• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Unusual bird visiting my garden - what is it??? (1 Viewer)

Thanks mr admin, you can google my email, you have it - deffo not a man from sunderland.
Would just remind everyone i never suggested a nutcracker! Just wondered what it is, still dont know. If i can get a photo i will. No need to be rude especially to a lady, poor form! I enjoy a giggle as much as the next person butreally not a hoaxer. So mr grumpy be like my mum used to say- if you cant say anything nice say nothing at all! Off to the fireworks with my children whom i gave birth to hence not a bloke! Now that would be a funny hoax! Lol! :)
 
Andy Bright said:
careful with the accusations. A bit of cynicism is going to be natural, but just try to keep a lid on it.
We may know things you do not in terms of validity of the actual username.
Click to expand...

Andy,
you have my word that if this person is being genuine ( no matter what it is they have seen ) I will PM them a very sincere personal apology. If it turns out to be a Nutcracker ( which as far as i'm concerned would be brilliant ) i will send them a tenner for a charity of their choice ( i would not be going to see it by the way ). Certainly did not mean my post to be interpreted as mean or nasty ( cynical maybe ) so i'm sorry if thats how it appeared
Perry
 
Ppedro said:
Andy,
you have my word that if this person is being genuine ( no matter what it is they have seen ) I will PM them a very sincere personal apology. If it turns out to be a Nutcracker ( which as far as i'm concerned would be brilliant ) i will send them a tenner for a charity of their choice ( i would not be going to see it by the way ). Certainly did not mean my post to be interpreted as mean or nasty ( cynical maybe ) so i'm sorry if thats how it appeared
Perry
Click to expand...

I'm not saying it not a hoax or a wind-up, just saying careful with accusations... we've had some outrageous claims in this thread regarding a 'gentleman' from Sunderland, which are totally off the mark.

Unless someone has something other than veiled or outright accusations to post, probably best to just let the thread go. The o.p. has said a local recorder has been informed.
 
How did this thread descend into a nutcracker or not thread? It could be a mistle thrush. In Dorset last year we had a genuine report of a nutcracker that turned out to be a starling when the original observer got photos, but that didn't mean he was being deceitful of mischievous, just incorrect and mistaken about the size. It's not uncommon among genuine birders to make mistakes, only it seems some people on this thread never make mistakes.
Chris
 
scary-canary said:
How did this thread descend into a nutcracker or not thread? It could be a mistle thrush. In Dorset last year we had a genuine report of a nutcracker that turned out to be a starling when the original observer got photos, but that didn't mean he was being deceitful of mischievous, just incorrect and mistaken about the size. It's not uncommon among genuine birders to make mistakes, only it seems some people on this thread never make mistakes.
Chris
Click to expand...

You make a fair point Chris, it did decend rather quickly into a Nutcracker thread with no real rhyme or reason. Personally certainly not above making a mistake by the way !
 
Andy Bright said:
we've had some outrageous claims in this thread regarding a 'gentleman' from Sunderland, which are totally off the mark.
Click to expand...

Thats good to hear and assuming you can know for sure thats true then I apologise If I caused any offence to the OP If you are genuine.

I'd also just like to point out that any accusations I made were only out of concern that the 'gentleman' my somehow be back and up to his old tricks and nothing to do with jealousy that someone may have seen a rare bird and I havent.
 
Last edited:
extrareach said:
Afternoon all,

I have a new bird that visits my garden every day, No one can identify it. I live surrounded by arable fields in suffolk. The old boys and farmers from the village have seen it about the place this year they have never seen it before either and have no idea what it is. It arrived about two weeks ago.
Click to expand...

Hopefully you'll manage to get some photos of this bird to help id. Maybe you could give a bit more info like what the bill looks like compared to other birds you may know.

One thing from your initial post that I wasn't sure on is has it been in the area for a while and has only being frequenting your garden the last two weeks?

Hopefully the West Suffolk recorder can help you. For reference the last Nutcracker in Suffolk was November 1985 - cracking bird that was.

Gi
 
I must admit that I find this thread to be a bit strange. I don't think that it is strange that the OP described a bird that the next poster suggested was a nutcracker, but I think that the queries whether the OP is genuine are odd. Don't we get lots of posts on this forum asking for help with identifying birds seen by someone with no knowledge of the bird? Why should anyone who posts in the forum with an ID query be someone suspect from the history of the forum? I would guess that the suspect ones have found someone else to annoy!
 
A couple of points, firstly don't dismiss what might turn up - an Oriental Turtle Dove turned up in a garden in NW Suffolk last year, which was a first for Suffolk, and was identified from photos. Secondly, regarding what non-birders think and describe can be different to what we may look for and can knowingly compare to.

A guy at work mentioned seeing these three strange birds at a pond in a local park, mentioned it had a curved beak, and had dark feathers that took a different colour as it moved. My thoughts were glossy ibis but thought the area would not be right for them. Fortunately he took photos and brought them in the next day - they were cormorants including one with it's wings held out. He hadn't mentioned this before and said look it's got a curved beak. Well he was right, that at the tip it curves down, but to us birders we say it has a straight one!

Gi
 
yorkshire83 said:
"now the interesting bit, when walking about there is no other colour just dark brown but when it opens its tail to fly it has a white rectangle in the middle of the tail."

This white 'rectangle' is on the top of the tail yes?
Click to expand...

extrareach said:
Yes almost as if someone stamped it on.
Click to expand...

Nobody else spot this? So unless its got its ar*e on upside down we can rule out Nutcracker no?

Regards

John
 
I'm just gonna throw Ring Ouzel out there. Size can be misleading sometimes. I think I read elsewhere some came in off the sea in that area didn't they?
 
Just to try and clear a few things up, The reason I think some of us suspect a hoax is becuase we've seen it too many times before and this thread just seemed to have that feel to it,a little hard to explain what I mean but you just get certain clues and the reason the person with history of this was brought up is that there was something about the style in which the OP typed which seemed familiar to what we've seen in the past.
That person was responsible for a number of hoaxes under several different names but his typing style usually give him away.

As for the idea that its just jealousy that we might have missed rare bird that someone else has seen or that we shouldnt be so quick to write of the possibility of a mega turning up in a garden well as I think most of you will now by now I'm just about the last person in world to be in a position to do that.
 
Adam W said:
Just to try and clear a few things up, The reason I think some of us suspect a hoax is becuase we've seen it too many times before and this thread just seemed to have that feel to it,a little hard to explain what I mean but you just get certain clues and the reason the person with history of this was brought up is that there was something about the style in which the OP typed which seemed familiar to what we've seen in the past.
That person was responsible for a number of hoaxes under several different names but his typing style usually give him away.
Click to expand...

In future, you should come to admin or moderators in private if you have any suspicions, rather than make outright public accusations at potentially innocent people.
 
I suppose it couldn't be a wheatear? Whilst it's not a close match on size the white patch on the tail would possibly fit.

It's all rather intriguing and I hope some pics appear soon.
 
Of course its futile to guess before there is a photo... but how about a Jay... a melanistic one or even a late fledging juv which are darker and browner than adults?
 
Warning! This thread is more than 11 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

D
UK Bird of Prey help
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
Daz001
D
C
Did Merlin Bird ID really hear these in my garden?
2 3
Replies
43
Views
6K
qwerty5
qwerty5
N
Orange County, Southern California - What are These?
Replies
5
Views
454
connorco
connorco
Aladdin
South American birds
Replies
5
Views
675
Aladdin
Aladdin
R
Hi, came on here to try an ID bird (Rosy Starling?) seen in my N. Yorks UK garden this morning
Replies
8
Views
804
Ryor
R

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top