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

"Northumberland Honey Buzzard" on video (1 Viewer)

Yes, my post referred to Nick's video. Sorry about my spelling mistakes, by the way. Senility is starting to kick in. I've been looking at this video for some weeks, and although overall it still strikes me as more Honey than Common, I must agree it's a close call.
 
Tim Allwood said:
I haven't seen the video

but i have seen the website

take a look at all the 'Honeys' Recovering Scot
Click to expand...

I have. I'm not sure how they are relevant to the, admittedly difficult or debatable, Northumberland bird.

Phil
 
David Bryant said:
Well yes: THEY'RE Honeys.......... But they're in Wales, not Northumberland!
Click to expand...

I'm intrigued with this very negative attitude to HBs colonising Northumberland. Certainly pre-1990, persecution kept them out but Northumberland has all the usual indicators for HB. It's the most afforested county in England, it has a high Goshawk population, there are many large estates with relatively unintensive management of the land and late summer temperatures inland are relatively high. It's not all pit heaps you know!

Cheers ... Nick
 
I don't know if anyone's saying HB are not colonising Northumberland

most people's point is that several of the photos are not of Honey Buzzards

Phil, I don't know if the website is relevant ot the video or not - each on its own merits i guess. Your reply was very diplomatic - do i take it that you too do not consider some of the images to be of Honey Buzzards
 
Tim Allwood said:
I don't know if anyone's saying HB are not colonising Northumberland

most people's point is that several of the photos are not of Honey Buzzards

Phil, I don't know if the website is relevant ot the video or not - each on its own merits i guess. Your reply was very diplomatic - do i take it that you too do not consider some of the images to be of Honey Buzzards
Click to expand...

I'm again not sure why I should require to be diplomatic. There is one photo that I thought might be Common on the page (in a brief look), however I am wary of deriving too much from distant and blurry stills which are, by their nature, unrepresentative of a bird's jizz and behaviour.

So far though, I would be more pleased to hear points against the bird in the video being HB, and distinct points in its favour as CB. I had another look at the video this morning and in the cold light of day see no reason to change my conclusion. I froze the video at 00.14 again. The bird at that point looks incapable of being CB to me, as there is no way, at any stage of moult, that a CB's tail could ever look like that. That's just me, however. It's a 'tip over the line one way or another' moment.

Cheers,

Phil
 
Phil, I'd take a look at comments re the photos on this thread and last year's thread too...

if you want points against them being Honeys....read away

by the sond of it you're saying one might be Common, the rest unidientifiable?
 
Tim Allwood said:
Phil, I'd take a look at comments re the photos on this thread and last year's thread too...

if you want points against them being Honeys....read away

by the sond of it you're saying one might be Common, the rest unidientifiable?
Click to expand...

The quality of a lot of them is certainly very poor. But I haven't sat down and done a point by point study yet. I've been reading Greg McIvor's interesting observations again. The video bird doesn't remind me of CB instantly other than the fact that both HB and CB are roughly around the same size broad-winged brown raptors. I did see evidence of the tail-rudder movement in the video, but I have seen that many times from CB, so that doesn't add a lot either. Nice problem!

I'll just have to keep looking.
 
Honey Buzzard - Not!!

Nick.

I am going to put this ridiculous arguement to bed once & for all! I've been watching HB's for years & Commons for as long as I can remember, now take it from me. You have not seen any Honeys, either in your Website photo's, or that amateur video. All the photos are commons, end of!!

Wayne Davies.
 
I just picked up on this thread. Seems to have got a bit out of hand, and gone way off on a tangent. And for what it's worth - I had a look at the Northumberalnd videos and have to say that the footages show BUTEO BUTEO!!
I am not going to go into any depth as to why they are Common and not Honey Bs but I have years of field experience with both species and the Northumberland birds don't make me think "oh that's a Honey Buzzard". I am not doubting that there are Honey Bs in Northumberland - just haven't seen the proof yet.
 
You are obviously, Seawatcher, an educated individual who has had good experience of HB's & Commons. I am no expert but have been watching Honey's for 7 - 8 yrs, as often as time & money permits. When you see a Honey, as you know, you know it is definately a Honey & not a case of "well is it or isn't it", they are so easy to identify, even at long range.

I agree with you that there may be a very small population of Honey's in Northumberland, as they are breeding in the Southern counties, Wales, Cumbria, the Midlands, Norfolk & right up through some parts of Scotland. But to state that 20 pairs or more in Northumberland alone is totally unreal! Nick needs to get more experience. I'm not saying he isn't an intelligent bloke because he is, but Bird Identification is not his forteit.

Any personal comments can be e-mailed to me directly: CAMOSUPPLIER'at'aol.com
 
Now I think that is the best footage Nick has taken and one of these days he is going to get some video of a Honey Buzzard.
 
Franky70 said:
Just for the record, everyone that I know, without exception, who has seen the clips and photos of Northumbrian birds on this site does not think they are honeys. So please don't tar everyone up here with the same brush when it comes to raptor id.
Nick also has some very interesting shots of 'hobbies' on the same site.
Click to expand...
We dont mate,he has got some Honey video on his site. Trouble is it was taken in Wales :eek!:
 
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