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

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  1. H

    Gull ID, please

    Any photos showing the spread wing? Based on structure compared to the bird behind, I'd lean more towards it being another Short-billed Gull, but the spread wing pattern could be invaluable.
  2. H

    Savi's Warbler or Cetti’s Warbler?

    It's got those typical curved outer primaries seen on some Locustella species, too, which nightingales don't show.
  3. H

    Yellow-legged gulls, Nottinghamshire, UK, Aug 2021

    Hi James, It is always good to be cautious with large gulls, but, in this case, I really think that these birds are all adult type Yellow-legged Gulls. Upperparts tone, the nature and extent of the head streaking, long legs, flat crowns, the full chest of the right hand bird in image 2, long...
  4. H

    Marks on immature Yellow-legged Gull

    Very interesting to see these marks on Yellow-legged Gulls and Caspian Gull. Here in Ireland, I most associate them with Lesser Black-backed Gull, with Yellow-legged Gulls often standing out due to lacking them, among other features. I imagine they must be rarer in that species. Obviously, I...
  5. H

    Is it a Larus glaucoides thayeri ?

    I'm not contradicting Lou here, he may well be correct and I can see definite appeal for Thayer's Gull, but I am somehow perplexed by the slightly 'pitbull terrier' little eye, which may suggest Glaucous-winged Gull influence somewhere along the line? That, and, while I don't remember the exact...
  6. H

    Caspian, Yellow Legged and Herring Gulls

    Mediterranean Gulls are locally 'common' nowadays, with a growing breeding population even, but, as recently as the 1970s, when it had become a scarce but regular visitor to Britain, it was still a rarity in Ireland. Given the current westward push of breeding Caspian Gulls, they may be expected...
  7. H

    L. cachinnans?

    Hi Frubecula, I can see why this bird might give a Caspian Gull impression, but, for me, this is a 2nd-winter Yellow-legged Gull. The bill shape, leg colour, apparent lack of white mirror on P10 based on the underside of the far wing (but some Caspians lack this) all suggest that species...
  8. H

    Caspian, Yellow Legged and Herring Gulls

    While I agree with you insomuch as Caspian Gull is under-recorded here in Ireland...due to a combination of low observer numbers, identification issues and many birders just not really putting in effort looking at large gulls...the species is also rare in, say, SW England, Wales and so on. We...
  9. H

    Woodpeckers causing power outages in Ireland

    The origin of our breeding stock was proven genetically to be the British population alright.
  10. H

    Woodpeckers causing power outages in Ireland

    The dangerous thing about tripe like this is that some people will believe it, and call for a cull or something. They're still very thin on the ground in terms of population density in most of their range here, like you'd have to go out of your way or get lucky to see one in Cork.
  11. H

    Lagos, Portugal, Gull with grey legs

    Hi Sunbird24, Absolutely a Yellow-legged Gull for me, for reasons given by Alexander. Here are some photos of a bird with even duller legs, though, admittedly, this is a subadult bird (4CY type). Taken very recently in Cork city, Ireland. Regards...
  12. H

    Warbler SW Turkey June

    Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, both song and calls heard in the clip. Very nice!
  13. H

    Gulls from Galapagos

    Are there any flight images of the first two birds? While I agree that the head patterns do seem more like that of a non-breeding Franklin's Gull, there are some features that give me cause for concern, including the lack of pale fringes to the innermost visible primaries at least, the bill...
  14. H

    Which pipit- Istanbul

    I agree with Tote. Note, among other features, the short hind claw, thin flank streaking, ear covert spot and the contrast between a buffish ground colour to the breast and whiter ground colour to the belly and flanks.
  15. H

    Tringa sp. , Sofia area, Bulgaria

    Surely this is a Common Greenshank with yellower legs than usual? Everything else fits.
  16. H

    Ortolan or Cretzschmar's Bunting (Southern Israel - September)

    The tertial pattern excludes Grey-necked. I'd need to check the literature to separate autumn Ortolan and Cretzschmar's, though.
  17. H

    Little Gull?

    Hi Victor, For future reference, note the head and bill shape, and also the lack of a dark trailing edge to the secondaries. Also, when you do see a Little Gull, they are truly tiny! We do get a few in Cork, but your best bet in Ireland is the Wicklow coast during onshore winds, as...
  18. H

    Gull from Roumania!

    Hi Pál, While I can see where Ken is coming from with regard to image number 3, what looks like a very long primary projection is, in fact, due to a sitting gull in the background. The same darker-mantled bird present in the foreground, and in all of the other images, is tricky from these...
  19. H

    Herring Gull or Vega Gull or just an Oly Gull

    I really don't buy this as a Slaty-backed Gull, or any of the other possible vagrant contenders mentioned. I haven't seen an 'Olympic Gull', but the head structure, dark iris etc seem very reminiscent of Glaucous-winged Gull, plus the upperparts and primaries are too dark for that species. My...
  20. H

    Latest IOC Diary Updates

    A bird now accepted as a mongolus ('Siberian Plover'), at the Don Estuary in 1991, was originally identified as a Greater Sandplover, and accepted as such by BBRC, but the features of this species are more established nowadays. I do seem to recall that maybe an atrifrons was incorrectly...
  21. H

    Great reads for birders!

    When I read Birdwatchingwatching, I had no idea of who Alex Horne was, other than he was a comedian I'd not seen on TV at that stage. Of course, his career took off, deservedly, afterwards. Apparently he still looks at birds, if his Twitter bio is to be believed. Maybe he's even on Birdforum (if...
  22. H

    Campaign to standardise the capitalising of English names of species

    Hi all, This recent gem from a report of a Tundra Bean Goose on an Irish birding website neatly illustrates the perils of lower case, I think: '1 ad. with pink feet in mobile flock between Whitehouse cross and Iveco garage. Flocks mobile and wary. All left area at about 14.00.' Reading it...
  23. H

    Ring-billed gull - Bulgaria

    Hi Peter, Many thanks for your comprehensive analysis. While I have no experience brachyrhynchus or kamtschatschensis, and effectively none of heinei (a handful on range at distance in Kazakhstan and a very distant 1st cycle in Oman), and I don't even see the sheer number of individual...
  24. H

    Gull help needed

    One difference between large gulls and redpolls is that, with a few notable exceptions (the whole Thayer's/Kumlien's/Iceland conundrum, for example), a lot of large gulls breed in areas where lots of ornithologists and field birders live. Thus, even leaving aside instances of hybridisation/gene...
  25. H

    Gull help needed

    Core ranges, yes, but what would stop a vagrant smithsonianus from breeding with a European Herring Gull? On a population level, yes, you are correct that the two species don't 'mix' as in there is no overlap zone where both breed, but gene flow is still possible, of course, at least occasionally.
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