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

ID? please (1 Viewer)

pie

Well-known member
Hello All,
I would be grateful for a 2nd opinion on these 2 birds.
So far the suggestions have been, pic 1&2 (same bird) Willow Warbler.
pic3 Chiff Chaff. Others have suggested both birds Chiff Chaff.

Bird 1 pic 1&2 woodland location
Bird 2 pic 3 reedbed.

Many Thanks
 

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Yeah, I'd agree. When were the pics taken Pie? It's not impossible that you've found an early Willow, but it's more likely that they're Chiffchaffs at this time of year.
 
At least two willow warblers are already back in the Leeds area and at the first subject bird has pale legs. That said, it's got a Chiffchaff's face and primary projection seems fairly short. I don't know what these are and would suggest you need a fair amount of experience to call either of these birds with any certainty.

Graham
 
based on ID features alone, the leg colour is a bit pale (red due to sun shining through?), but not Willow Warbler pale (of course, dark legged Willows do happen also, so cant be conclusive). This, plus the the short prim. projection, and I'd be fairly happy with these being Chiffers.


bitterntwisted said:
At least two willow warblers are already back in the Leeds area and at the first subject bird has pale legs. That said, it's got a Chiffchaff's face and primary projection seems fairly short. I don't know what these are and would suggest you need a fair amount of experience to call either of these birds with any certainty.

Graham
 
J Moss said:
Yeah, I'd agree. When were the pics taken Pie? It's not impossible that you've found an early Willow, but it's more likely that they're Chiffchaffs at this time of year.

Thank you for your thoughts all.
I took these pics last week, J Moss & although I accept the final verdict (my id skills are limited) my gut feeling was these birds were not the same species.

Bird 1 (pic 1&2) Reminded me of a Goldcrest, the behavior was similar, flitting from branch to branch but remaining in the same tree. In fact I though it was a Goldcrest at first as Ive watched them often & familiar with their behaviour.
In my experience, once you find this elusive little bird you are guaranteed a good 10 min viewing. Thats how it was with bird 1. Unfortunately there were too many bird songs/calls going on at the time for me to call this one for sure.

Bird 2 (pic 3) Appeared then dissapeared, hence only one pic.
I was taking a tea break alongside the boardwalk watching a Wren when bird 2 appeared. I would say it was bigger than bird 1. but it did'nt stay long enough for me to give more detail, song etc.

Unless I hear otherwise, I will mark them down as Chiff Chaffs, thanks again all.
 
pie said:
Thank you for your thoughts all.
I took these pics last week, J Moss & although I accept the final verdict (my id skills are limited) my gut feeling was these birds were not the same species.

Bird 1 (pic 1&2) Reminded me of a Goldcrest, the behavior was similar, flitting from branch to branch but remaining in the same tree. In fact I though it was a Goldcrest at first as Ive watched them often & familiar with their behaviour.
In my experience, once you find this elusive little bird you are guaranteed a good 10 min viewing. Thats how it was with bird 1. Unfortunately there were too many bird songs/calls going on at the time for me to call this one for sure.

Bird 2 (pic 3) Appeared then dissapeared, hence only one pic.
I was taking a tea break alongside the boardwalk watching a Wren when bird 2 appeared. I would say it was bigger than bird 1. but it did'nt stay long enough for me to give more detail, song etc.

Unless I hear otherwise, I will mark them down as Chiff Chaffs, thanks again all.


Hi Pie.

Dont put all of your faith in what I say! Not 100% reliable.

However, the behaviour that you observed in the 1st bird is fine for Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler. They both tend to be very active when searching for food, and they can also be very confiding. However they may also decide to dissapear as soon as you get any where near them. Just depends on what mood there in or what they're doing at the time I suppose.

However, on features, I'm pretty sure that pic 1 and 2 are Chiffchaffs because of the Chiffchaff-like 'face', with only a faint supercilium and a general lack of pale cheek markings. The dull grey is also fitting for Chiff, and, probably most reliable, the primary projection is short compared with that which you'd find on a Willow Warbler.

In the second bird its the primary projection (see attach.) that makes me near certain of it being a Chiff. The shadow doesn't help with pinpointing other features, but the projection is a good reliable feature. the larger size you mention does favour Willow, but sizes overlap between the sp., and also, the difference in light cond.s may have made the bird appear larger.

Hope this all helps. You may already know much of the stuff I've said above, and if so, sorry for boring you!

Jason.
 

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