Good questions Steppe Grey Shrike is a full species, Amur falcon is treated by most authorities as full and Black eared Kite by some but not all. Amur falcon and Black eared Kite although they have been seen in Britian haven't been accepted yet by the BOURC so they don't have an opinion on their species rank. When they get round to accepting them then they will decide which authority to follow and what they class them as, personally I would expect them to be considered full when the time comes. The Pacific Diver is a similar case in point.

All a bit irrelevent in the case of the Swillington Gull tho its a Herring Gull, probably of northern origin, i.e subpecies argentatus.

G

;)

Anybody here have any info on the White Stork around Ossett ?
I notice RBA have not commented on its origins but BG have it as esc, although today 2 further birds have also been reported in Cambs & Suffolk.

cheers
jason

BOU recognised Pacific Diver as a full species in the 5th Report of the Taxonomic sub-committee, Ibis (2008), 150: p 833, as they needed to establish Black-throated Diver is a separate species

They have not yet announced their verdict on the Farnham bird.

As soon as they do, and it will surely be positive, there is no problem wondering whether it is a full species or not...it is.

Likely to be a bird that has wandered from Harewood. I'm afraid any West Yorkshire White Stork doesn't stand a chance.

It could just be one of the birds that attempted to breed near there a couple of years back and has returned - unlikely though. If so it will be ringed, and these were iffy anyhow.

Not much point going for it to be honest unless you just want to see a WS in a wild environment, even if it has poor credentials.

Steve I thought at least one of the Horbury birds from a couple of years ago had pukka credentials? Ringed in France as a pullus wasn't it? I know the other bird was a bit iffy... escaped from a collection somewhere.

Chris, were it to be a Kumlein's I'd leave it alone rather than tick it as an Iceland, as they are generally regarded as hybrids, so it could equally claim to have Thayer's genes rendering it untickable.

The Steppe Grey sails straight on to the list as a full species.

Tick the Black-eared Kite as a race of Black kite for listing purposes. A race not a hybrid group.

Just got to wait with the Amur......in my case for the next one. Regarded as a species in its own right, but awaiting BOURC decision.

Had a female siskin in the garden this afternoon

Well, as you say one was an escape, from a Belgian park from memory.

The other one was found in France in an emaciated condition, nursed back to health and released. I'd still be worried about this "pukka" bird for three reasons:

1) If emaciated did it stay in the north instead of migrating south - I'm guessing it was found at the wrong time of year aftar a cold snap - suggests the radar is off - suggests Dutch reintroduction?

2) The fact it was happy to breed in Horbury Wyke of all places - radar completely gone - again reintroduction scheme rather than normal instincts - especially when shacked up with an escaped northern wanderer?

3) How tickable is it if it's been held captive and nursed back to health?

I'd perhaps concede the latter if everything else appeared to fit (as I'd have ticked the Yellow-nosed A.), but it certainly didn't immediately fall in to the category of genuine wild bird. I think if it had, more would have been done to leave them to breed. I think a "they're escapes anyway" mentality was adopted. I'd love to be proven wrong on its credentials.

Kumlein's - Swilly
 

Have two birds been involved over the past week or so, or is this latest sighting that Garry is dismissing the same bird?

Amur Falcon is a full species, black-eared kite is contentious and steppe grey shrike is probably a full species but is definitely a tick as southern grey shrike as it stands. North American large gulls are a horrible complex that is horribly complex.

Here's a good website for Yankee gulls http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/...6181/gulls.htm
Kumlien's is in the hybrid section

I guess gulls aren't so black and white after all, the picture of the dubious gull is an older picture and not from when I was there. It was pointed out to me and it didn't look anything other than a young gull, I just took their word for it. It didn't look to have any darkish parts to it so I'm not convinced it's the gull in the pic. Happy enough to concede Kumlien's. I'll just stick to the obvious.

Lawts,
There was a 2nd cal yr bird a few weeks ago which I didn't see and haven't seen any pics of so can't comment on the id of that bird, and now this bird tyhat was reported on Tues (I think) which from the pics is clearly a 3rd cal yr herring Gull.

G

Is it just me or is the Spurn website down at the moment?

Seems to be just you! Is your Friends of Spurn subscription overdue? :t:

Whats seems to be the problem with it John?

G

Quote taken from Swillington's website
"In case anyone was wondering about Paul Morris’ question above, this was posted earlier today on Birdguides: Kumlien’s Gull, Swillington Ings juvenile and a juvenile Iceland Gull on the causeway at St. Aidan’s Lake viewed from the river bank near Shan House Bridge."

I could still have been looking at an Iceland rather than the Herring, that photo is a month old.
Not really bothered, it's not a life or death competition and I'm not going to lose sleep over something like this. I do what I do for my own enjoyment and not to outdo or impress other people so the gull is now scratched. :)

Just getting a blank screen, must be my pc

Tut! tut! Naughty boy ;)

Think it must be everything checks out ok.

G

Chris,
Why do you think the photo is a month old? Paul posted to say there are pics on the site of the bird, its slightly contradictory in that the birdguides text says juvenile and the pics show a 3rd cal yr bird. Is there some suggestion that this is not the bird reported or that you saw???
I seem to remember it was on the pager as 2nd winter so that would fit with the age of the bird in the pic.

G

G'day.
I think chris is looking at the wrong photo's, the gull in question is the one's with the caption more gull's . As with birdguides i think they posted the age of the gull incorrectlly.
This gull was dismissed as a herring gull when the photo's were posted on the site, by the more experienced swilly birder's, i have been informed this morning.

Cheer's P.

That's the reason why I was looking at the wrong picture, my post wasn't supposed to come accross as petulant but there's a good month between the picture and last week. With half a dozen of the bird group there I had no reason to doubt their judgement and I did ask if they were sure they had the ID right.
Like I mentioned I've scrapped it and it's no big deal.
Chris.

Chris, wasn't an Iceland present as well? Anyway don't worry too much, I'm sure a few nights on the Astley roost and you'll easily clock an Iceland, which is better than a Kumlein's for listing anyday.