-
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.
Camel Estuary, Cornwall (8 Viewers)
- Thread starter camelbirder
- Start date
RafaelMatias
Unknown member
Very nice shot of the flying Puffins!
Dogs at Walmsley Sanctuary.
This evening at Amble Marshes, the usual carnage from the 'usual' suspects, no collar on the black Lab! I notice that even from a distance some of the breeding Duck adopt this position in a bid to avoid detection (Mallard photo) plus the males tend to stay with the females and ducklings.
This evening at Amble Marshes, the usual carnage from the 'usual' suspects, no collar on the black Lab! I notice that even from a distance some of the breeding Duck adopt this position in a bid to avoid detection (Mallard photo) plus the males tend to stay with the females and ducklings.
Attachments
We should never under estimate the amount of damage that can be done to vulnerable nesting Wildfowl, given frequent (or annual) sustained and systematic attacks by packs of trained gun dogs. These dogs have been trained to sniff out dead or maimed birds that have been shot at by people just for fun. I don’t blame the dogs, they just want to get on and do what they have been trained to do, even if it’s the peak Wildfowl breeding season. When I observe a Fox hunting through the reserve I never see the same blind panic spread right across the marshes as is shown by the birds while the dogs are hunting, a Fox is usually pointed out by the ducks and the disturbance confined to a small area around the Fox, not so with a dog pack attack, the dogs are usually barking loudly and will happily spend hours quartering the water’s edge, panic spreads quickly over the whole area, with avian predators flying in to pick off displaced eggs or ducklings in the dogs destructive wake, it must be a very successful, well rehearsed predator strategy, I have noted up to 6 Grey Heron, 2 Buzzard and 12 Carrion Crow following the dogs. I can honestly say I have never witnessed such an attraction to a Fox hunting, at most a lurking Buzzard or a single opportunist Grey Heron.
Colin
Odd Warbler songs.
Walking around Treraven Farm early this morning and listening to the songs of Blackcap, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Wren I noted just a single Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, both were clearly visible and both singing, although neither sounded anything like a typical Chiff or Willow! You have to wonder, with so few of their species locally around this spring, if these late singers are so desperate to attract a mate that they deliberately modifying their songs to optimize breeding opportunities, perhaps even with the nearest species?
Colin
(Blackcap this morning image)
Walking around Treraven Farm early this morning and listening to the songs of Blackcap, Blackbird, Song Thrush and Wren I noted just a single Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, both were clearly visible and both singing, although neither sounded anything like a typical Chiff or Willow! You have to wonder, with so few of their species locally around this spring, if these late singers are so desperate to attract a mate that they deliberately modifying their songs to optimize breeding opportunities, perhaps even with the nearest species?
Colin
(Blackcap this morning image)
Attachments
camelbirder
Well-known member
Today's sightings have been uploaded to the Camel Estuary Birds Website, highlights include Spoonbill, Scaup and much more...
Distinctive Eagle-like Buzzard.
Looking a little closer at this distinctive Buzzard, currently around Amble Marshes and the Camel Estuary; I don’t think I have ever seen a more Aquila like buteo! Common and Long-legged are polymorphic and both displays a huge range of plumage variation, the individual on the Camel is a striking pale morph. Just concentrating on structure and jizz and forgetting complex colour plumage, this individuals structure stands out, the eagle-like expression, thick tarsi and strong talons, very long wings (image shows this bird behind a 10 ft Gate!) and fairly long legs, yes there are typical Common Buzzard features, an amber-brown iris for one, typical of juvenile Common Buzzard, although I’m not sure, I would age the Amble bird as a 3cy. The other possibly significant thing to mention is the lack of any noticeable moult, in contrast to most of the local Common Buzzards at this time. Unfortunately this individual falls in to the category of “No chance of a tick, No interest” although speaking for me these puzzles hold the most interest, therefore this individual goes down in my book, for now as a good 'rufinus+ buteo' hybrid, this time not just an odd Buzzard.
Looking a little closer at this distinctive Buzzard, currently around Amble Marshes and the Camel Estuary; I don’t think I have ever seen a more Aquila like buteo! Common and Long-legged are polymorphic and both displays a huge range of plumage variation, the individual on the Camel is a striking pale morph. Just concentrating on structure and jizz and forgetting complex colour plumage, this individuals structure stands out, the eagle-like expression, thick tarsi and strong talons, very long wings (image shows this bird behind a 10 ft Gate!) and fairly long legs, yes there are typical Common Buzzard features, an amber-brown iris for one, typical of juvenile Common Buzzard, although I’m not sure, I would age the Amble bird as a 3cy. The other possibly significant thing to mention is the lack of any noticeable moult, in contrast to most of the local Common Buzzards at this time. Unfortunately this individual falls in to the category of “No chance of a tick, No interest” although speaking for me these puzzles hold the most interest, therefore this individual goes down in my book, for now as a good 'rufinus+ buteo' hybrid, this time not just an odd Buzzard.
Attachments
Last edited:
Several Little Egret sitting around in the tops of large oak tree's Coronation Park yesterday and Bishop's Wood the day before. Future nesting sites perhaps?
(19 Little Egret on the last Webs count for Walmsley)
A Dipper this afternoon in the stream at Polmorla.
(19 Little Egret on the last Webs count for Walmsley)
A Dipper this afternoon in the stream at Polmorla.
Attachments
Last edited:
