• 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.

Unidentified large pair of birds in sussex (1 Viewer)

Tickie

New member
Hi there all,
I'm new to this so please bare with me on my attempt to ID these guys!
I was fishing on the medway outside of forest row in east sussex on thursday 12th in the late afternoon. I heard what I thought was an electronic sound, perhaps some sort of warning call or wierd mobile phone tone, but I was in the middle of nowhere. It then came over again and a pair of birds, I am almost certain birds of prey, flew over. One was cartwheeling in the air as if displaying to the other, spinning and performing aerobatics. The call was definately coming from one or both of the birds, but I do not know how to write it down, other than it didnt sound like a normal buzzard 'krey' or similar and sounded 'electronicky'.
The wingspan was greater than 4ft, and the wings were quite deep. When the wing was bent, it had a distinctive v shape, very similar to an enlarged lapwing wing. The head looked slightly lighter than the rest of the body but I cannot give a good colour ID as the light was not permitting.
I really cant hazard a guess on this pair, does anybody have any idea what they could have been? Ospreys was my only guess?
I checked the breeding post up at the reservoir nearby that had been put up for ospreys the day after, but no sign.
Please help me ID these birds.
Thanks,
Nick
 
If they were ospreys, what you describe sounds like breeding display which only happens close to the nest site as far as I am aware (pairs usually migrate separately).
 
Warning! This thread is more than 17 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.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top