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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recent content by PaulD

  1. P

    Anyone else like Birds AND planes?

    Many thanks. For three days in a row recently it was flying around just south of York.
  2. P

    Anyone else like Birds AND planes?

    Can anyone identify this aircraft for me?
  3. P

    What should the Sound Approach do next

    Excellent idea - the subject of passerine flight ID gets little coverage, but if you are into visible migration it's a fascinating and often frustrating challenge.
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    Complaints against the RSPB rejected (RSPB)

    I also emailed them and asked when they would be updating the website to show the response from the Charity Commission. I haven't received, nor do I expect to get, a response. If you follow the links to the Charity Commission ruling their conclusion is:- "Conclusion The concern we raised...
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    Brownfield wasteland ?

    The problem is that the government have altered the planning system so that there is a presumption in favour of sustainable development (ie developments go ahead unless there are strong reasons why they shouldn't, rather than developments only go ahead if there are strong reasons why they...
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    Complaints against the RSPB rejected (RSPB)

    It's worth following the links to read the documents, but I will quote from the closing remarks of the Charities Commission to the Countryside Alliance who made the complaint:- "Your central complaint is that the RSPB has misused data and made unfounded allegations in their Birdcrime Report...
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    Good or bad PR?

    Colin A link earlier in this discussion noted that "A recent study in the US that looked at mortality of birds during ringing activities (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2041-210X.2011.00123.x/pdf), which they quantified at 0.23%. There are c. 1.2 million birds ringed in the US...
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    Good or bad PR?

    If you have concerns about the usefulness of bird ringing then I would suggest the article "Is bird ringing still necessary" by Ian Newton in the October 2014 issue of British Birds (BB 107:572-574) is worth reading.
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    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    There are similar observations in Birds of Yorkshire by Nelson (1907), but I would be wary about placing too much reliance on them. In Birds of Cleveland (2008) Martin Blick wrote that since Nelson's time "About 420 flew inland over Seal Sands on 4 November 1975 but were not actually seen to...
  10. P

    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    Thanks for pointing out the error Steve. It should read "recovered in Spain traced back to their country of ringing". I'll try and edit that. Agreed that the birds don't have to fly along the connecting lines, but it confirms that the virtual lack of Norwegian and Danish ringing recoveries in...
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    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    I suspect that this thread has become circular in nature so I'm content to leave it there. I can add one snippet of evidence - a chart from the Spanish ringing website which shows birds recovered in Spain traced back to their country of ringing.
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    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    John I envy your confidence in saying that what is happening is pretty obvious. If you look for positive evidence of continental Wood Pigeons then there is very little available. Why are there so few coastal falls/arrivals? The only ones mentioned in this discussion are Fair Isle in spring...
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    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    I am happy to accept that the British ringing records don't “gel” with field observations; perhaps this is as John suggested an illustration of the limitations of bird ringing. However I share with the authors of the Bird Atlas a belief that what exactly is happening with British and continental...
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    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    If you are happy that the only plausible explanation for the large numbers of Wood Pigeons migrating over Britain in the autumn is an influx of continental birds then fine, but I will have to disagree. We have a breeding population of 5.3 million pairs so the autumn population is probably over...
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    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    There are various problems with what you suggest and I’ll detail the most obvious ones:- 1. Migrating Wood Pigeons average speeds of 60 km/hr (see the Swedish study I referenced above). With that speed a bird leaving the Danish coast at dawn in late Oct/early Nov will reach the English coast...
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