[Jane Turner]

Sorry about the quality... I have no scanner right now and these are from prints. Its all adds to the difficulty factor. To quote a local colloquialism, if anyone gets all these right first time I will show my arse in Woollies window!

The first two are local, the third is in Spain.

Just you wait till I get a scanner... I have hundreds of mystery photos and about 4 good ones!

[Michael W]

Could the third picture be a Collared Pratincole by any chance? I do not have much evidence supporting my guess, but when I first saw the picture, that is what I thought of.

I'll be very surprised if it is one.

Michael

[Bluetail]

Well they say fools rush in where angels fear to tread, so here are my three wild guesses:

1) Icterine Warbler
2) Ring-billed Gull (2nd winter)
3) Common Prat

Jason

[Jane Turner]

How long should I wait before I start giving you an idea of how many are right....once I do logic comes into play!

[Jane Turner]

Here is bird 3 a little sharper.....though no easier!

[Darrell Clegg]

If it's Spain it must be Red-necked Nightjar!!

Darrell

[Jane Turner]

What about the other two?

[Joern Lehmhus]

Second pic I´d go for Ringbilled gull, the third one is cleary something I did not see previously, pratincole maybe?
First one a Hippolais species??

That is what came to my mind sitting at work, having no literature around for confirmation...
But I am really curious to know what they are!!!

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Errrmmmm:

1) Olivaceous Warbler
2) Ring-billed Gull
3) Black-winged Kite

Not confident.

[Jane Turner]

I hav to admit I couldn't ID the third one from the pic...if it wasn't bracketed between two other shots of the same bird. One species has been named correctly by someone and the other two have two lose guesses.

I can post a sharper pic of bird 1 if you like, I just found the slide and have worked out a way of digitising them.

[Jane Turner]

Bird 1 from the slide!

[Darrell Clegg]

The second one is Common Gull - if it was a Ring-billed there would be a huge band on the tail. Come to think of it, there should be some black on it in 2nd year Common Gull!!

The first one I'm still looking at

Darrell

[Jane Turner]

Looks like no one gets to see my arse in Woolies window anyway..... still have CJW and MF to hav a go of course.

Are these fun? I have about 4000 slides, the majority of which are just bad photos like these. Some make great mystery photos, its all they are really good for.

[Joern Lehmhus]

On retrospect I would say Darrell is probably right with Common Gull; another thing that goes in that direction is the shape of the bill, fits better for common gull. I think i was too fast there.

With the third pic, Fifebirder may have hit it; I do not see anything that would rule out Blackshouldered Kite: I was thinking pratincole but the shape of the tail surely fits better with the Kite. Seing the third pic i was thinking of a darker bird but as it is photographed against the sky...

[Jane Turner]

If it helps at all. On the original slide bird three shows paler legs as the only significant contrast on the underside

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Okay for number 3 the breathtakingly wide-of-the-mark response of:

Wilson's Petrel

Stop s******ing at the back there.

[Darrell Clegg]

First one I think is Olivaceous Warbler, if only 'cos of the head shape and lack of any significant yellow tones. Second is Common Gull, and third has me stumped. I know its not Red-necked Nightjar - (V shaped tail!) but I can't assign it to any other family. I had thought of vagrant Common Nighthawk but where are the white patches?

Darrell

[satrow]

Melodious Warbler,
Ring-billed Gull,
Black-winged Pratincole?

Andy,

(wildly guessing)

[Michael Frankis]

In view of the threat in the first post . . .

1. Red-breasted Goose
2. Calliope Hummingbird
3. King Penguin

I just want to be absolutely certain that I don't get them all right first time . . .

Michael

[Jane Turner]

You are safe!

What do you really think!

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Well Jane,

I think Mr Frankis has it cracked there. Which branch of Woolies is it to be then?

[Jane Turner]

Liverpool of course!

Two birds have now been named correctly and one...well someone has got the right Order...but no closer

[Michael Frankis]

OK then . . .

Melodious Warbler
Common Gull
Black Kite (swooping up in 'skydance' display, with wings half-folded to loop the loop)

Michael

[tom mckinney]

Any chance these are manipulated? That gull's tail looks peculiarly pure white and surely that is a Red Kite tail on a pratincole??? Also the eye looks remarkably big and gormless on the "warbler" and up close even has a very strange shape and lifeless quality to it. Actually I've no idea!!!

[Jane Turner]

The pics are not manipulated....just crap to start with :)