Somerset. Best of luck mate!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gulls weren’t particularly numerous today at Radipole and
the morning Med Gull flock was flushed by a Peregrine and didn’t come back. Got
a load of ring number yesterday including a different Serbian bird to the one a
few weeks ago plus two German birds amongst the usual French birds. Last week
got one from Hungary which wasn’t my first from that country but a nice record
none-the-less. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Herring Gulls were moving through in numbers today though
and included a colour ringed bird from Norfolk. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also picked up this interesting bird. Noticed this bird had
plenty of white in the tip even when the wing was closed. Waited to while to
get an open wing shot but got it in the end.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlETRGtWIJRdG_1yR3Tc2rHXrApCzdHlbWnnWo5UMewb6xxfSRqn-mNtwhpF5UCXKxWCDONCLMq35purpGMelqYdQdZSKxFmK96nTK988XDIKrxc1sbWO62APt0WVk32Odq7yWPcq8BE/s1600/IMG_9627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlETRGtWIJRdG_1yR3Tc2rHXrApCzdHlbWnnWo5UMewb6xxfSRqn-mNtwhpF5UCXKxWCDONCLMq35purpGMelqYdQdZSKxFmK96nTK988XDIKrxc1sbWO62APt0WVk32Odq7yWPcq8BE/s400/IMG_9627.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Certainly not a south coast argenteus.
I didn’t think the mantle was particularly darker than the rest of the Herring
Gulls around but that wing tip pattern certainly suggests a more northern
origin. Nice big white tip to the last primary plus a good size white spot on
P9. Also fairly narrow back band on P6 where the back stops. Can I call this
one an argentatus?? </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPiDjqqHPVHcxauCvczXWn0LGlP2NgbmUFws52dO44o4ZrGbOg88wObXB1Tnvsn68K2H8VRC-vogdQb8Wb8PZO5qY-t56gTw1z7nbYieCX8rJa9-g_ueVmaVcgTXsWdD34uETUnHYBsE/s1600/IMG_9626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJPiDjqqHPVHcxauCvczXWn0LGlP2NgbmUFws52dO44o4ZrGbOg88wObXB1Tnvsn68K2H8VRC-vogdQb8Wb8PZO5qY-t56gTw1z7nbYieCX8rJa9-g_ueVmaVcgTXsWdD34uETUnHYBsE/s400/IMG_9626.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A good few years ago I went through a weird phase of
photographing wing tips of adult Herring Gulls. This was during my gull
discovery days when I knew a lot less about gull than what I do now. Got some
really interesting wing tips though including this bird.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxI7XZ3H5SIaNhBymiR-dAmDEMJOcJiwDF54m8R6daGf2gSTknuShQ9_f-T2KHOjoZZGur71-kYqjVifXEimITOZtx5omr1vAc5nRsatj2sNP1zVHTzLsZFky1RGgJpMwYaFTtoWOxwU/s1600/argentatus1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuxI7XZ3H5SIaNhBymiR-dAmDEMJOcJiwDF54m8R6daGf2gSTknuShQ9_f-T2KHOjoZZGur71-kYqjVifXEimITOZtx5omr1vAc5nRsatj2sNP1zVHTzLsZFky1RGgJpMwYaFTtoWOxwU/s400/argentatus1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Interestingly this
bird didn’t have a noticeably darker mantle either but that wing tip is undoubtedly
that of an argentatus. Wonder if I’ve been a bit caught up with the whole
mantle thing? Might end up going through another phase of wing tip studying...
Look out readers!! Hope something more interesting happens soon to stop me!</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-90404950628974705102013-11-23T14:20:00.000-08:002013-11-23T14:20:02.918-08:00They've all come at once!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mature Yellow-legged Gulls are getting a bit like buses. In
four years of gull gauping at Radipole I’ve only ever seen a couple of ‘mature’
birds, as in ones which are older than juv/1<sup>st</sup> winter. This week, Radipole has had a 3<sup>rd</sup> winter, 2 sub adults and an adult! Seen three
of these birds and Joe Stockwell from up at Portland Obs ventured down and
found the adult bird. My last post was going on about the 3<sup>rd</sup> winter
bird so here’s some shots of two sub adult. Talking to Brett Spencer yesterday
it could be that this first bird is an advanced 3<sup>rd</sup> winter judging
by the amount of black in the primary coverts. If that’s right then today’s
bird is likely to be the same age. These things confuse me easily!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First a bird from Thursday. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuypgN7JhgW4uZThiFigRtrRw6X9qnEPqNXHqyaXe-IWNarUVucDYM0nT-5MRh_fxaUe1GjtQJPq0OUyj0DtyfwH3v7n3rmCUumDlE9JxypEkyrkAZ7R4URij9BpIoMxmKdJq1E0YDNo/s1600/IMG_9763-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRuypgN7JhgW4uZThiFigRtrRw6X9qnEPqNXHqyaXe-IWNarUVucDYM0nT-5MRh_fxaUe1GjtQJPq0OUyj0DtyfwH3v7n3rmCUumDlE9JxypEkyrkAZ7R4URij9BpIoMxmKdJq1E0YDNo/s400/IMG_9763-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5k48YXVQCFYzm47RfqQd5AB2xCyCFdOta5Zg6tAIIBfPIMDXTKkezW3cFFYgEPiZLn_aqvvczrJs4BjUgSSn7Dh8aJcjSxk2VYm1I8JAT_v9LUG-tWIw1sfjQoLC2ImkmOOoM_qL7bPU/s1600/IMG_9764-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5k48YXVQCFYzm47RfqQd5AB2xCyCFdOta5Zg6tAIIBfPIMDXTKkezW3cFFYgEPiZLn_aqvvczrJs4BjUgSSn7Dh8aJcjSxk2VYm1I8JAT_v9LUG-tWIw1sfjQoLC2ImkmOOoM_qL7bPU/s400/IMG_9764-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slightly different light. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmEfumWTSfJAL4CHuauq9Sh2eUXEhAbIEDBOr3JASNNAcOQXHU6wed4xP18j1qGyldzvvtT1neo8fSLM0vi1fdmduj2qF7jX7LBpmm9xWwQQwq4LMcXtJi-GssqLPssLlV8J7MZLYZfM/s1600/IMG_9736-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmEfumWTSfJAL4CHuauq9Sh2eUXEhAbIEDBOr3JASNNAcOQXHU6wed4xP18j1qGyldzvvtT1neo8fSLM0vi1fdmduj2qF7jX7LBpmm9xWwQQwq4LMcXtJi-GssqLPssLlV8J7MZLYZfM/s400/IMG_9736-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interesting shot comparing mantle colour of Yellow-legged
Gull, Herring Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHttk2r9T5WLRrWucBEV05yX96281raxdhGCzZ5tx10vd_tNLRP24SMslcWeIj9Ve21tghbkM_DUAyLwn4XofOcrhYrjT0iVa1KvoP1OcdFxW3jhUxDXbZLz4YofJuFxEVn_XWKEhyphenhyphenPEU/s1600/IMG_9760-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHttk2r9T5WLRrWucBEV05yX96281raxdhGCzZ5tx10vd_tNLRP24SMslcWeIj9Ve21tghbkM_DUAyLwn4XofOcrhYrjT0iVa1KvoP1OcdFxW3jhUxDXbZLz4YofJuFxEVn_XWKEhyphenhyphenPEU/s400/IMG_9760-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And a wing shot.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaZEBzK8GSM-h0syOaAfgl0fzvsdEIX4Aq4wSDo4T9471qzaGTmpQK-VZHeNrdm6CdXRkHyVFS45IApgHFWqIR7eYoUbTnTWVFTxhDgjVYuF_F2QVYd7adUftAoNe7-IrVE_KqcZg_CA/s1600/IMG_9784-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfaZEBzK8GSM-h0syOaAfgl0fzvsdEIX4Aq4wSDo4T9471qzaGTmpQK-VZHeNrdm6CdXRkHyVFS45IApgHFWqIR7eYoUbTnTWVFTxhDgjVYuF_F2QVYd7adUftAoNe7-IrVE_KqcZg_CA/s400/IMG_9784-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And this evenings bird. thought initially it was the same one as the above but quite clearly a different bird!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpqqGAAY3QgGhMjjiJVfqWb7WLc_ICgaatV105V8nDtHB57RgOSoDfXmDUxH313PSRfrnPjMHxN_lknvXKDCR-QXv43t9JXlns4R8DKYqueSwC6Z1JnbJKvVqO792rKwyNN4OWbsMATQ/s1600/IMG_9836-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpqqGAAY3QgGhMjjiJVfqWb7WLc_ICgaatV105V8nDtHB57RgOSoDfXmDUxH313PSRfrnPjMHxN_lknvXKDCR-QXv43t9JXlns4R8DKYqueSwC6Z1JnbJKvVqO792rKwyNN4OWbsMATQ/s400/IMG_9836-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgtEi2bceUl1FOnP8pBY9FX1m9S7BIQCrpmqe39h4cTzP6JvMNavUUqAy7YpyNx2gXHd0L9JL8eE8ckKye2uI1RIx4hymt0JGq4gC5R9Cu6a-bKBncgtW4IyqSkZY0m5YumY5LhSEXXk/s1600/IMG_9843-001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgtEi2bceUl1FOnP8pBY9FX1m9S7BIQCrpmqe39h4cTzP6JvMNavUUqAy7YpyNx2gXHd0L9JL8eE8ckKye2uI1RIx4hymt0JGq4gC5R9Cu6a-bKBncgtW4IyqSkZY0m5YumY5LhSEXXk/s400/IMG_9843-001.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In case your sick of Gulls here’s a shot of a 1<sup>st</sup>
winter male Marsh Harrier carrying a Snipe away which it had caught in the
channel opposite the Radipole visitor centre! Brilliant thing to see happen
right in front of you. Way better than a Sparrowhawk catching the friendly
garden Robin!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a nice sharp shot of my house with a very blurry
Marsh Harrier in front of it. </span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-60998041582286453712013-11-19T09:47:00.000-08:002013-11-19T09:47:07.064-08:00Gulls again...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After a brief interlude of passerine ringing, it’s back to
gulls. And judging by the success (or lack of it) of my last Clouds Hill
session, this blog might resort back to pictures of Med Gulls and ring reading
for the foreseeable future. Not trying to put you off or anything....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Springs tides have allowed the water level at Radipole to
drop nice and low which always attracts good number of gulls. Constant scanning
throughout the day only produced one slight oddity and that was this gorgeous 3<sup>rd</sup>
winter Yellow-legged Gull. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsUxBTV2tRLJyrEag0SlSAnilccuW8GIAGbt8YSlGsl9wbt3eQmdnTCJ8WRvQruCVlKclZgzbd0b39wZkKZYkYb6N40-kEX042WtDXttBf_95L273b6BEdWOsA7auHcPZvYElmH8S4Ks/s1600/IMG_9717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsUxBTV2tRLJyrEag0SlSAnilccuW8GIAGbt8YSlGsl9wbt3eQmdnTCJ8WRvQruCVlKclZgzbd0b39wZkKZYkYb6N40-kEX042WtDXttBf_95L273b6BEdWOsA7auHcPZvYElmH8S4Ks/s400/IMG_9717.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think back to my deep state of confusion regarding a 3<sup>rd</sup>
winter something or other a few weeks ago which I wrongly settled on Yellow-legged Gull. I said
back then that if it was actually a
Yellow legger it would have been a lot more obvious. This bird took
about 3 seconds to ID and no problems with this fella. It was bloody massive!
Only other option would be a Herring x Great black backed Gull... joke...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However the clinging feature of a Yellow-legged Gull is the
width of a full extended gape. This bird obliged and opened it’s gob and it
measured an impressive 153mm which is well outside the range of Herring Gull. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Had a very pleasant evening watching 350+ Med Gulls fall out
of the sky onto Radipole Lake. This happens most evening between 4 and 4:30 and
it’s well worth seeing! I’ve had over 500 in the past do this. Much more
impressive than watching them fly up and down the fleet though I wouldn't mind
seeing the 1000+ currently wintering down there.</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-65520394271379463822013-11-18T04:48:00.002-08:002013-11-18T04:48:13.291-08:00Poxy Pipits...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday morning I was on hide opening duty at Radipole
which is always a pretty pleasant job. It’s nice to be the first person to look
out of the hide as plenty of goodies have been found like that in past. Nothing
exceptional yesterday. Kingfisher, a few Beardies and the regular ducks. Plenty
of pipits were flying around and my ears were tuned into Water Pipit as there’s
usually a few birds that winter at Radipole. Didn’t hear any of them but did
hear something I didn’t immediately recognise. First impression was that it was
similar to Redwing in structure (though wasn’t a Redwing!), a slightly down
slurred call though not as drawn out as Redwing. Heard it again and it was
clearer this time. It sounded a little raspy. At that point I immediately recalled
Red-throated Pipit. Heard it twice more and almost convinced myself. The bird
was calling from the North end of the reserve so the next hour saw me wading
around the fields armed with the camera on video mode to record to call.
However, my efforts drew a blank. If it was one it’s a really late record but
not impossible I guess. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a nice walk around the reserve though, a Bittern
flushed from 5 foot in front of me and I had a slightly heart stopping moment
whilst scanning some Reed Mace. A small orange bird with a short tail (as in
not a Bearded Tit!) flitted between two seed heads. I instantly assumed Penduline
Tit! This wasn’t the case though the bird did have a black mask. It was a
bloody Stonechat... A frustrating day! Did get two Water Pipits on my walk
though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So this morning I thought I’d get back out to Clouds Hill.
Got up first thing and it was drizzling quite heavily so went back to bed. An
hour or so later it had stopped so ventured out. It was a very quiet morning
with little in the way of new arrivals. A few Blackbirds were knocking around
which were probably migrants. Only caught one though.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I waited around for the Long-tailed Tit flock to come
through as there’s often a warbler or two hanging around with them. They came
and went and nothing else came through with them. These two had clearly fallen
out about something...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last net round produced this little fella. Not caught many
of these this autumn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overhead passage was pretty rubbish. Skylarks and Meadow
Pipits dribbled through, as did a few Goldfinch, one Redpoll and one Brambling.
However this bird livened things up briefly. Can you tell what it is??</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Richard’s Pipit obviously. Picked it up on call first and
at the time had the wrong lens on the camera and had a Blue Tit in my hand. The
tit went back in the bag and I nearly dropped my camera trying to change
lenses. Managed the above shot as it carried on towards the Swannery, calling
every 4 or 5 seconds. One day I’ll actually be prepared for something rare to
fly past!</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-22168221839955600152013-11-16T09:06:00.003-08:002013-11-16T09:22:05.845-08:00Clouds Hill - A Redpoll no fly zone...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday whilst ringing with Steve, we decided we’d give
this morning a bit of a blitz in the hope of catching a few Redpoll, which in
theory would be on the move. I went off to Clouds Hill whilst Steve stuck with
the Swannery. My morning started off rather busily with the tit flock which had
roosted at the site overnight. This was the first time this autumn I’ve
connected with the flock so good to get
rings on all those Long-tailed tits. Here they all are temporarily in their
nice colourful bags ready for ringing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The morning got rapidly quieter after that and there was a
distinct lack of any Redpoll! Birds were moving up the fleet including several
decent sized flocks of Starling. Meadow Pipit, Skylark, Goldfinch, Chaffinch,
Linnet were all on the move but no Redpolls! A few scarcities also went
through, both actually showing reasonably well rather than being small dots
making noises. A Lapland Bunting came over nice and low plus a Twite went
through. Both on their own which made seeing them a lot easier to see!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in the nets a few Blackbirds added a little bit of
interest. These two 1<sup>st</sup> winter males had completely different bill
patterns!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Song Thrushes were also about in good numbers with a total
of 13 counted leaving the scrub a little while after sunrise. Despite there
being good numbers around only one went into a net.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the biggest surprise in the nets was this Reed
Bunting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think this is the first I’ve caught at the site but
certainly not the first I’ve seen! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve down at the Swannery had a slightly more productive
morning. I popped in to see how he was getting on mid morning and he had caught and ringed over
40 birds at that point. The feeders certainly helped! For some weird
reason, Redpolls were moving over the Swannery but not Clouds Hill. To add insult to injury, Steve caught several. He
must have been catching them before they made it too my site! However, something Steve didn't have was large flocks of Pintail flying down the fleet. Had the wrong lens on but this kind of sets the scene... superb birds!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-36749435333990021012013-11-15T09:18:00.000-08:002013-11-15T09:18:09.867-08:00Sibe Chiffy<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spent the afternoon down at the Swannery with Steve for a
late afternoon ringing session in the withy bed. He’s had quite a good ringing
week down there with a little flurry of Redpoll, four Bearded Tits and a Siskin
which is an odd capture for the site. This afternoon was exceptionally quiet
with just a Common Chiffchaff ringed up until sunset but just as we were going
to shut down the nets, a small tit flock appeared in the withy nets. With them
was a very different Chiffchaff and before extracting it I could see it was an ‘interesting’
Chiff. A few seconds later once out of the net it was clearly a Siberian
Chiffchaff type thing. Did all the necessaries and as the light was starting to
go and temperatures dropping we let it go on its way pretty quickly to go find somewhere to settle for the night.
Got a few photo’s in the fading light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As you can see, the green tones are restricted pretty much
to the wings, also the rump and tail which you can’t see from that photo. The
head lacks any yellow and green. The underparts are completely pale and buff
with no yellow. Legs were very dark, as was the bill, though the lower mandible
has some paleness but I don’t think that matters too much. Annoyingly the bird
didn’t call at all, even on release but Steve Groves (of <a href="http://stevesswannerysightings.blogspot.co.uk/">http://stevesswannerysightings.blogspot.co.uk/</a>
) has heard a Siberian Chiffchaff at the Swannery over the last week or so. I’d
guess this bird was the culprit!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-17058063700162695542013-11-08T09:36:00.003-08:002013-11-08T09:36:56.457-08:00Up, up, though not quite away...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkNEqIFE7wxQAD9Nt4rOREGJaBMXBAcola78ZMLLpUh6ATHc7jCDbw9a_u4zoiLLsy5P02kE17TUE9YeXpKDg8jVG8EfRp5OW6iN0M_JWYsL_Q-8VnvtBfagyL9pZR-8dkKXVdJLMDvw/s1600/IMG_9473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkNEqIFE7wxQAD9Nt4rOREGJaBMXBAcola78ZMLLpUh6ATHc7jCDbw9a_u4zoiLLsy5P02kE17TUE9YeXpKDg8jVG8EfRp5OW6iN0M_JWYsL_Q-8VnvtBfagyL9pZR-8dkKXVdJLMDvw/s400/IMG_9473.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Radipole Lake as most birders know, is and always has been a
good place to look for Bearded Tits. Working on the site I see them most days
though birders seem to, on a daily basis, have real trouble in finding this
species. So just to grip people off, here are a few Bearded Tits from yesterday
taken just a few yards from the visitor centre...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaWaLFUJhaBDRL8QW7KoZJm7qa3ZYdNAJqZvExePW1a2xTzRr1xT0qId2S5wk7KsDPbmcP5MDm71U1yZxpxMhupsxPdhLy0pcPBv46zG_CGhiMbcCUoeCE9RiAulp2fLEISc4pjDYAxY/s1600/IMG_9486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaWaLFUJhaBDRL8QW7KoZJm7qa3ZYdNAJqZvExePW1a2xTzRr1xT0qId2S5wk7KsDPbmcP5MDm71U1yZxpxMhupsxPdhLy0pcPBv46zG_CGhiMbcCUoeCE9RiAulp2fLEISc4pjDYAxY/s400/IMG_9486.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJvIvj9tRt71l-dfg4iNdBdK21CPmuUn2CQDJrAxSaU0MmDADYudSebBjxMqMrz1YPO8-ztr01lan47D88WVxaP3p1iYnjs_edZKP9OT22z8DQ4lGQPtg_3tH_60PnDd4jVhMdCCBz4I/s1600/IMG_9489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJvIvj9tRt71l-dfg4iNdBdK21CPmuUn2CQDJrAxSaU0MmDADYudSebBjxMqMrz1YPO8-ztr01lan47D88WVxaP3p1iYnjs_edZKP9OT22z8DQ4lGQPtg_3tH_60PnDd4jVhMdCCBz4I/s400/IMG_9489.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok, that was mean. Sorry. But here’s something interesting
about the two birds. Take a lot at the eye colour of the two males. Ones got an
orange tinge to it and the other is much greyer. Unlike lots of other
passerines, Bearded Tits go through a full post juvenile moult so trying to age
them in the autumn is impossible on plumage. But I think looking at these two
images it may still be possible in the autumn. The greyer bird most likely
being a bird hatched this year and the other being an adult. Only just noticed
this and not sure it’s something that’s 100% right every time but interesting
none the less. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are plenty at Radipole at the moment, lots of which
are still thinking about leaving the site.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdKl6uFbus0wOTydnI6wvwbxpqBbd3Jwhpyxhav_BYVNbQsBeQa6JyuLd0N6DE1cppHd17vXJnfKIxJAdh8dsttFDrPSpqiHC-MHKV2YhfYIok27b8OjgVtfGKsxzLFYqTJg5nVQRtdM/s1600/IMG_9470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdKl6uFbus0wOTydnI6wvwbxpqBbd3Jwhpyxhav_BYVNbQsBeQa6JyuLd0N6DE1cppHd17vXJnfKIxJAdh8dsttFDrPSpqiHC-MHKV2YhfYIok27b8OjgVtfGKsxzLFYqTJg5nVQRtdM/s400/IMG_9470.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This group of 8 left the site
completely but over an hour later a flock of 8 fell out of the sky back into
the reedbed. I can only assume that it was the same flock who’d been for a tour
of Dorset before popping back to Radipole again. Not long after the 8 went for
their trip a pair also left. Half hour after the 8 arrived back presumably the
same pair also dropped back into the reeds. Fascinating behaviour!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a quick mention for the Med Gulls. They continue to
pile in and lots of ringed birds are now showing up. Got 11 ring number
yesterday including the Italian bird from a few days ago. Here’s a rubbish shot
of the fella. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZrPDK-VqxF7uWGdAGEZSFBnQdHv_Qg-oNoo72X47XR9MXrEtOn6LVEgv_uViQzF8yDpZr0bLPJtdvu80Ah1NTn2gc5pAlMtdptghlnxVzqsGuerfWNI7PErsZ0O2QADYqkvDUbGUbUw/s1600/IMG_9512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZrPDK-VqxF7uWGdAGEZSFBnQdHv_Qg-oNoo72X47XR9MXrEtOn6LVEgv_uViQzF8yDpZr0bLPJtdvu80Ah1NTn2gc5pAlMtdptghlnxVzqsGuerfWNI7PErsZ0O2QADYqkvDUbGUbUw/s400/IMG_9512.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This thought came to me after chatting to Dave Chown this
morning. The Italian bird showed up at the same time as the Serbian bird. I
wonder if they travelled up together given that they both come from the same
part of the world?? Thanks Dave for mentioning that earlier!</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-84565198619312215772013-11-06T09:26:00.002-08:002013-11-06T09:26:48.406-08:00Some bloody good Med Gull recoveries!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A fairly quiet day at work resulted in more Med Gull ring
reading today and what a day it turned into! First bird was something of an old
friend. I had the first sighting of this bird after it was ringed back in
autumn 2011. It was at Radipole in pretty much the same place as I saw it
today. It wasn’t until I got the details back that I realised that this bird
was one from Serbia! Radipole Lake’s an impressive 1708kms from Palic Lake in
Northern Serbia which was where it was ringed as a chick. Here’s a Google map
to illustrate...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_VhVz6ILqbbrQ-auHYpxwlYPyr0OttskyYQL5B6nLHIXZ_mfV9oLBXZt80VGivsgboDY0fjWh94t0KnCfgNCWrsKRiHz2l2_KD8xRrHV7ob0wjweGGFmYaWJmeZwVnhZccx1rpYnsyI/s1600/Med+Map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_VhVz6ILqbbrQ-auHYpxwlYPyr0OttskyYQL5B6nLHIXZ_mfV9oLBXZt80VGivsgboDY0fjWh94t0KnCfgNCWrsKRiHz2l2_KD8xRrHV7ob0wjweGGFmYaWJmeZwVnhZccx1rpYnsyI/s400/Med+Map.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though the wobbly line is the suggested route by road (for a
car...) rather than the exact route the gull took...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next bird was more significant. I noticed a blue ring on a
first year bird and I couldn’t remember ever seeing a blue ring on a Med Gull before. A few emails later revealed the bird was ringed at Venice Lagoon in
Italy! Possibly the first Italian ringed Med Gull to be seen at Radipole??
After that the sightings involved more routine countries such as France and
Belgium but still all good data!</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-3723953546815763092013-10-23T03:04:00.002-07:002013-10-23T03:04:46.340-07:00Med Gulls are back in town!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last week or two has seen Med Gull numbers soar with
lots of the regulars starting to show up. A scan through a flock of Med Gull
will always reveal several colour rings which allows individuals to be
indentified. Radipole is a great place to read rings as you can just sit in
your car, scan the car park and read away. The only downside is the occasion
pratt who decides to walk straight through the flock...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was nice to see this fella back yesterday. I saw this
gull as a juv when I started working at Radipole Lake and I’ve caught up with
it every year since.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgce_l96HAdE3-d6RQjnco-cvgq2IJAGM13sLu-eZ-3HrMMLedJ4XDNSRxEbQv4qvIaE2oqX95lRwt-ou9QCsoWf5hsh4THbZuruS6pvVEU6P6eXTkjFxAaTado3GKqzhUxRclOWbIAWs/s1600/IMG_9411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgce_l96HAdE3-d6RQjnco-cvgq2IJAGM13sLu-eZ-3HrMMLedJ4XDNSRxEbQv4qvIaE2oqX95lRwt-ou9QCsoWf5hsh4THbZuruS6pvVEU6P6eXTkjFxAaTado3GKqzhUxRclOWbIAWs/s400/IMG_9411.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plenty of others around but for some reason a lot of birds
were starring at the car park?!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_L5dv90jWER3G-0vnblRCnX9F8sTcU48P0rjtkoqI4lF3TEwxzSBm7slUmvie2zuuv6KF6IhGokXXK_6Nq4_3H3Mga4vxixZYrVNN3ijFM4L8Q0wF-_9mj0Iry7Lhz_TrBpoLusOkyU/s1600/IMG_9350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx_L5dv90jWER3G-0vnblRCnX9F8sTcU48P0rjtkoqI4lF3TEwxzSBm7slUmvie2zuuv6KF6IhGokXXK_6Nq4_3H3Mga4vxixZYrVNN3ijFM4L8Q0wF-_9mj0Iry7Lhz_TrBpoLusOkyU/s400/IMG_9350.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Os0lnx1elBv_81oTJq1S9Xja4J06lpT6ZfK6jlhs43-rsUnGOC2L7yBSYv5FGQ5cnxd3J2I9ouE95uv5-02m66UGxEDrrvwiz10h9Gp-vXEqOYC5hzZwM9-CtLkzKFrASKj8tJueniU/s1600/IMG_9335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Os0lnx1elBv_81oTJq1S9Xja4J06lpT6ZfK6jlhs43-rsUnGOC2L7yBSYv5FGQ5cnxd3J2I9ouE95uv5-02m66UGxEDrrvwiz10h9Gp-vXEqOYC5hzZwM9-CtLkzKFrASKj8tJueniU/s400/IMG_9335.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wierd...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It goes without saying that all the rings are reported into
their respective owners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gulls are pretty much the main attraction at Radipole at the
moment except for this drake Garganey which Dave Chown found on Monday. It was
still about yesterday afternoon when I eventually decided to trawl through the
Teal. It doesn’t come very close and when I did it soon few off again!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-48591362745368239502013-10-20T14:30:00.003-07:002013-10-20T14:30:43.639-07:00I'm sure this one's right?!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Depending who you speak too, ‘Street Cred’ apparently means
a lot to a birder so I’d better try to redeem myself and put on a photo of an
actual Yellow-legged Gull which was a feeble reward for a days worth of gull
watching. I would actually describe this bird as stunning!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIYao3oH5JGhctESj7XaC1C9XjLASLLM7mRsNX-m6icHn8heCGbzymncjt5FMgzmXofHw2krt9fHFYtYBtVEV5zMzG7G3kNRbMSkSBuV19MmTdzyfmD9LfgQfofm_IwlP8BImuPbeb4A/s1600/IMG_9266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIYao3oH5JGhctESj7XaC1C9XjLASLLM7mRsNX-m6icHn8heCGbzymncjt5FMgzmXofHw2krt9fHFYtYBtVEV5zMzG7G3kNRbMSkSBuV19MmTdzyfmD9LfgQfofm_IwlP8BImuPbeb4A/s400/IMG_9266.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a cracker isn’t it! Found this one on my first scan of
the morning which lead to think that it might not be the first of the day but
it was. Given that I’ve not got a picture of another Yellow-legged Gull I’d
better post another of the same bird. This time flaunting it’s wing pattern and
sexy arm pit. Gotta love those underwing coverts!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18KPV4F8u-evVasEnwKObng2xiH38fB0p11s39Dxkfw8Wd2e7oKlBwJDdEpO55WrWVGPs_D5b6_u5t3FqfuxfUy1OoHMPO4l4JctBF3whfTbqUwpMcpkDy0bsUZKDpPqibTehr1ZLmZs/s1600/IMG_9257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18KPV4F8u-evVasEnwKObng2xiH38fB0p11s39Dxkfw8Wd2e7oKlBwJDdEpO55WrWVGPs_D5b6_u5t3FqfuxfUy1OoHMPO4l4JctBF3whfTbqUwpMcpkDy0bsUZKDpPqibTehr1ZLmZs/s400/IMG_9257.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just so this blog doesn’t get samey, here’s a shot of a
different gull species. It still has yellowish legs though...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oa4i38Zy1gv0uG3OOxgyq1DPoo26K_yVS-6DPmUPvGdLXlgOJBfNm8u9ZfTm7IM3PhmeEq4y1W2ZDTc2GYXgpZ5CvoMRe_PUUUVbRqXHz9d1xNbWTgBrp8dH1VWH5FKj4mHtA4D2xS8/s1600/IMG_9256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oa4i38Zy1gv0uG3OOxgyq1DPoo26K_yVS-6DPmUPvGdLXlgOJBfNm8u9ZfTm7IM3PhmeEq4y1W2ZDTc2GYXgpZ5CvoMRe_PUUUVbRqXHz9d1xNbWTgBrp8dH1VWH5FKj4mHtA4D2xS8/s400/IMG_9256.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-21793772112864218432013-10-18T10:55:00.000-07:002013-10-18T10:55:18.052-07:00After all that...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So after all that deliberation on last nights gull I got it
wrong. I’d really thought several times about a hybrid and even mentioned it
last night in the comments section when replying to another comment but for
someone reason I got lumbered with the Yellow-legged Gull theory and I couldn’t
really shift it! A case of trying to convince myself I suspect. It’s actually
very rare that I look at the gull so closely and I guess the sheer amount of
deliberation should have told me that this probably wasn’t a Yellow-legged
Gull. Especially when comparing it to the other bird I featured. It really
would have been more obvious if that was the case. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So many thanks to Brett Spencer who put me out my misery and
told me it’s probably a Herring x Lesser black-backed Gull hybrid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So basically scrap all that rubbish I waffled on about
yesterday but all good experience and I’ve got to admit that I rather enjoy
ploughing through gull photo’s deliberating ID’s. Nerdy as it is...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is probably a really good time to mention a gull
watching event at Radipole next year! Yep, I’ve persuaded the RSPB to let me do
a Gull morning. As the above suggests, it won’t be anything in depth and
detailed but should be an enlightening
look at gulls and what they get up to. It will be on Thursday 6<sup>th</sup>
February starting at 10am at the Radipole visitor centre. I promise it won’t be
boring!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's one last shot of the beast!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yZTlSYBusbdfE5zG3Yq5weSqjlgw7RvbKMIp1ncEdxeuRIaolYlTdY5h1NhSYzolOfHzG25tIblDtYje-B1MK4_KWJCRbYTGh5cKBld_N30T-ewPbJyDCLQJR20F9480FYNXfH9oHsA/s1600/IMG_9172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yZTlSYBusbdfE5zG3Yq5weSqjlgw7RvbKMIp1ncEdxeuRIaolYlTdY5h1NhSYzolOfHzG25tIblDtYje-B1MK4_KWJCRbYTGh5cKBld_N30T-ewPbJyDCLQJR20F9480FYNXfH9oHsA/s400/IMG_9172.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-90340965854445797632013-10-17T12:14:00.001-07:002013-10-17T12:14:48.136-07:00A fun evening in... sorry it's about Gulls!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This gull has been giving me a little bit of a headache this
evening. Took the pictures last week and haven’t really looked at them since.
Thought the bird was initially a Yellow-legged Gull, the darker mantle, slight
yellow tinge to the legs but something was telling me it wasn’t quite right or at least there were a few small issues with some of the birds features. If your interested in Gulls read on but if your not then give up now and go watch TV or something.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavB_SR5Tod_vWWQ2uOM5r4nWbecIEyd3Zzi65OJoVYdilO1CynD9jNurt0RQAl7XoCRQubHfQWTSDc_ApJeJemVkL1fgByREwRHXBddilfkNDMNQwVb0h3z39dnxdPOlLtytKgZFHe3c/s1600/IMG_9189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiavB_SR5Tod_vWWQ2uOM5r4nWbecIEyd3Zzi65OJoVYdilO1CynD9jNurt0RQAl7XoCRQubHfQWTSDc_ApJeJemVkL1fgByREwRHXBddilfkNDMNQwVb0h3z39dnxdPOlLtytKgZFHe3c/s400/IMG_9189.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly, just look at the age of this bird. When I saw it in
flight I put it down as a 3<sup>rd</sup> winter bird due to the dark primary
coverts and the head streaking and dark patch on the bill. However, a few
things didn’t add up. I realised it should have more black in the wing if it
was a 3<sup>rd</sup> winter plus it’s got a pure white tail. So am I’m dealing
with a 4<sup>th</sup> winter bird?? If this is the case I’m now in uncharted territory, that’s
not an age I’ve looked at the before. Things that strike me if this is a 4</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
winter is that it should probably have a whiter head. Even a 3</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
winter has a fairly white head in my experience. Also, the legs are very washed
out though this is a variable feature anyway but on average should be a lot yellower at this age. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yellow-legged Gulls are often more advanced in
their plumage and moult when compared to Herring Gulls. This poses the question
‘is this just an advanced 3</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> winter bird?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Assuming that then, take a look at this wing shot.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJ6fk_qQu8Gbw4EVA_GlC5BjEKa4XV8-VhUAXUc9P8FOuxoh11lCdA6T_2zH9NYuuS2fYAUdOSVbecBW4ifAtJm1QYztJ6W00a9RVRb6QJjoKl5CQLQCgo080X5ZaxApdN2WBLlVEyxQ/s1600/IMG_9182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDJ6fk_qQu8Gbw4EVA_GlC5BjEKa4XV8-VhUAXUc9P8FOuxoh11lCdA6T_2zH9NYuuS2fYAUdOSVbecBW4ifAtJm1QYztJ6W00a9RVRb6QJjoKl5CQLQCgo080X5ZaxApdN2WBLlVEyxQ/s400/IMG_9182.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But compare is to this 3rd winter bird taken a few years ago around this time of year. Quite different!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcFYP6zW2t3YQgseh4SZbl_K44uLhGWEUVIYHv99mpOshYdS6AGJzLt6c8fOsVVo4Pul9ySCPmGCT2mWPaNvcXYC1YYGnFrl8pFYJFlpQmwNTmwe_hGLq4oOfuDs_Jj1Q86hN14DZVkI/s1600/IMG_3494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcFYP6zW2t3YQgseh4SZbl_K44uLhGWEUVIYHv99mpOshYdS6AGJzLt6c8fOsVVo4Pul9ySCPmGCT2mWPaNvcXYC1YYGnFrl8pFYJFlpQmwNTmwe_hGLq4oOfuDs_Jj1Q86hN14DZVkI/s400/IMG_3494.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6uNq2_BczPFOd9okx-KFeB11lQnh92MDVbsNUUcKkzOs4erS7k7i2Bu5zNsdQaP4876gJIsGNNMNXtA0Gfcc3zKKMACjlyCvGGIIPpdBg0oX52UihGHLOii5fqCaNOnd0j-RCo-CfSmM/s1600/IMG_3489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6uNq2_BczPFOd9okx-KFeB11lQnh92MDVbsNUUcKkzOs4erS7k7i2Bu5zNsdQaP4876gJIsGNNMNXtA0Gfcc3zKKMACjlyCvGGIIPpdBg0oX52UihGHLOii5fqCaNOnd0j-RCo-CfSmM/s400/IMG_3489.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Had no doubt what so ever when I saw this bird first! Worth comparing that last shot with the first photo of the bird in question.</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This evening is the first time I’ve gone through these photo’s
so I’m typing this as I’m going through the details. This photo left me rather
confused. There should be a small mirror (a white blob) on P10. Can’t see one
there plus P5 is unmarked. Surely not a good thing for a Yellow-legged Gull.
Then of course I realised the possibility that P10 could be hidden and this
photo reveals all!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfZ9N7diKcKoYpSHfyRBHUfTPB4uMlK4I48TO8g_UBoFBPm3_euvssh_iQFcSrowAU-UCW74cnNrYnqQK3bqhHhxBEoZsG6oYSa2yhjiAfyFip1yxKrQ0es47JPl3LIu1C3yDkoPUMBY/s1600/IMG_9186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgfZ9N7diKcKoYpSHfyRBHUfTPB4uMlK4I48TO8g_UBoFBPm3_euvssh_iQFcSrowAU-UCW74cnNrYnqQK3bqhHhxBEoZsG6oYSa2yhjiAfyFip1yxKrQ0es47JPl3LIu1C3yDkoPUMBY/s400/IMG_9186.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top bird by the way and for comparison, the bird on the rail is a 3rd winter Herring Gull.</span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Small mirror on P10 and now P5 is strongly marked. Both things
fit in with Yellow-legged Gull I think. Interestingly this feather still seems
to be growing which has now put a little doubt in mind as to the species.
Having already said that Yellow-legged Gull moults earlier than Herring Gull
(and other species obviously) this strikes me a being late. I use the moult thing often with 1st years but perhaps with other ages it's not such a good thing to dwell on? There are a few adult and near adult Herring Gulls about just
finishing off their moult at the moment but I think most have now finished. Not
sure how relevant all that is but interesting none the less. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the biggest worries with this bird was its shape,
structure and size. It wasn’t a particularly large bird, wasn’t long
legged, its bill didn’t seem particularly impressive and it didn’t really look
long wings. The last feature I’ve obviously explained as P10 is still growing.
This next shot shows it next to an adult Herring Gull. Structure can be slightly different between sexes, so going by my experience again, this is probably a female as they are smaller than males. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPVgGChC_Eyy4goIwyJvVRxUWXTKTotlwbw5TIU6SX4NEeN5J6CsCwXCjiB03-HmqS_TzI7qsazAHtn4hev7ejuY0b2sXTlKwoBLqRkipW-E1PhYp8MSOiqX2wiI8ZtIfO6JdnP8AShw/s1600/IMG_9193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPVgGChC_Eyy4goIwyJvVRxUWXTKTotlwbw5TIU6SX4NEeN5J6CsCwXCjiB03-HmqS_TzI7qsazAHtn4hev7ejuY0b2sXTlKwoBLqRkipW-E1PhYp8MSOiqX2wiI8ZtIfO6JdnP8AShw/s400/IMG_9193.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I suppose actually its
fairly chunky, large headed and the bill I guess is fairly thick set. I was
initially looking at the first picture rather than one comparing it to a
Herring Gull. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Structure can be slightly different between sexes, so going by my experience again, this is probably a female as they are smaller than males. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I better wrap this up as if you've made it this far
through the post you’ll sure be getting really bored by now! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a bloody Yellow-legged Gull for gods sake. Experienced
gull watchers would be probably just go with that straight away but I for some
reason enjoy going through every little detail, doubting myself, then eventually
go back to my initial though. Anyway, that was an little insight to how I
sometimes spend an evening! I think there’s something wrong with me.... I'm off to the pub. </span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-53213346760589561852013-10-17T09:26:00.002-07:002013-10-17T09:26:28.311-07:00All quiet out on the Fleet...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was right about this mornings weather and I did indeed
have a lie-in but the wind seemed to drop a little after sunrise so trotted out
to Clouds Hill in case something had happened over night. By something I mean an
arrival of birds...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well that certainly wasn’t the case! Not a single grounded migrant
in sight or heard except for a single Ring Ouzel which was calling from some
scrub near the access track. Saying that I really should include Song Thrush as
a grounded migrant though. There seemed to be several around and I managed to count
7 at least and caught two in the few nets that I got open, the rest were closed
due to the wind. This one was obviously a messy eater going my the bits of berry on its face! It had a lot more on the other side. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWfVBNjGIEtWu0GEfH6tBGulijwglsPm7d2E2GpngAizFFvi_HAK0KlHjRxOUZc2s4EAdhTXnrvX1Id7Ou9QpEOgfXzZBEY6xSmgGlSaSptdsKPAAG3MUWPVfDNHfwDpTkDHa3TNJbls/s1600/IMG_9245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWfVBNjGIEtWu0GEfH6tBGulijwglsPm7d2E2GpngAizFFvi_HAK0KlHjRxOUZc2s4EAdhTXnrvX1Id7Ou9QpEOgfXzZBEY6xSmgGlSaSptdsKPAAG3MUWPVfDNHfwDpTkDHa3TNJbls/s400/IMG_9245.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This particular bird was aged as a 3, which means it was
hatched this year. Note the four outermost greater coverts which contrast the
inners. Nice and obvious unlike some species.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfulMb4QzFvV7XlNtNflvWKKbMo_MK91g5OAV3lxB5PxHTiHVuJ4h1yutHDoEhZtcUdMVuGea0l0WT3T9Vr_Fsn3g3snorAEMShvjJqfwjfRMgOxXOBIOqO4LySieCaGfBLEJu-aREkA/s1600/IMG_9239.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDfulMb4QzFvV7XlNtNflvWKKbMo_MK91g5OAV3lxB5PxHTiHVuJ4h1yutHDoEhZtcUdMVuGea0l0WT3T9Vr_Fsn3g3snorAEMShvjJqfwjfRMgOxXOBIOqO4LySieCaGfBLEJu-aREkA/s400/IMG_9239.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overhead there wasn't much moving except for Skylark, which
in the two hours 150+ went over. All were
moving west. A pleasant surprise was amongst them was a single Woodlark which
went over about 9:30ish calling as it went. Managed to get it in the bins as
well. Only other birds of note were two Marsh Harrier and three Brent Geese
which aren't that regular that far up the Fleet. Three Clouded Yellows were also notable, two of which came in off the fleet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The wind seems to be a big issue from now on. Can’t see much
ringing happening over the next week or so. Will be interesting to see what
these southerly winds do. Hopefully a few nice moths but not sure what it will
bring in terms of birds.</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-85936966377739507862013-10-16T13:43:00.001-07:002013-10-16T13:43:33.785-07:00Getting to know the locals...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've finally got round to clearing the rides and getting
some nets up at my ringing site down on the fleet. I've not ringed much at all
this year at Clouds Hill but fingers crossed the next few weeks produce some
numbers. Yesterday evening whilst putting up the last few nets I stuck all the
installed nets up to see what was about. Having not ringed there since the
spring there were plenty of locals who wouldn't have encountered the nets
before. Lots came to have a look and ended up with a lovely shiny new ring on
their legs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wrens were plentiful!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-dNEdn_gPnJF5c_cbMQETp7LMd6WqmDABW5RAsCzwCJlQP2tth1qWExn5Dqsr2TeJv6juVChL6WovgHq8_OdRtWI34sn11EvLNYxb3YvRJPoy2QjscSfJ3EX8VHImI7n46mozHVzrAI/s1600/2013-10-15+17.33.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-dNEdn_gPnJF5c_cbMQETp7LMd6WqmDABW5RAsCzwCJlQP2tth1qWExn5Dqsr2TeJv6juVChL6WovgHq8_OdRtWI34sn11EvLNYxb3YvRJPoy2QjscSfJ3EX8VHImI7n46mozHVzrAI/s400/2013-10-15+17.33.49.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As were the local Blue Tits</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrn2OQugiOaK674vo50FCGs8lQcLrClQZ_3L-D0VBU0ED1APlJGj8Cl-wT71ltdqxeWJe99wwN08fzUTgp_NjjL-2WboEwbXqFm3hQ2N_rpojJesOeUh91zs6UfmAVoe_0ZVVmW04lT3U/s1600/2013-10-15+17.29.22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrn2OQugiOaK674vo50FCGs8lQcLrClQZ_3L-D0VBU0ED1APlJGj8Cl-wT71ltdqxeWJe99wwN08fzUTgp_NjjL-2WboEwbXqFm3hQ2N_rpojJesOeUh91zs6UfmAVoe_0ZVVmW04lT3U/s400/2013-10-15+17.29.22.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both species ‘loved’ by ringers for their abilities to get
nicely caught in the nets and the latter’s shear determination to rip your
fingers off!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Usually as the season goes on the locals learn exactly where
the nets are leaving all the oblivious migrant birds to bump into a net. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hoping to go out in the morning but the wind at the moment
suggest I might be having a lie in... Hope not as on yesterdays visit there was
a rather interesting tacking call coming from the brambles. Not a tack call I’ve
heard before so I’m intrigued to find out what it possible was. I got an idea
in my mind but that’s all it is, an idea, at the moment. Might pop down for a
few hours regardless tomorrow to see what I can find even if I don’t get the
nets open. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To finish, here’s a shot of one of my favourite net rides. Usually
my last net of a net round and a nice chance to look out onto the fleet!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-63779551029500967952013-10-06T14:33:00.002-07:002013-10-06T14:33:38.747-07:00The Dorset Moth Fair??!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spent the day working at the Dorset Bird Fair over at
Durlston Country Park. Birds were certainly in evidence but I must admit that
the moths really made the day for me! Asides from a brief snatch of Richard’s
Pipits call, a Hobby leaving Dorset was probably the best avian event.
Yesterdays mothing efforts produced a couple of Crimson Speckled, a species
which has been popping up at several spots over the last week or so. This has
made me really want to see one so imagine my disappointment when there were
none in the traps this morning! However, a rather excited BTO staff member came
back from a stroll saying he’d seen a Crimson Speckled just a hundred or so
yards away! Would it stay put though....</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxfBNFks9JrV206_F4QRfE9jvCac0ebbAX-yTjoDh4rXCaoJoFwGj37N63UMHxKG3sYOtghnKligrEr1tloLPqZfnvK7k1zT-T8pHKtjdWRuMkLAE-i1zMzsalO3uqGdTBgzKBjxgk5o/s1600/2013-10-06+17.04.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxfBNFks9JrV206_F4QRfE9jvCac0ebbAX-yTjoDh4rXCaoJoFwGj37N63UMHxKG3sYOtghnKligrEr1tloLPqZfnvK7k1zT-T8pHKtjdWRuMkLAE-i1zMzsalO3uqGdTBgzKBjxgk5o/s400/2013-10-06+17.04.09.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, that picture suggests strongly that it did... They are
a pretty rare sight in this country with most probably originating from southern
Europe or even north Africa! These southerly winds over the last few days
certainly would have been responsible for this pretty stunning moth to make it
to Dorset. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was enjoyed by lots of visitors to the fair as was this
beast. Another scare visitor to our shores.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFvmBQJX2ZNdmHIE8ZD4QTFfD2sN0C7ARejsRGeIN6_YtBIi3g0Vz4I2YzDPQol8NwJ5VS_eGHDtz77ppZNsV1DWMMWioYtpQuYtQvqc_WhAMTXcGPSUWhJn2DMEf_ZImNBNZ2O6C45Fw/s1600/2013-10-06+16.04.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFvmBQJX2ZNdmHIE8ZD4QTFfD2sN0C7ARejsRGeIN6_YtBIi3g0Vz4I2YzDPQol8NwJ5VS_eGHDtz77ppZNsV1DWMMWioYtpQuYtQvqc_WhAMTXcGPSUWhJn2DMEf_ZImNBNZ2O6C45Fw/s400/2013-10-06+16.04.30.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A Convolvulus Hawk-moth, which is a fairly scarce immigrant
moth though much more regular in the UK than the Crimson Speckled. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a great weekend and thanks to all over at Durlston
for running such a good event!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, just a quick message to everyone who's moaned, had a go, or just politely asked about the water levels at Radipole. They are now nice and low and there's loads of mud. Just a Black-tailed Godwit enjoying it this evening but at least it's a start!</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-57965223168118614292013-10-02T11:33:00.002-07:002013-10-02T11:33:30.390-07:00A bit more Skokholm stuff<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last nights slightly rushed blog didn't quite contain all
the highlights from the recent trip to Skokholm. The island is particularly
famous for its sea bird populations. This time of year most of them have gone
off back out to sea but a few species linger well into the autumn. This was
good news for us as we had the chance to ring a few of these.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzEB8DkfwO_WzCnzbGOweR0Y-DGlWgcsYLLPuQyncR9TYgWkcjBzoKEIta7uEtuoolrLWG_xIennbT4PBo2yYuD8-ZNjUl_CfvDvCYnhtuFPCgg9INIVlXQExuv370-WlbsZus3XLDSY/s1600/IMG_8959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRzEB8DkfwO_WzCnzbGOweR0Y-DGlWgcsYLLPuQyncR9TYgWkcjBzoKEIta7uEtuoolrLWG_xIennbT4PBo2yYuD8-ZNjUl_CfvDvCYnhtuFPCgg9INIVlXQExuv370-WlbsZus3XLDSY/s400/IMG_8959.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And also process (it was already ringed) one of these!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKC_lAmKVmHc74yfXCIaXiYuUPNuR_K4pgcotOmMz3uq-rX9XAmapniVO05HuFveUEoHFrwazImzi_M50JCsgD6RgVuuOtVsewSyyQRwbzh3DB1KpxDvuZaGoCRpBl0DLMufC1jNWAL-g/s1600/IMG_8767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKC_lAmKVmHc74yfXCIaXiYuUPNuR_K4pgcotOmMz3uq-rX9XAmapniVO05HuFveUEoHFrwazImzi_M50JCsgD6RgVuuOtVsewSyyQRwbzh3DB1KpxDvuZaGoCRpBl0DLMufC1jNWAL-g/s400/IMG_8767.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I had a list of cutest chicks this would have certainly
gone on it. It’s a Storm Petrel which as I type might well be thinking about
leaving the island to embark on a pretty epic life travelling the seas! The first
bird pictured is a Manx Shearwater which has an equally amazing life. In a few months it
will be feeding in the South Atlantic somewhere off South America. There is
something like 45,000 pairs of Manx on Skokholm, the offspring of which are now
making their journeys off the island into the sea to start their travels. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also saw some pretty good birds either side of our week on
the island. Whilst waiting for the boat, Fred and I went for a wander and
bumped into this smart male Ring Ouzel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve and Tina who were watching the luggage at the ‘jetty’
also had another two fly through after our original male, so likely to have
been three around. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On arriving back at Martin’s Haven we stumbled into a
twitch. It was for a great bird, an Isabelline Wheatear! We had to wait around
for it to show, and the draw of a full English breakfast after eating rubbish
all week nearly caused us to miss the bird. but we stuck with it and I got
these very poor shots then left very quickly for our breakfast. It was bloody
nice!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-45439064571029898282013-10-01T14:00:00.001-07:002013-10-01T14:00:28.591-07:00Easterlies promised and delivered!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Desperately trying to squeeze in a blog this evening, been
on a remote island for a week and I’m catching up on very important things such
as the Great British bake off which starts worryingly soon on the TV. But, I’m determined
to get a post out into the blogger world...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I’ve been at this place for a week and very nice it was
too.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovObNGKVamQKbZQJ8-hbSfH6cJT9ko8jOaKwxRQRobHy7mL_0u7-1yTatxe4UBQnS10G_MiYbsA_KFrhOi3mqoovOBQsVhSRJSjtIi99ruDZLkVH63hCFobRxx2COAZcLSgauXOQJCy0/s1600/IMG_9034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgovObNGKVamQKbZQJ8-hbSfH6cJT9ko8jOaKwxRQRobHy7mL_0u7-1yTatxe4UBQnS10G_MiYbsA_KFrhOi3mqoovOBQsVhSRJSjtIi99ruDZLkVH63hCFobRxx2COAZcLSgauXOQJCy0/s400/IMG_9034.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Island is owned and managed by the South & West
Wales Wildlife Trust and this year has been going through the motions of
re-establishing its former status as a bird observatory. It was the UK’s first
bird observatory but lost the status some time ago, so when Fred and myself heard
that ringers were needed to help with the ringing efforts on the Island we
opted to try Skokholm instead of the usual autumn Lundy trip which for the past
two years has been my island of choice. It turned out to be a pretty good
choice!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we were able to order weather for a birding/ringing trip
in late September, easterly winds would be what we’d go for. The inability to
order weather often makes autumn trips somewhat varied but imagine our surprise
when the forecast had easterly winds all week!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first morning, on our first trip round the heligoland
traps we discovered a Wryneck who somehow evaded capture until our third push
of the traps! They can really skulk when they want to! But this is what it
looked like when if finally made its way up the trap.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihRuGsYjO5QTI_T4hDzeoWk3svtpyXNV2yWboObwvc4n4qahLxtKwwwq9kfCAJ7FSyzj-pll6cODodnwgH7tMO1jBixMDRY2_TPYAaCSUyMlozUzq2z_pCZnMEflQpomVNflO6UmW1aI/s1600/IMG_8699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjihRuGsYjO5QTI_T4hDzeoWk3svtpyXNV2yWboObwvc4n4qahLxtKwwwq9kfCAJ7FSyzj-pll6cODodnwgH7tMO1jBixMDRY2_TPYAaCSUyMlozUzq2z_pCZnMEflQpomVNflO6UmW1aI/s400/IMG_8699.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also found a second bird whilst walking towards the trap.
I assumed it was the Wryneck which had previously been in the trap but that
theory was soon thrown out when the original bird was still next to its
favourite bush! The first bird stuck round all week and was re-trapped a few
days into the trip which allowed us to weigh it again. It wasn’t in the best of
health first time round but it had put on a couple of grams second time around,
so hopefully it will be able to carry on on its journey south soon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the Wrynecks on the first morning, expectations were
high for the afternoon but by dark nothing else had really happened. We had to
wait until the following days for something to emerge. It was this rather smart
(or just plain drab if your not a birdy person) Booted Warbler.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxPjgssNlmkufzhl-WPq6BYAYMI6nWUj8bQEFhaqZC9EOGCn9m9ViQr0xTf2A4VMt2367DkBWRYpI1nOVm1T1LqI_ApGKeHmM1OPTwIWDvVSPuBdXnHT5y_wiuhv_fesxh_4bX2gng1Q/s1600/IMG_8836.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxPjgssNlmkufzhl-WPq6BYAYMI6nWUj8bQEFhaqZC9EOGCn9m9ViQr0xTf2A4VMt2367DkBWRYpI1nOVm1T1LqI_ApGKeHmM1OPTwIWDvVSPuBdXnHT5y_wiuhv_fesxh_4bX2gng1Q/s400/IMG_8836.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve, another visiting ringer watched the bird fly into the
mist net so our first views of it were in the hand but luckily this fella
showed well several times after release.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-x570S__Y1hTj0NimozD-nnx4Zle1cYOoRsVe_NwUxqCaKW6NpIr8AhwT51UK6wv1S-p1r4yzc9JK71pk8ZswjMO097c8PDjGiev7wRAW_J00GFCD9zyMgo5wSYoif2qa7AFCuCEN4w/s1600/IMG_8853.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-x570S__Y1hTj0NimozD-nnx4Zle1cYOoRsVe_NwUxqCaKW6NpIr8AhwT51UK6wv1S-p1r4yzc9JK71pk8ZswjMO097c8PDjGiev7wRAW_J00GFCD9zyMgo5wSYoif2qa7AFCuCEN4w/s400/IMG_8853.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphen5qW-PvaC2XXaWfz7InWD_XiYSx9xoDCpoaoxT4xS3gDmKQVc3XPrQXUWE5Z6MUpizzvQgAWO2Z-wgMsmIwWfezmjr4o6GXIi4Rgh6e7HD3uY9XY8GAt3-D3XuGgzJC4Iw9tgOhl-C8/s1600/IMG_8856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyphenhyphen5qW-PvaC2XXaWfz7InWD_XiYSx9xoDCpoaoxT4xS3gDmKQVc3XPrQXUWE5Z6MUpizzvQgAWO2Z-wgMsmIwWfezmjr4o6GXIi4Rgh6e7HD3uY9XY8GAt3-D3XuGgzJC4Iw9tgOhl-C8/s400/IMG_8856.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day the weather turned a bit damp and miserable so
reading books in the ringing hut was our chosen past time though we did
occasionally look up to watch this Red-breasted Flycatcher zipping about in
front of us.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSWY-nFyXDX9gHMTRTw0NittG-RmRB4xcXaesYTIe9vUMMw2jdznt15q6efmzss7ZMxHvlCF9oy6LuqbPkPVWhBvFsLWoyTcvrq2NUHPhTYy-I88evf9Q3qU0hYVTum8c8G_Smixxt2Q/s1600/IMG_8946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSWY-nFyXDX9gHMTRTw0NittG-RmRB4xcXaesYTIe9vUMMw2jdznt15q6efmzss7ZMxHvlCF9oy6LuqbPkPVWhBvFsLWoyTcvrq2NUHPhTYy-I88evf9Q3qU0hYVTum8c8G_Smixxt2Q/s400/IMG_8946.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lost track of which days I’m now writing about but this one
was a good one. At the start of the week, a sweep stake of the rarest bird of
the week was started. Fred had put in Red-breasted Flycatcher, as did Rich, one
of the wardens. Before getting to the island I got Fred looking up on his fancy
Ipad thing, the ins and outs of Blyth’s Reed Warblers. I kept on a little about
this species and it was an obvious choice for the sweep stake. Fred and I briefly
stopped ringing for some lunch which was Steve's cue to walk into the kitchen
saying he’d just caught an un-streaked acro in one of the traps. Obviously,
Blyth’s Reed came straight to mind and this was confirmed when Rich took this
beast out of a bag!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1bKR1zBpCgrnEgDcib2Cvq42erOybMQegaXrrOTsd0L_rbezhWoDPwDmF8PJduj4Sc0GP95ScJ2A8ubBK2K23HDbvu4AyAnBg_BNzzQBwA4L9ZdDetHDF0WEmvdCziqt6nSnfSsO-NE/s1600/IMG_8990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1bKR1zBpCgrnEgDcib2Cvq42erOybMQegaXrrOTsd0L_rbezhWoDPwDmF8PJduj4Sc0GP95ScJ2A8ubBK2K23HDbvu4AyAnBg_BNzzQBwA4L9ZdDetHDF0WEmvdCziqt6nSnfSsO-NE/s400/IMG_8990.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This again is a bit of a birders bird as it’s another brown
thing. The next few photos get really nerdy but bear with me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The open wing shows a clear emargination on the 4<sup>th</sup>
primary and even a slight emergination on the 5<sup>th</sup>. A very good
feature for Blyth’s Reed. Also the first primary falls short of the longest
primary covert.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZJa7tSwhKfyXK2LPErSDkUZcjC9sJMEI5sEZzs-wFGMFmF1-zo05CKWxrmwim4sgToVDDguB5aEkmVyK2f3MNbwVEP9nuowwcTR0TKMOQiis7qysF77Ia2qGDwl7ABmWYff16ENLico/s1600/IMG_8994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZJa7tSwhKfyXK2LPErSDkUZcjC9sJMEI5sEZzs-wFGMFmF1-zo05CKWxrmwim4sgToVDDguB5aEkmVyK2f3MNbwVEP9nuowwcTR0TKMOQiis7qysF77Ia2qGDwl7ABmWYff16ENLico/s400/IMG_8994.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The closed wing shows the short primary projection and the
emargination on the third primary falls short of the tips of the tertials. All good
features of Blyth’s Reed. Lots of the other measurements were taken by Rich,
all fitting in nicely with this species. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NhMOMUMw07eHCOFKid_dYBvUGHHHZGP4rNfXUtg379TvBSe726pBp-YqITV2P9ZFsAfbB0qI7LnOrXOq1TjXtAe-LxjQ3KRaitWO2CEX5r7bY2vbqWSQ-dkw5V98H1PFaDBiAMO4OJk/s1600/IMG_9004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8NhMOMUMw07eHCOFKid_dYBvUGHHHZGP4rNfXUtg379TvBSe726pBp-YqITV2P9ZFsAfbB0qI7LnOrXOq1TjXtAe-LxjQ3KRaitWO2CEX5r7bY2vbqWSQ-dkw5V98H1PFaDBiAMO4OJk/s400/IMG_9004.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The legs show a greyishness about them, and that combined
with a stonking bill all pretty conclusively make this bird a Blyth’s Reed
Warbler. Only the 2<sup>nd</sup> Welsh record! Unlike the Booted Warbler, this
didn’t make an appearance after release but hey, you can’t have everything. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c_6Jh44YpN2aUp3vu-LokSE87Bx7fBBKoHUNlu6OUERK8hxu0HyXnOf0lgmY6FZhvaOqPChtlEOxFMuVr9nmN8IcLReX4EHlFXICbnDKKWhpkhdjl3cZinY8wxegIrr-k1i8SvRZxqo/s1600/IMG_9000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c_6Jh44YpN2aUp3vu-LokSE87Bx7fBBKoHUNlu6OUERK8hxu0HyXnOf0lgmY6FZhvaOqPChtlEOxFMuVr9nmN8IcLReX4EHlFXICbnDKKWhpkhdjl3cZinY8wxegIrr-k1i8SvRZxqo/s400/IMG_9000.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Must add a quick reference to Martin Cade’s Portland Obs website
which we were looking at prior to getting to the island picking out some
Blyth’s Reed features ready for one to show up...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We didn’t just catch brown rare birds on our trip. Some really
smart birds were also caught amongst lots of common migrants which was all great stuff for the islands records. I’ll finish up with these beauties.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkzKJxhUw1kWECLlAit2W2WZ-2NJLXpCkEpRBWemMMDnKQLLuQB2j42w9nYMiy2p-vSA_8KrJrDb7ZKCVP9BHMiNxAdrMKora2um-wVl4Q2_CbLQmQJeQsS_ASt5TCSD21JVQVlX7Zx4U/s1600/IMG_8750.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkzKJxhUw1kWECLlAit2W2WZ-2NJLXpCkEpRBWemMMDnKQLLuQB2j42w9nYMiy2p-vSA_8KrJrDb7ZKCVP9BHMiNxAdrMKora2um-wVl4Q2_CbLQmQJeQsS_ASt5TCSD21JVQVlX7Zx4U/s400/IMG_8750.JPG" width="291" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zcD7Y6t_XV3r_emE51CwBkwjIouUQg-lTvh1ovJ9AnagS-ls2CuJ8nD_Op9puvV72lVx5UMVDW4QOfT0_eIMt2LUpd3XUuyQabUuY49_NmyFPeHRgtNl8G3GXThCD6f-adl6iZ-dcOI/s1600/IMG_8752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zcD7Y6t_XV3r_emE51CwBkwjIouUQg-lTvh1ovJ9AnagS-ls2CuJ8nD_Op9puvV72lVx5UMVDW4QOfT0_eIMt2LUpd3XUuyQabUuY49_NmyFPeHRgtNl8G3GXThCD6f-adl6iZ-dcOI/s320/IMG_8752.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Redstart (male)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrcVQcRjsTcWPB0TDIwvRH7tpLBfWgEoyx1iqXG2JGwhas6zvxGwvx2sYqdzD2d19249WSsEzjNDGPtW8QG9YeFgdFSTFBIyHVvlJ9EN8i7A7Ee4gjMMLSXaQmSsb-cjWdya75VSilDQ/s1600/IMG_8965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrcVQcRjsTcWPB0TDIwvRH7tpLBfWgEoyx1iqXG2JGwhas6zvxGwvx2sYqdzD2d19249WSsEzjNDGPtW8QG9YeFgdFSTFBIyHVvlJ9EN8i7A7Ee4gjMMLSXaQmSsb-cjWdya75VSilDQ/s400/IMG_8965.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another Redstart (female)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyvdsgzbmz4oWoJWcSHHL2tc0RTL-NvbAJVeNkATa4ocrYCnzKfvfWYasoQu7Eru9V1hxquVw05Cm9YO0M2fRhCvXOiFhZD1cbZK9cPlnQla9BU4pJ81KISH1Vsi-3rB0hyphenhyphenG3JiETrvI/s1600/IMG_8821.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqyvdsgzbmz4oWoJWcSHHL2tc0RTL-NvbAJVeNkATa4ocrYCnzKfvfWYasoQu7Eru9V1hxquVw05Cm9YO0M2fRhCvXOiFhZD1cbZK9cPlnQla9BU4pJ81KISH1Vsi-3rB0hyphenhyphenG3JiETrvI/s400/IMG_8821.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whinchat. What a stunner!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And finally, the sharp minds amongst you might notice that
the Great British bake off has now actually finished making the start of this
blog defunct. I had written most of this and then the program started so have
waited until now to publish the post. Thought I’d better mention it in case
anyone was wondering...</span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-40938369862761811902013-09-19T14:49:00.003-07:002013-09-19T14:49:38.041-07:00Mission Impossible?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our daunting task was too catch nine cygnets, all could have
possibly have been together and with a dwindling team of ringers the task was
going to be almost impossible! However, a crack team of determined swan ringers
pulled out all the stops and pulled out all nine cygnets from the waters of
Radipole Lake (before obviously putting the back once ringed!!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a few of them all wrapped up in their special swan
carrier bag things. They all seemed rather relaxed about the whole process. One
we even had to wake up so that it was looking at the camera for a photo!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUPsdsRBW4RBdoAbk4jvO8551mjvnQOFnJ9VnJ8K9JBUrfkhL4wymGHu4OZCDOZCBvClzZ0G8O52ZoADF9PRNuQGplGmEFoWUx_avIxPbbv0UXdgNKAZTjBEwYs6BicUjcYa7z1ZKNu0/s1600/2013-09-19+16.55.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQUPsdsRBW4RBdoAbk4jvO8551mjvnQOFnJ9VnJ8K9JBUrfkhL4wymGHu4OZCDOZCBvClzZ0G8O52ZoADF9PRNuQGplGmEFoWUx_avIxPbbv0UXdgNKAZTjBEwYs6BicUjcYa7z1ZKNu0/s400/2013-09-19+16.55.25.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This years breeding success at the lake was pretty good,
probably got about 15 cygnets in all which have made it to full size. Our nine
were the friendlier ones, the other six will be much harder to catch and ring. Saying
that, this fella was a lively one. I took a liking to the family this one
belonged to, I even fed them special chick crumb as hatchlings to help them
along. Unfortunately my generosity wasn’t reflected in the way the bird treated
me. It pretty much managed to bite every bit of me... ungrateful little
*?!!*&!%...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next time your down at the lake check out their new shiny colour rings! Looking forward to see where the little dudes end up!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-66192326933679098402013-09-16T08:33:00.003-07:002013-09-16T08:33:54.713-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just thought I’d better go back another couple of weeks and
mention a couple of good birds from down at the Swannery. Firstly, amongst many
hundred of other Wagtails one evening a Citrine Wagtail popped up. Stood out
rather well especially as it was perched between and Pied Wag and a Yellow Wag.
Very nice indeed though not totally unexpected as at the time there were
several others showing up around the country. Don’t usually have the camera
with me when out ringing (don’t need the distraction of photography!) and this
session was no different so no photo’s but needless to say I’ve had the camera
out at every other roost ringing session since. I did get distracted one evening and
got these shots of Yellow Wagtails.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I mentioned on yesterdays post we’d been ringing lots of
Yellow Wagtails. This was a Blue-headed type from a few weeks ago, though we've had plenty since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another good bird that dropped into the Swannery for a
couple of days (on and off...) was this juv Semipalmated Sandpiper. It was
rather obliging indeed!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-65820615011408360012013-09-16T08:01:00.001-07:002013-09-16T08:01:38.393-07:00Great Snipe!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is what the title of this blog would have said if I’d been
at Spurn a couple of days later... Last week the other half and meself went off
for a jolly to her homeland of North Yorkshire. Beautiful part of the world and
best of all it still has plenty of these!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tree Sparrows. This one was at RSPB Bempton Cliffs and this
next one was at the girlfriends folks place. Great to see so many as they have
pretty much disappeared from Dorset and my home county of Gwent. Both counties
have tiny populations just clinging on but it doesn’t look hopeful...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also at Bempton Cliff, Gannets were still in abundance.
Light wasn’t good so pics are a little gloomy I’m afraid!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back to Spurn. We spend a lovely morning at the point where
thousands of Meadow Pipit dominated the notebook. This one came to say hello
briefly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rarities were few and far between but a Red-backed Shrike
popped up though at distance so won’t bother you with a blurry picture. I was
saying whilst we were in Yorkshire that I bet something good will turn up as
soon as we get back to Dorset and sure enough it bloody did. Didn’t fancy the 8
hour drive back so will just appreciate the Great Snipe on the internet. After
all, it’s just a fat snipe...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will finish with a shot or two of my favourite gull. We
stopped off at Hornsea Mere and on arriving I thought I’d seen a tern or
something similar out on the water. Went down to the waters edge and was
confronted by a mob of Little Gulls. Probably 30 in all! Stunning little
critters!</span></div>
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Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6304246597408735812.post-87444203026095768452013-09-15T00:36:00.003-07:002013-09-15T00:36:57.851-07:00Was the wait worth it??<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crikey! It’s been a while. Appears as so I’ve had the whole
summer off blogging so guess I should be all refreshed and raring to go?
Possibly... though hope nobodies been checking daily for updates.... by the way,
how are you Frank!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There’s probably too much to update so it’s probably
sensible to start off with some recent stuff. I’ve done a little bit of birding
which is more than I’ve done all summer to be honest, though the bit of birding
I’ve done has been between checking mist nets down at the Swannery. Long
standing readers will know that we’ve got a bit of an obsession for Yellow
Wagtails down at the Swannery. This is a good thing as this single site last
year produced nearly half of the UK total of Yellow Wagtails ringed. Impressive
stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given that we have the privilege of handling so many wags we
took the decision last year to start a colour ringing project with the species.
Recoveries of Yellow Wagtails are pretty rare so we thought that a little
colour ring should yield at least a bit more information about this rapidly
declining species. We’ve been putting a small white darvic ring above the metal
ring on the left leg. There is an inscription of two white letters which
uniquely marks the bird but a sighting of just a white ring on the left leg
will still give us some information, so please send in your sightings! My
personal email is broken for some reason so any sightings please send to
luke.phillips’at’rspb.org.uk, obviously insert @ instead of ‘at’. Did that to
stop these bloody robot things sending me emails... We’ve had several sightings
already so keep them coming. The more we know about this species the better!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another aspect to colour ringing might reveal something that
really interests me. Yellow Wagtail races. We’ve so far ringed 560 odd which is
only a fraction of the birds actually roosting at the Swannery. Some nights
there been up to a thousand roosting and seems to average several hundred. This
is a complete guess but I wouldn’t be surprised if up to 10,000 have roosted
there so far this autumn. Our re-trap rate in minimal which suggests birds move
on very quickly with hardly any spending two consecutive nights in the reed
bed. Given the size of the British population (estimated at about 15,000
territories by the BTO), they surely can’t all be British. We certainly catch
quite a few Blue-headed types and even the odd Grey-headed type but
unfortunately there is so much variation within the races you can never be sure
what your looking at. I’d be very happy if next spring we get a photo sent of
us of a colour ringed male Yellow Wagtail sitting on a hay bale somewhere in
Sweden! This possible Grey-headed type was caught last night and I got a quick picture
before he got on his way at sunrise this morning with about 50 companions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will get round to sticking a few other bits up soon and
might even attempt to recap on a few bits from over the summer but don’t hold
your breath... It’s been 5 months since the last post! </span></div>
Luke Phillipshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00974460163234171381noreply@blogger.com1