Norfolk birding (10 Viewers)

[Winterdune]

(Not very good) pictures of the interesting late Swift sp. at Winterton this morning are now on our blog in case anyone wants to pronounce on it: http://wintertonbirds.blogspot.com/.
Cheers
Sean

 

[Songkhran]

(Not very good) pictures of the interesting late Swift sp. at Winterton this morning are now on our blog in case anyone wants to pronounce on it: http://wintertonbirds.blogspot.com/.
Cheers
Sean

Looking classically Pallid to me. big white throat patch, big headed on front on shots (suggesting more House martin than Common Swift?), dark eye area (contrasting nicely with white throat on some shots, bulky body, saddle backed with pale translucency on that secondary area. interesting underwing shots almost suggesting Sooty Shear at times! Again never think wing tips are a strong ID feature as can't really see how they are blunted. Then on every photo you get that sandy/milk chocolatety overall colouration which, maybe because of the light conditions hasn't been that apparent on photos of other swifts in the last few days. Look like the light conditions themselves were sunny but a bit hazy? I would say well done Sean.

 

[FOOON]

(Not very good) pictures of the interesting late Swift sp. at Winterton this morning are now on our blog in case anyone wants to pronounce on it: http://wintertonbirds.blogspot.com/.
Cheers
Sean

Pallid for me.

 

[Winterdune]

Thanks guys. I've just added Dick Filby's photos to the original post. He thinks it's probably a Common Swift but is not entirely sure.
Sean

 

[Connor Rand]

Swift confusion at Winterton

I see that the Winterton swift has now been pronounced as a definite Common... Was very tricky today with the poor light and this was reflected in a real split in opinion amongst those present, not helped by the fact that the bird seemed to be able to change at will in the field and in the photos...

 

[Songkhran]

I see that the Winterton swift has now been pronounced as a definite Common... Was very tricky today with the poor light and this was reflected in a real split in opinion amongst those present, not helped by the fact that the bird seemed to be able to change at will in the field and in the photos...

I'm still verring towards Pallid but happy to bow to a higher authority. If anything some of Dick's photos seem to bring the dark eye patch out even more...

Just to elaborate on the way that the plumage tones of this bird change, i first looked at the photos with my main room lights on thus coming to the Pallid conclusion. Went out to look at the Harbour for an hour, when i got back just had a side light on and the bird looked alot more Commonlike. If now you view the photos first with lights on and then off the colour tones look markedly different!

Like most have learnt a lot from this debate, will study them in detail next year in the Med and spend many quiet summer days out on the marsh watching Common Swifts with the express intention of separating them from Pallid.

 

[stuart white]

So at Thornham (as shown by the RBA map) 2 Dowitcher sp, 1 SHORT BILLED DOWITCHER and 1 Long Billed Dowitcher.
So what is actually there, one of each? Anyone know more?

I'm stuck inside without a car so can't go whatever it turns into, just thought I'd bring it to the attention of the forum seeing as I have had no pager message apart from 2 possible Dowitcher sp early morning

This was definitely one of the more interesting pager messages of the year, no possible in the message, just "2 Dowitcher sp. flew east over thornham harour at 7.40am"

very interesting

 

[tonyfenn]

anybody know any more about them? [dowitcher]

 

[stuart white]

smart money would go on bar-tailed godwit, but you never know ?

Paul - any dowitchers to report at Titchwell today ?

 

[Scopey]

Wife saw a blackbird with black beak in the garden yesterday here in West Norfolk. Is this just a juvenille with strange beak colouring?

 

[jogresh]

anybody know any more about them? [dowitcher]

Hi, these were seen flying past at very close range by Alan Davies, who runs regular trips to Norfolk and found the Caspian Tern here (and for that matter the Cattle Egret at Minsmere), he was hoping they'd turn up at Titch like the Tern did.
Cheers.

 

[Paul Woolnough]

Swift

I was one of the first to arrive on site. Stayed an hour and a half.

At 930am the swift sp flew towards me and over my head. Looked good for pallid. Pale throat and dark outer primaries compared to inner wing. Others had good views with the sun out and relatively low in the sky.

This led to the consensus that the bird was a pallid swift with only a few disagreeing. As time went on more and more doubted the pallid ID. Sometimes the bird would look relatively pale, at other times darker.

My own opinion went from probable to possible pallid swift and finally to an ID of common swift.

Pictures 15 to 18 show the underwing. It was not possible to see enough detail on camera screens.
Picture 16, to my mind the wings look good for pallid but the throat patch looks to small
Picture 15 the lower wing is at a different angle to the sunlight, suggesting common to me
Picture 17 common swift

Never mind the bird appearing paler on some views in the field than others, the angle of the bird and shadowing can be seen on the photographs.

My initial belief the bird was a pallid swift, based on the wing pattern, never mind the head and throat pattern and eye, was misplaced now photographs are available to study at leisure.

Common swift for me, then

 

[petehasset]

I was one of the first to arrive on site. Stayed an hour and a half.

At 930am the swift sp flew towards me and over my head. Looked good for pallid. Pale throat and dark outer primaries compared to inner wing. Others had good views with the sun out and relatively low in the sky.

This led to the consensus that the bird was a pallid swift with only a few disagreeing. As time went on more and more doubted the pallid ID. Sometimes the bird would look relatively pale, at other times darker.

My own opinion went from probable to possible pallid swift and finally to an ID of common swift.

Pictures 15 to 18 show the underwing. It was not possible to see enough detail on camera screens.
Picture 16, to my mind the wings look good for pallid but the throat patch looks to small
Picture 15 the lower wing is at a different angle to the sunlight, suggesting common to me
Picture 17 common swift

Never mind the bird appearing paler on some views in the field than others, the angle of the bird and shadowing can be seen on the photographs.

My initial belief the bird was a pallid swift, based on the wing pattern, never mind the head and throat pattern and eye, was misplaced now photographs are available to study at leisure.

Common swift for me, then

With the swift was up to 4 house martins & a swallow mid afternoon

 

[rob lee]

Winterton Swift

Once again wise after the event, but Dick`s photos # 16-18 show a bird with mostly concolorous black underparts & no hint of a pale head. For me, the sunlight that reflects on the underwing in pic 17 should show the body of the bird as being far paler than is shown here if it were a Pallid, & the paler feather fringes would also be more obvious.

 

[petehasset]

Once again wise after the event, but Dick`s photos # 16-18 show a bird with mostly concolorous black underparts & no hint of a pale head. For me, the sunlight that reflects on the underwing in pic 17 should show the body of the bird as being far paler than is shown here if it were a Pallid, & the paler feather fringes would also be more obvious.

When I saw the swift at around 3pm today it was very cloudy & overcast & I could not see any paler underparts

 

[O.Reville1989]

Jack in the marsh

Another days birding with Kieran (Locostella) and Leila today produced some good views of a Jack Snipe at Kelling Water Meadows.
A decent patch bird, 31 species over the last 2 days for the Meadows.
Managed a fairly average record shot which I have cropped.

And just for fun the 2nd picture was taken at the Meadows yesterday evening, anyone care to guess the birds in the photo?

 

[sacha]

Another days birding with Kieran (Locostella) and Leila today produced some good views of a Jack Snipe at Kelling Water Meadows.
A decent patch bird, 31 species over the last 2 days for the Meadows.
Managed a fairly average record shot which I have cropped.

And just for fun the 2nd picture was taken at the Meadows yesterday evening, anyone care to guess the birds in the photo?

Redwings?

 

[Songkhran]

Another days birding with Kieran (Locostella) and Leila today produced some good views of a Jack Snipe at Kelling Water Meadows.
A decent patch bird, 31 species over the last 2 days for the Meadows.
Managed a fairly average record shot which I have cropped.

And just for fun the 2nd picture was taken at the Meadows yesterday evening, anyone care to guess the birds in the photo?

Fieldfare (the bird in the middle may be juv Blackbird)

 

[O.Reville1989]

Fieldfare (the bird in the middle may be juv Blackbird)

Correct :t: Flock of 25 or so yesterday evening at dusk with the odd redwing and blackbird mixed in.

 

[James Emerson]

Short-eared Owl at Thorpe Station Marsh last night, appeared around 1630 and hunted over the marshes with occasional disappearances until dark.