• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Search results

thxpress_search_the_forum Search Opus
  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.
  4. P

    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...
  5. P

    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...
  6. P

    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...
  7. P

    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...
  8. P

    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.
  9. P

    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...
  11. P

    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.
  12. P

    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...
  13. P

    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...
  14. P

    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...
  15. P

    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...
  16. P

    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    I understand that is your opinion but unless you can back it up with evidence then it isn’t persuasive. In post #14 I quoted evidence (numerous ringing recoveries) that Scandinavian birds migrate across Europe in a relatively narrow direct corridor, but there is very little evidence of...
  17. P

    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    I don’t think anyone is dismissing the 202,000 seen over Portskewett, Gwent as local dispersal, but they could all be British birds – our breeding population is 5.3 million pairs, add on juveniles and you could easily have over 15 million Wood Pigeons in November. Swedish radar studies were...
  18. P

    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    The observatories don’t see them in any real numbers e.g. Spurn and Fair Isle records do not support the idea of anything other than occasional, relatively small scale immigration of continental Wood Pigeons. Bear in mind that Wood Pigeons are day flying migrants so you are very unlikely to get...
  19. P

    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    As I understand it there isn't evidence of any real numbers of continental birds coming here or British birds reaching the continent. But I'll happily admit I'm a novice in terms of Wood Pigeon movements, so any evidence to the contrary would be interesting. The Migration Atlas describes British...
  20. P

    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    There's plenty of discussion about these Wood Pigeon movements and much still to be learned, but there appears to be minimal involvement of continental birds. V few of the large numbers seen here end up making a sea crossing, either to the continent or to Ireland. The limited evidence seems to...
  21. P

    Woodpigeons Autumn 2014

    There have indeed been some very large Wood Pigeon movements in the last few days, including a British record 202,000 past Portskewtt, Gwent on 5th November. More details on the visible migration website, Trektellen:- http://www.trektellen.nl/trektelling.asp?telpost=1562
  22. P

    Birdwatching near Peniche

    Pedro, huge thanks for those spots - I will certainly try them and let you know how I get on. Thanks again Paul Doherty
  23. P

    Birdwatching near Peniche

    Pedro, many thanks for the extra information. I'll see how I get on, though as you said it's a bad time of year. If all else fails then I can spend some time with the gulls in Peniche harbour and perhaps I'll be lucky and there will be some seabirds off Cabo Carvoeiro.
  24. P

    Birdwatching near Peniche

    Many thanks for all the suggestions. I realise it's a bad time of year, but it's a family holiday, though I'm free to go out birding every morning. Pedro where is the spot with two hides? If it's in the Portugal birdfinding guide then I've already ordered a copy of that. Thanks again.
  25. P

    Birdwatching near Peniche

    I'm going to be staying near Peniche from 6th to 16th July and would welcome any suggestions for good birding spots within about 50 km of the town. I've got the use of a hire car and would mostly be going out in the early morning. Any suggestions are very welcome, especially places where photos...
Back
Top