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

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  1. chowchilla

    Name a Bird You've Photographed

    I don't even know what this means. I give up on BF.
  2. chowchilla

    Name a Bird You've Photographed

    Except that you are being picky. Fine, I've deleted it.
  3. chowchilla

    Birding holidays not requiring car

    I never hired guides in Kenya, though a free guide called Leonard (who may well be long gone) took people out on bird walks from the Kakamega Forest rest house. His eyes were incredible and he found stuff without bins! Any info I give you on Lake Naivasha is 30 years+ old, as I know the...
  4. chowchilla

    Birding holidays not requiring car

    It's way back in 1990, but I birded Kenya without a car over six weeks. I based myself in Nairobi and used trains to access the coast and Kisumu on Lake Victoria. I then used local buses and matatus to get to places along the coast and from Kisumu up to the Kakamega Forest. I also used buses to...
  5. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    Thank you so much!
  6. chowchilla

    Pipit ID, 3rd September, St Mary's, Scilly.

    That's useful to know as it was a sticking point in the discussion between the other birders at the time. Yep, I figured as much. Still... worth getting some feedback just to be sure! Thanks everyone!
  7. chowchilla

    Pipit ID, 3rd September, St Mary's, Scilly.

    This is the only other (utter garbage) pic I have of the bird, if it's any help.
  8. chowchilla

    Pipit ID, 3rd September, St Mary's, Scilly.

    Ah right, yeah I can see where you're coming from. My pathological dislike of pipits comes back to curse me time and again, hence why I've never studied them in any great depth. Of course if the birds had called, that would have clinched it as well - I do at least know my calls. EDIT: OK, I can...
  9. chowchilla

    Pipit ID, 3rd September, St Mary's, Scilly.

    Thank you! The two Meadow Pipit IDers were very confident it was a Meadow, but I remained doubtful. I've sat on it for weeks. Any other thoughts, folks?
  10. chowchilla

    Pipit ID, 3rd September, St Mary's, Scilly.

    This pipit (along with a second bird) were reported as Red-throated Pipit, within spitting distance of my house in Normandy. One local birder was convinced they were; but two others quickly dismissed them as Meadow Pipits. I'm inclined to believe the latter, but as you can see, the reddish...
  11. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    Two Honey Buzzards were reported over Cornwall. It had been a slow day bird-wise and I went for my usual walk. As I headed down into Holy Vale en route to the Longstone cafe for a caffeine pitstop, I mused on the Red Kite influx. Amongst those kites had been a Honey Buzzard, which of course I'd...
  12. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    This'll be a quick one. Call came through of a Red-backed Shrike at the junction of the main Telegraph Road and the road to Longstone. Now, we get RB Shrikes on a pretty regular basis on the islands (I found an immature bird near the turning circle of the airport only the other day), but the...
  13. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    Hot on the heels of the Red-footed Booby... was another booby! This time, a Brown Booby turned up - in exactly the same place as the previous bird: the Bishop Rock Lighthouse. On a tiny rock several kilometres from the main group of islands that we know as Scilly were a pair of boobies. Yes, I...
  14. chowchilla

    Atherton scrubwren? Curtain fig tree, Queensland, Australia

    They certainly occur at higher altitudes such as Hypipamee and Mt Lewis, and those are good places to study the differences when you get a good view of one.
  15. chowchilla

    Atherton scrubwren? Curtain fig tree, Queensland, Australia

    Indeed. I've had scrubwrens there in the past that had me wondering. Remember, this is a species we didn't even know existed until recently. They can be pretty cryptic, and I have speculated that people typically 'default' to the one that is supposed to be there, as it were.
  16. chowchilla

    Atherton scrubwren? Curtain fig tree, Queensland, Australia

    The default scrubwren at Curtain Fig Tree is the Large-billed Scrubwren. I've speculated on the presence of Atherton Scrubwren at this site myself in the past, but haven't had it confirmed.
  17. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    So a Red-footed Booby turned up in the vicinity of Scilly. This is old news now, but then I am waaaay behind with the news. If my memory serves me correctly, the bird was first seen from one of the pelagics. The bird settled into life on the Bishop Rock Lighthouse which lies immediately SW of...
  18. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    So I deleted my last post. This was a personal decision as I read it back and decided that a few people would take it the wrong way and make even more trouble for me. It's out there, but no longer on permanent record. I'll just carry right on with my diary!
  19. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    That's settled then. I have some catching up to do! So, a couple of months back, several Bee Eaters turned up on St Mary's. It feels like so long ago, that I can't even remember how many of them there were! I arrived at the Southern end of the Lower Moors only to spot two other birders perusing...
  20. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    Thank you! Indeed - and I'm not inclined to chase everything, like the stressheads I see doing Big Years. Watching them is like watching a nervous breakdown in slow motion. I will win some, and I will lose some - such is life.
  21. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    Wow! Thank you, folks! Seriously was not expecting that. I'd sort of given up on this thread for a good while and wasn't planning to add to it, but it would seem that I may have acted in haste. That is so kind! I'm pitching two novels to agents as I write this, as I would like to be a...
  22. chowchilla

    A Scilly Diary.

    I've thought long and hard whether to continue this diary. I will continue if there is interest, but suffice it to say, things have gotten interesting here... First up was a Night Heron that I found myself at Porth Hellick. I got onto it as it descended into the high trees of Holy Vale. I've...
  23. chowchilla

    Help ID this bird. NSW Australia

    Aus' blackbirds always looked to me like they had bigger bills. Could be a bit of selection pressure on an isolated population, mebs. I hadn't noticed colour variations, but that's not to say they don't exist there.
  24. chowchilla

    Raptor ID please. Merlin? Lincolnshire UK today

    Yes, it's a Merlin.
  25. chowchilla

    Unknown song, Southwest UK

    I hear stonechats calling every day here in Scilly, pretty much, and the contact call sounds bang on. The snatch of song is a bit stranger, but could certainly be one as well.
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