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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recent content by sphinx79

  1. S

    Which Harrier?

    Gerdwichers: The bird in your image looks to me to be in active moult, with the outermost primary growing. Greg
  2. S

    Which Harrier?

    Sorry, I thought I was getting caught in the crossfire. No offence taken. Greg
  3. S

    Which Harrier?

    First post in a blue moon and a sarcastic response straight off. I was trying to make a helpful contribution to what would be a very rare bird in Northern Ireland. Won't be bothering again.
  4. S

    Which Harrier?

    Haven't posted for ages but couldn't resist contributing to a harrier thread :) I'm fortunate to see Hen and Monty's regularly here in Falsterbo, along with occasional Pallids. To me this is a classic female Montagu's and I'd have no hesitation submitting it to the relevant records committee as...
  5. S

    Splits ?

    No, there is no split, and I've never heard of any moves in that direction either. Rgds Greg
  6. S

    pied or eastern black-eared ?

    On reflection, I think you're right Jan. I'm a bit surprised that an adult would be in full winter plumage on the breeding grounds in September, but there you go. The rather solidly dark throat is another adult feature. I still think it's still a Pied, though. Here's a link to a similar bird...
  7. S

    pied or eastern black-eared ?

    Hmm. Jan, I'm still convinced it's a first-winter and a pristine one at that. First-winter Pieds sure have black primaries, there are broad pale edges on the remiges and even intact pale tips to the tail feathers. I can't see an adult of either species looking like this in September. Rgds Greg
  8. S

    pied or eastern black-eared ?

    Hi Lou, looks like a first-winter male Pied to me. The cold earthy brown-grey tone of the mantle with pale scaling (warmer brown on melanoleuca), the extensive mask and throat patch and the bold peachy wash on the underparts all say Pied to me. Rgds Greg
  9. S

    confusion species of (possible) Red-breasted Flycatcher

    Karl, the typical contact call of a Red-breasted Flycatcher is a dry, Wren-like rattle - quite unlike the call you describe. As as been mentioned, the call of your bird sounds more in keeping with Common Redstart, which also has a red breast. Rgds Greg
  10. S

    ID Please

    Always useful to look at the throat. Dark throat = Stonechat. Whinchat is pale-throated in all plumages. Rgds Greg
  11. S

    ID please, that's a tough one

    It looks like a pretty standard Common Buzzard to me, both on structure and plumage. Probably a second-calendar year bird owing to the darkness of the secondaries. Rgds Greg
  12. S

    Help with gull identification

    I was initially thrown when on a visit to Eilat last spring I observed a couple of adult gulls very similar to AJDH's birds in among the hordes of Caspian, Heuglin's Gulls, Baltic Gulls and Pallas's Gulls. The dark mantle colour (almost but not quite as dark as Heuglin's) and the strong, bright...
  13. S

    Help with gull identification

    Hi Dwayne, Good question: I don't know. I've always assumed that ponticus was a nomenclature relic going back to the days when Caspian Gull wasn't recognised as a full species. The Dutch still call it Pontic Gull, I believe. So I checked up in the Gulls bible (Olsson & Larsson) and is says...
  14. S

    Help with gull identification

    There's a classic Caspian Gull jizz to your bird AJDH and it's from the eastern race barabensis. The strongly yellow legs and quite bright yellow bill are good features for separating this form from nominate cachinnans. Barabensis have a slightly darker mantle colour than cachinnans and can...
  15. S

    Which wheatear?

    Female/first-winter Northern Wheatear for me. The supercilium is whiter behind the eye, buffer in front. An Isabelline would show broader sandy fringes on the wing feathers and, usually, a stronger dark loral stripe. The greyish tinge to the mantle and back also fits nicely for Northern. Rgds Greg
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