Couple of ID's - Rainham Marshes RSPB 12/04/2024 (1 Viewer)

[Birdy1]

A few ID's needed for around Rainham Marshes today
1. 171...211 - Kestrel? Poor photo I know!
2. 171...481 - Martin maybe? This one confuses me!
3. 171...880 & 171...317 - Grasshopper Warbler? - pretty sure, but up for correction (would be a lifer)


TIA!

 

[Owene]

Yes to the grasshopper warbler. Well done on getting a photo. The others look plausible but hard to tell from the photos. 2 looks like a skylark but sand martin is possible

 

[F Matthews]

A few ID's needed for around Rainham Marshes today
1. 171...211 - Kestrel? Poor photo I know!
2. 171...481 - Martin maybe? This one confuses me!
3. 171...880 & 171...317 - Grasshopper Warbler? - pretty sure, but up for correction (would be a lifer)


TIA!

Kestrel, Sand Martin and Grasshopper Warbler all correct.

 

[F Matthews]

Kestrel, Sand Martin and Grasshopper Warbler all correct.

Actually

A few ID's needed for around Rainham Marshes today
1. 171...211 - Kestrel? Poor photo I know!
2. 171...481 - Martin maybe? This one confuses me!
3. 171...880 & 171...317 - Grasshopper Warbler? - pretty sure, but up for correction (would be a lifer)


TIA

Actually might not be a Sand Martin

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Benj,

do you have more pictures of the Martin?
My first gut feeling of the thumbnail was Skylark, but the larger picture makes this a House Martin for me.
Yes, its a hard picture (at least for me), but biased by your ID of a Martin in the field (advisable here) and by the feeling that the appearant darkish breast band is too high up for a Sand Martin (?) I would opt for a House Martin.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Sorry,

I forgot the most important thing here:
welcome to Birdforum F Matthews!

 

[Butty]

2. Looks like a skylark. Can't see a hirundine in it. (Easier to identify by watching than when photographing: larks and hirundines fly very differently.)
3-4. Note grasshopper warbler's long thick undertail-coverts with dull dark spots, and row of dark spots across wing.

 

[Birdy1]

Hello Benj,

do you have more pictures of the Martin?
My first gut feeling of the thumbnail was Skylark, but the larger picture makes this a House Martin for me.
Yes, its a hard picture (at least for me), but biased by your ID of a Martin in the field (advisable here) and by the feeling that the appearant darkish breast band is too high up for a Sand Martin (?) I would opt for a House Martin.

I have got a few more photos if needed, the martin ID had nothing to do with in the field, just the photo!

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello again Benji,

than I would like to see them.

And biased by Buttys comment, thanks Butty! It looks better for a Skylark again

 

[Birdy1]

Here you go:
All pretty much the same unfortunately

 

[aeshna5]

I don't see anything to suggest 2 is anything other than a Skylark, which are quite common at Rainham.

 

[stevethehydra]

2 looks much too bulky-bodied for any swallow/martin for me. Not sure what it actually is (the tail looks weird for anything!) but Skylark seems as good a possibility as any.

 

[01101001]

Do you have more photos of the falcon -- why does it have a hint of red around the vent? The contrasting face pattern looks slightly off for Kestrel, too. It's in a marsh, and some Hobbies seem to have arrived in the UK already.

I might be the wrong person to take it up.