Check-Up Time. (1 Viewer)

0985 : Check-Up Time (18/6/22)

Robin June is always one of my quietest months for birding. It tends to be a bit too warm for me to go anywhere and there is a bit too much ...

stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.com

New blog-post. Saturday's trip to Balgay Hill to check up on the 3 Nuthatch nests we've been keeping an eye on this year to see if they'd successfully fledged, or not...

 

[Mikewander]

Some great pics there Barry.

 

[Stonefaction]

Thanks, Mike. I could easily have posted a 100 decent Nuthatch shots from Saturday (and more good ones of the other species too, especially Robin).

 

[Mikewander]

I could have done with your expertise yesterday down at Riverside. I couldn't id a small brown bird with a head crest like a skylark, but smaller than a skylark, singing its head off on top of a shrub down from the picnic tables. Looked through my guide books to no avail. I think it might have been a juvenile so didn't totally fit the descriptions in the guides.

 

[Stonefaction]

I could have done with your expertise yesterday down at Riverside. I couldn't id a small brown bird with a head crest like a skylark, but smaller than a skylark, singing its head off on top of a shrub down from the picnic tables. Looked through my guide books to no avail. I think it might have been a juvenile so didn't totally fit the descriptions in the guides.

Location and behaviour sounds like (Common) Whitethroat could be a strong possibility. Although they don't have an actual 'crest' they do often raise their crown feathers which can give a crest like appearance.

 

[Mikewander]

Thanks, Barry.
It looked like a Whitethroat, but i didn't know they could raise their crown feathers like that.

 

[pianoman]

I want nuthatches in Ireland! So full of character. Well maybe now that GSW has arrived, Nuthatch might follow some day

 

[Stonefaction]

I want nuthatches in Ireland! So full of character. Well maybe now that GSW has arrived, Nuthatch might follow some day

They are rapidly moving up my list of favourite birds - Red Flanked Bluetail and Swift still in the top spots. Nuthatches just seem to get used to humans being nearby remarkably quickly and behave like Goldcrests seem to, by just ignoring you, (as long as you don't make any sudden moves in their direction). I've taken hundreds of photos of them since they arrived in the city and just seem to keep getting better and better opportunities.