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

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  1. Biancone

    Which owl owned this feather? N Appenines, Italy

    Found on a wooded mountain track today. Have no references to hand and wonder if anyone can put a name to this? Total length, c 16 cms, width 4.5 cms. Guess Asio otus would be prime suspect, or conceivably Bubo? Thanks for any help.
  2. Biancone

    Common Buzzard size relative to Golden Eagle

    The size of Common Buzzard relative to Golden Eagle very often arises when discussing the identification of a "large" raptor in flight in UK uplands. A couple of weeks ago I was photographing a young Golden Eagle (in the northern Apennines, Italy), very distant and veiled in a haze of humidity...
  3. Biancone

    Candidate Northern Goshawk (July, N Apennines, Italy): opinions sought

    I've got a bit of a puzzle. A couple of days ago (17 July 2018) I was overlooking a wooded valley in the northern Apennines looking primarily for Honey-buzzards in flight. Just after noon I spotted a raptor as it rose above the skyline, then a second below it. The first was certainly a...
  4. Biancone

    Owl pellet (August 2017, N Apennines, Italy)

    The attached image shows what I think is an owl pellet. After a bit of Googling I've a suspicion which species was responsible but I'd be grateful if anyone could give an opinion based on personal knowledge. I found it on 12 August this year on a south-facing mountain slope, with bare rock...
  5. Biancone

    Guia de rapinyaires de Catalunya

    Just wondering if anyone has got or seen a copy of this book? Publisher's page HERE. The cover photo looks pretty stunning, but I'm curious about the rest of the contents. Apologies if this has already been discussed on BF but I couldn't find any mention. Brian
  6. Biancone

    Goshawk flight feathers: age of bird? (N Italy, June 2017)

    Not certain which is the most appropriate section to post this... Is anyone able to tell me if these feathers are from a 2cy female (ie. are aged juvenile feathers) or an adult? I don't really know if that is possible. I know they are Goshawk feathers, and I assume they are from a female...
  7. Biancone

    Goshawk nest cam, Riga

    Just a reminder that this continues to be a source of information about (urban) Goshawks, and of amazing images. The last of four eggs in this year's clutch was laid on 1st April. Earlier footage, much of it represented by images on the forum, images show one or other of the adults...
  8. Biancone

    Goshawk dies in suspicious circumstances at Sandringham

    The news item HERE was posted on local bird club forum this morning. Brian
  9. Biancone

    Identity of Goshawk prey? Italy, 1st August 2016

    Identity of ... Message removed, error too embarrassing
  10. Biancone

    Excellent Goshawk nest cam, Riga

    It offended my sense of order to refer to a webcam stream from Latvia under a misleading title ("Brilliant Estonian Webcams") so a new thread seemed appropriate. As mentioned previously the video stream is available HERE. This appears to be a live feed not a standard YouTube video clip, so I...
  11. Biancone

    Goshawk feather remains: detectives needed

    I recently (29 July) found some feather remains of an almost fully fledged Goshawk Accipiter gentilis (thanks to Peter Sunesen for confirming the ID). Some feathers show distinctive damage and I wonder if it is feasible to reconstruct what might have befallen the youngster. The remains were...
  12. Biancone

    Flight feather: which Accipiter? (Apennines, Italy, 29.vii.2015)

    The feather in the image was loose under the remains of the 'hand' (left wing) of what I'm pretty sure was an accipiter (is that much correct?). The vane proper is about 16 cms long and the entire shaft (broken at base?) is about 20 cms. I'm certain it is from the same species as the 'hand'...
  13. Biancone

    The Goshawk and the Dormouse

    (north Apennines, two weeks ago...) The Honey-buzzards having all gone south, I was out for an end-of-season walk in the woods with nothing special in mind beyond the ever-present desire to get a good long look at a Goshawk. The odds are very much against this. Goshawk breed here, but they...
  14. Biancone

    Raptor feather, woods, N Italy

    I'm wondering if the former owner of the feather shown is a Short-toed Eagle. Symmetry suggests a tail feather. Overall length is 23.5cms (9 and one quarter ins). The very tip has some white remaining. The dark spots rather then bars confuse me but they could help ID? Must be a medium-large...
  15. Biancone

    Raptor feather, woods, N Italy

    Hi. I'd appreciate informed opinion on the source of the feather in the attached image. It was picked up a week ago in low beech forest in the Apennine foothills of Piacenza Province, Italy. Overall length is about 13.5 cms, with the barbed section about 10 cms long. The under surface...
  16. Biancone

    More Honey-buzzard info

    Not sure if this is bad form, but could I let any other Honey-buzzard fetishists out there know that there are a couple of new posts they might find interesting on my blog: one on the first fledged juvenile in my locality, and one on a Honey feeding at a wasps nest. Thanks!
  17. Biancone

    Common Buzzard sees off Golden Eagle!!

    Common Buzzards Buteo buteo seem to have a reputation among some for being a bit 'soft'. Well, not the one I saw today. I was on top of a long rocky spur in the northern Apennines (Italy), amid a jumble of wooded hills and peaks, hoping to see the local Honey-buzzards (my blog should be updated...
  18. Biancone

    Any point shooting RAW with superzoom?

    Proper photographers (I am not one) bang on about the merits of RAW. I currently use a Panasonic FZ45 superzoom to record raptors in the field. Given the distances involved, I look at most of my images at 100% actual pixels. The image quality results are always technically mediocre, but I...
  19. Biancone

    Marsh Harrier 'skydancing'

    Although I've seen glimpses of Marsh Harrier display before, until the past week I had never seen full-on "sky-dancing" before. And that's not to say I haven't tried. Got to be one of the most dramatic and beautiful events I've ever seen. This was yesterday... The female appeared low over...
  20. Biancone

    Honey Buzzard: chasing pigeons and dragonflies??

    Occasionally over the winter I've been ferreting around in old bird literature available online (mainly 19th C, and English language only), looking for info that is still of interest today (some of which I've posted on my HB blog). On diet and foraging, it's clear that the Honey-buzzard has...
  21. Biancone

    Honey-buzzard: new blog

    Just like to let people know I've started a blog about Honey-buzzard (European). The first post is about ID, specifically on how to distinguish Honey-buzzard from Common Buzzard. It's written from the perspective of a long-term (four decades!) intermittent birder, who has always been fascinated...
  22. Biancone

    Peregrine hovering??!!

    I was standing on a ridge in the northern Apennines (Italy) today, enjoying a sublime landscape of wooded mountains and upland meadows bathed in late afternoon sunlight, with the wind like ice in my left ear, when a small dark falcon cut across the ridge in front of me. I assumed it was a...
  23. Biancone

    Honey Buzzard moult question

    Some of the Honey Buzzards I've been seeing lately (northern Appennines, Italy) have looked in many ways like the usual field guide illustrations, but in some cases (I think at least three individuals) the underwing shows a dark section in the angle of 'hand' and 'arm'. It's hard to define the...
  24. Biancone

    Griffon vultures in Italy: another vagrant record

    I saw the post by Marcus Jais in this section dated 15 June the day after returning from a trip to Italy. The post links to a review of the status of vultures in Italy which noted that the Griffon Gyps fulvus had long been extinct on the mainland. I've been birding from time to time in...
  25. Biancone

    Honey Buzzard wing-clapping: a misnomer?

    Finally managed to catch several decent sequences of Honey Buzzard display (late May-early June, northern Apennines, Italy) and I'm wondering why so many sources call it "wing-clapping"? The birds I saw would do something like a Common Buzzard 'roller-coaster' (once with ten peaks!!) but with...
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