Bird Mastermind number 12

[Jane Turner]

Starting to scrape the barrel now... maybe one or two more to go!

4 and a tiebreaker. All WP species

[Bluetail]

1. Greater Sandplover
2. Wheatear
3. Whiskered Tern
4. Black-bellied Sandgrouse
5. Black Lark

[jtibbetts]

1: Greater Sandplover
2: Whinchat
3: Whiskered Tern (plus black headed gulls)
4: Palla's Sandgrouse
5: Black Lark

[Jasonbirder]

1.Greater Sandplover
2.Northern Wheatear
3.Whiskered Tern
4.Pallas` Sandgrouse
5. Black Something...i`ll get back on this one - looks like Black Lark but must be a twist if its a Tie breaker

Late entry as driving home from work....how hard is it not to be influenced by the other answers eh!

[satrow]

1. Greater Sandplover
2. Northern Wheatear
3. Black-headed Gulls and Whiskered Tern
4. Spotted Sandgrouse
5. White-crowned Black Wheatear

Andy.

[Tim Allwood]

Pallas's Sandgrouse - the Shetland bird Jane???

[CJW]

1. Greater Sandplover
2. Northern Wheatear
3. Black-headed Gulls and Whiskered Tern
4. Pallas' Sandgrouse
5. Black Wheatear

[Michael Frankis]

1 Greater Sandplover
2 Northern Wheatear
3 Common Gull (l), Common Tern (on mud), Arctic Tern (r)
4 Spotted Sandgrouse
5 Tristram's Starling

Michael

[Jasonbirder]

CJW beat me to it I was going to say
5. Black Wheatear I`m sur i can see white undertail coverts and feathers

which leaves me:

1.Greater Sandplover
2.Northern Wheatear
3.Whiskered tern
4.Pallas` Sandgrouse
5. Black Wheatear

[Michael Frankis]

Late entry as driving home from work....how hard is it not to be influenced by the other answers eh!
I didn't even see this thread until just now - only left the computer for ¾ hour!

For once for my answers (above), I deliberately didn't look at any of the other posts - whizzed the scrollbar quickly so I couldn't see them

Michael

[Tim Allwood]

As Jason but Isabelline wheatear (someone has too)

could there be a White-crowned Black as tie B.

[Jane Turner]

I'll give that to CJW, though the gull is a Med...well I assume its a Med, I was looking at the Whiskered Tern, in the Coto Donana.

and yes its the Quendale Pallas' Sandgrouse...


The Sandplover was the Walney one. When I went to see it its ID was contentions, its looks as Greater as you could possible be now.


Another one tonight?

Round 2 on its way

[Jane Turner]

The tie breaker comes with additional lines marking the end of the tertials and primaries.....


This will be the last for a few days.....

[Jasonbirder]

1. Spectacled Warbler

Ha i`ll get in first even if its only with one bird!

[Michael Frankis]

1 ???
2 Common Tern
3 Thrush Nightingale
4 Red-backed Shrike
5 Blyth's Reed Warbler

[Stephen Dunstan]

Jane,

Is that the Walney sandplover? Looks like that bird, which was the first real rarity I ever twitched.

Stephen.

[Jane Turner]

It was Steve yes.... nice bird. I lost my exhaust in the docks in Barrow on the way back and sounded like the four hourseman of the appocalypse on the way back..in my rusty old mini

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Seem to have missed Round 1 - was going to say the same as CJW too, honest.

1) Subalpine Warbler
2) Arctic Tern
3) Great Reed Warbler
4) Red-backed Shrike
5) Reed Warbler (maybe a fuscus?)

[CJW]

1) Subalpine Warbler
2) Arctic Tern
3) Sprosser
4) Isabelline Shrike
5) Marsh Warbler

[Jane Turner]

This might last the night!

[CJW]

Praise the Lord!

[Jasonbirder]

1. Spectacled Warbler (sticking to my guns in the face of everyone elses knowledge!)
4. Isabelline Shrike - don`t ask which form (toyed with the idea of Blaearic Woodchat Shrike but tail does seem too rufous and contrasting)
5. Want to say Blyths Reed Warbler - but not happy with eye ring & pale lower mandible - but primaries look too bunched for Marsh Warbler - will think again on this one.

[Jasonbirder]

OK getting close to my bedtime yawn! So i`ll say:
1. Spectacled Warbler (have a hunch the photo is too old to support this - but thats cheating!)
2. Common Tern
3. Thrush Nightingale
4. Isabelline Shrike
5. Blyths Reed Warbler

[Jane Turner]

No one has beaten two yet... these are proving harder than expected, though 5 is a bit of a lottery

[Michael Frankis]

#1 - is the picture defective?

There's nothing on the WPal list with rufous-brown forehead to top of crown, broad plain grey eyestripe angled up to the rear crown, brown cheeks, and three bright orange-red spots on an otherwise blackish-brown wing

Michael

[Jane Turner]

It was taken at sunset, in stong red light..and is showing more contrast/shade than would be normal.

Here it is de-redded a bit and with the contrast turned down

Now the back looks realistic, but the breast has lost all its starling pinkness, which was there in life.

[Michael Frankis]

I'll amend 2-5 to:
Arctic Tern
Thrush Nightingale
Red-backed Shrike
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler.

Still haven't a clue on #1.

[Michael Frankis]

Think I'll try Subalpine Warbler for 1

[Jane Turner]

You have the right genus...

[Michael Frankis]

Given that its an old photo, and excluding what others have already mentioned, I'll go for plain ordinary Whitethroat

[Tim Allwood]

Comm. whitethroat
Comm. tern
Sprosser
Red-backed Shrike
Olivaceous Warbler

[Michael Frankis]

....
Comm. tern
Sprosser
Red-backed Shrike
....
Hi Tim,

One of those can't be right, 'coz I only got (max.) 2 right with the same set ;)
That's why I changed allegiance to Arctic Tern (as I am more sure of the other two, than I was with the tern)

Michael

[Jane Turner]

Someone..would be too easy to say who...is up to three now.

[Tim Allwood]

Hi Michael – I didn’t trawl thru the previous answers so missed the more precise nature of your elaeica than my old fashioned pallida and that little mathmatical conundrum :clap: that means one of my birds must be wrong – as long as the initial ID is correct of course (sorry Jane, only joking, lots of vino tinto B (: B (: consumed tonight! I must be in deep water after that scouser comment on the HB thread too o:) ) Guess my Comm Tern is the wrong un.

As Homer Simpson said: ‘if somethings difficult to do then it’s obviously not worth doing’ :h?:
So I’m off to bed. :bounce:
Will try again tomorrow unless u r right Michael

[Jane Turner]

Its my hand in all but the last bird in the hand... so I got pretty close to them... I'm not perfect, I do make mistakes, but I guarantee the ID of 1 and 3... is correct. 5 caused no end of debate, argument and eventual back tracking.

No one ever did find the Boney's in that gull flock btw! I swear it was there when the camera went off.

[Highway Man]

Spectacled Warbler
Arctic Tern
River Warbler
Red-backed Shrike
Marsh Warbler

Can't stick around, to find out how wrong I am, I'll be late for work.

Mark

[Joern Lehmhus]

Hi , coming in late , did not look at the answers, honestly

I would give you the following for round one
Greater sandplover
Wheatear
gulbilled tern? maybe medgull and a whiskered tern from left to right
(Reminds me of the albufera de valencia where I saw these together this spring...)
Oops-that has a pointed tail-a sandgrouse (Pallas, Ithink)
Black wheatear

Second round
Spectacled warbler? but whats that red on the wing?
common Tern
Thrush nightingale
Isabelline shrike
Acrocephalus, but I dont know which

now I gonna look at your answers-to find out mine are all wrong...LBJ s for me is perhaps like ducks for you , Jane...though you would probably do better, having seen a lot I only dream of.

[Andrew Whitehouse]

1) Spectacled Warbler
2) Arctic Tern
3) Thrush Nightingale (what's with the white in the tail though?)
4) Red-backed Shrike
5) Reed Warbler

[Jasonbirder]

I know what you mean about 3. I thought about Pallas` Gropper - but its just not streaky is it!

[Jane Turner]

: that means one of my birds must be wrong – as long as the initial ID is correct of course (sorry Jane, only joking, lots of vino tinto B (: B (: consumed tonight! I must be in deep water after that scouser comment on the HB thread too o:) ) Guess my Comm Tern is the wrong un.

As Homer Simpson said: ‘if somethings difficult to do then it’s obviously not worth doing’ :h?:
So I’m off to bed. :bounce:
Will try again tomorrow unless u r right Michael


Even if I have got one wrong... as long as I stick to my guns, your logic will work :cool:

Of the last batch, two is the best.

[Jane Turner]

Now for a big clue. The birds in the hand were all photographed in Hoylake, Merseyside (despite the Chester Post code Tim).

Bird three was caught at the same time as bird 1 and is protographed in the same light.

[Jane Turner]

I am off to hospital in a bit.. so here is a final clue. All the birds in the hand are warblers.

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Number 3 might well be a Garden Warbler.

[Harry Hussey]

1)Whitethroat
2)Common Tern
3)Garden Warbler
4)Red-backed Shrike
5)Booted Warbler(though it looks nothing like one,but then Blyth's Reed and Eastern Olly would seem to have been incorrect:looks most like former to me)
Harry H

[Jasonbirder]

Last stab...some of the more recent "clues" have only confused me more...
1. Subalpine Warbler (can`t be Spectacled because of location)
2. Common Tern
3. River Warbler??? (Just doesn`t like like a Garden Warbler to me)
4. Isabelline Shrike
5. Reed Warbler (can`t be Blyths Reed on location again - part of me is tempted by Melodious Warbler - if there was only a hint of green colour to it!)

[Joern Lehmhus]

whitethroat
common tern
grasshopper warbler
isabelline shrike
reed warbler

mabe way out, but i hope its better

[Michael Frankis]

Cetti's for #3?

[Joern Lehmhus]

Aargh-why didn´t I think of that one?!!

You may well have hit it, Michael

[Swift]

1.Whitethoat
2.Arctic Tern
3.Cettis Warbler
4.Red Backed Shrike
5.Marsh Warbler

[Jane Turner]

Harry has nailed the main 4 once more.

1. Whitethroat... but a strange one. Possibly icterops, but to be honest probably not. Its a 1st summer male anyhow.

2. Common Tern, Juv - 1st winter in Santander harbour, Spain

3. Is the bird than confuses most experienced birders when shown to the in the hand. Its just a Garden Warbler and photographed in similarly red light to the Whitethroat.

4. I a Juv, freshly fledged Red-Backed Shrike. I was hoping the reddness of the tail and the presence of down might convince a few people it was a juv Issy, which does have a little bit more barring on the mantle than the jobs we get here I believe.

5. Well there is a story to 5. ..... a long one.

Any more guesses before I spill the beans

[Jane Turner]

Bird number 5 was caught at Red Rocks while I was on Holiday.. hang on I'll get out the ringing records and get this bang on... on Sept 4th 1975. I actually wish I could go back and see it, it looks like one hell of a bird.

It was the only unstreaked acro caught that year, well except the Great-reed Warbler caught in May ;) Several very experienced birder and ringers measured the bird up and pronounced that it was Cheshire's first Marsh Warbler, a first winter. Let's be honest with a wing forumla to match Marsh and that grey/olive colour, who would argue?

The following spring the bird was retrapped, not in Worcestershire in a patch of rank nettles, but on the Dee. Actually at Shotton Steelworks, in a large Phragmites reed-bed. The ringers there thought nothing of it and processed it as a Reed Warbler. As though to rub the point in, that bird was retrapped for a further 7 years, setting I believe the longevity record for Reed Warbler.


I wonder if it was a fuscus displaced in its first autumn? Unfortunately it was not photograhed in later captures.

[Joern Lehmhus]

Again I did mix up the english names I thought of the bird you call river warbler, and had the wrong name in my head -grasshopper warbler-
Well it wouldn´t have amounted to anything-I was wrong nevertheless...
I suppose there s no easy trick for learning the enlglish names...

[Jane Turner]

Stay with Gernrman an make us worth harder ;)

How does German work for abbreviations?

Eg If I were lucky enough to stumble across a Lanceolated Warbler Locustella lanceolata rather than shout out the mouthfull "Lanceolated Warbler" I'd say "Lancie"...actually I'd probably mumble a incoherent string of expletives if past history is any guide!

[Jane Turner]

German even .... ;)

[Joern Lehmhus]

No, I´d like to know the English names also, sometimes they are much more nicer, for example for the Anas ducks.

But some things are really confusing, eg. in the gulls

Heringsmöwe is Lesser Blackbacked Gull (Larus fuscus)
Silbermöwe is Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)

Mediterranean Gull is Schwarzkopfmöwe (translated,that means black-headed gull) (Larus Melanocephalus)
Lachmöwe is Blackheaded Gull (Larus ridibundus) (Lachen is laughing in German)
Yellowlegged Gull is Mittelmeermöwe (L. michahellis) ( Mittelmeer meaning Mediterranean Sea)
And your Laughing gull is Larus atricilla-Atztekenmöwe in German

You see the chaos... ;)

I just need some of these afterwards B (: B (: B (:

[Joern Lehmhus]

Ah yes, and if I remember correctly, the bird we call Ohrentaucher (That would translate as Eared Grebe) is your Horned grebe....