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Durham Birding (3 Viewers)

Hi Ray,

I commented the following on the TBC website as well:
Image 3 looks like an Arctic Tern to me. I can't see any hint of black on the tip of the bill which rules out Common Tern. Also adult Roseate Terns have quite a large amount of black on the bill, far more black than red on birds I have seen.

Fantastic photos as well by the way.
Hope this helped
Hi Foghorn some Common Terns can have all red bills.Arctic terns usually have dark blood red bills and normally shorter in length than Common Terns.As i was saying to you before look at the jizz of the birds ,Arctic tern has a different jizz to Common Tern.
 
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Hi Foghorn some Common Terns can have all red bills.Arctic terns usually have dark blood red bills and normally shorter in length than Common Terns.As i was saying to you before look at the jizz of the birds ,Arctic tern has a different jizz to Common Tern.

Hi Martin,

I didn't know that some Common Terns can have all red bill, learn something new everyday I guess. Thats the beauty of birding!:t:

I am pretty bad on tern ID if I am honest. I always find the best way to pick out an Arctic Tern is:
- The very short red legs.
- The short red bill (quite a bit smaller than on common)

I need to brush up on my tern ID for sure. A couple of trips to Crimdon Dene are in order me thinks.
 
Hi Martin,

I didn't know that some Common Terns can have all red bill, learn something new everyday I guess. Thats the beauty of birding!:t:

I am pretty bad on tern ID if I am honest. I always find the best way to pick out an Arctic Tern is:
- The very short red legs.
- The short red bill (quite a bit smaller than on common)

I need to brush up on my tern ID for sure. A couple of trips to Crimdon Dene are in order me thinks.
Yes short bill and short legs are good id features for Arctic Tern.Tail streamers go past the wing tips when at rest.In flight Arctic terns have a short necked appearance and a smaller looking head ,wings are also slighty narrower than Common.Underparts are much greyer than Common Terns.Whitburn Steel and Shields beach are excellent places to get to grips with tern id.Should be lots of terns at both of those anytime now.
 
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Hi Martin,

I didn't know that some Common Terns can have all red bill, learn something new everyday I guess. Thats the beauty of birding!:t:

I am pretty bad on tern ID if I am honest. I always find the best way to pick out an Arctic Tern is:
- The very short red legs.
- The short red bill (quite a bit smaller than on common)

I need to brush up on my tern ID for sure. A couple of trips to Crimdon Dene are in order me thinks.

I don't think that in the field Arctic's bills always look smaller than Commons. The bird in picture 3 looks to me like it has a dark tip and the bill it's self looks a bit lighter red for an Arctic. The thing that makes me think it is an Arctic rather than a Common are the upper primaries on the far wing. They look much lighter than I would expect on a Common.

Also be aware that you can get Commons with no Black tip to the bill and also with that much black that they look more like Roseates.
 
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I don't think that in the field Arctic's bills always look smaller than Commons. The bird in picture 3 looks to me like it has a dark tip and the bill it's self looks a bit lighter red for an Arctic. The thing that makes me think it is an Arctic rather than a Common are the upper primaries on the far wing. They look much lighter than I would expect on a Common.

Also be aware that you can get Commons with no Black tip to the bill and also with that much black that they look more like Roseates.
Yes i agree the bill of Arctic doesn't always look short but generally i would say the bill is shorter.Another good id feature is the upper wing of Arctic is pale grey lacking the dark wedge of Common and from below outer primaries have a narrower black trailing edge.
 
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Interesting replied about the Terns. A fantastic group of birds and somewhat of a challenge in terms of identification.

When it comes to Roseates I have seen quite a few with a pinkish flush on them. The bird I found at East Chev a few weeks ago had quite a nice pink flush and the bird stood out from the crowd of terns quite a bit from what I can remember. I think my Common and Arctic Tern ID needs a bit more work though.
 
Interesting replied about the Terns. A fantastic group of birds and somewhat of a challenge in terms of identification.

When it comes to Roseates I have seen quite a few with a pinkish flush on them. The bird I found at East Chev a few weeks ago had quite a nice pink flush and the bird stood out from the crowd of terns quite a bit from what I can remember. I think my Common and Arctic Tern ID needs a bit more work though.
I find Roseate Terns stand out well in a tern flock by how white they look.The Roseate Terns i have seen have had very little pink on the underparts or none at all.I have seen a few bright individuals over the years.I think the pink flush to the underparts is a bit of misnomer.
 
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Identifying birds

I have just returned from a holiday on Skye where I took photos of a number of birds. Would the forum mind if I post photos of those which I am not sure what birds they are ( I know what I think they are, but so far my record on this forum isnt good)
There are quite a few photos I intend to post if that is okay.

Noel
 
I have just returned from a holiday on Skye where I took photos of a number of birds. Would the forum mind if I post photos of those which I am not sure what birds they are ( I know what I think they are, but so far my record on this forum isnt good)
There are quite a few photos I intend to post if that is okay.

Noel
Hi Noel post as many as you want.
 
Identifying birds

Here are the first lot of photos. Apologies for the quality - it was quite windy at times and some were quite a distance away.
 

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Identifying birds no 2

Next batch.
 

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More photos.
 

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Even more.
 

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These were taken at the Northumberland Coast near Scremerston
 

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