firstreesjohn
Well-known member
No ‘flies on me ! Or, ‘It’s behind you. Oh no, it’s not!’
Starting at Salthouse, I spent much longer here than I'd intended, with interesting chats with John W (about buntings and finches) and Noel E (a chat about chats). A goose called and then landed amongst the Brents: White-front. A patch tick; not that I keep a list. There was also a ghastly (or is that ghostly?) leucistic Brent, an abomination of a Canada/Greylag hybrid and a decidedly ropey Barnacle. I did not spend much time gandering at the gooseys.
However, in my attempts to obtain reasonable shots of the White-front, I saw the fore-mentioned Goose goosed by a goose (a Brent). Remarkable: that’s why I’ve written it. I do not advise clicking on the head shot.
Next stop, Wells. An admirably battered butterfly decided first to make a beeline for my car (if that’s not an attempt at familial cross-breeding) and then, without my permission, make the back of my fleece its transient resting place. (I did not take the RH photo.)
Unfortunately, there was nothing here worthy of mention in the avian line.
The (Hunstanton) Swift that has apparently changed from Common into Pallid illustrates the extreme difficulty of IDing these in poor light. When one of our leading bird observatories seemingly has doubts AFTER RINGING ONE, what hope do we poor, merely watching mortals have ? Four hours after dusk and there is still no report on their website.
I expressed the opinion yesterday that I could occasionally see a silvery line on the underwing (comparable with Sooty Shearwater) and an overall sandy colour- both of these only at certain angles, but not most of the time- and an intermittently languid flight action. Two of Norfolk’s leading birders (one of international repute) were of the firm opinion that the bird was Common. How has this bird become Pallid ?
A matter of some gentle amusement to me: over 50 people have now clicked on my shot from yesterday of featureless grey sky. With a photo of a German river and road- that would not pass a GCSE Photography exam- going for over £2.7 million (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15689652), I hereby invite offers.
Starting at Salthouse, I spent much longer here than I'd intended, with interesting chats with John W (about buntings and finches) and Noel E (a chat about chats). A goose called and then landed amongst the Brents: White-front. A patch tick; not that I keep a list. There was also a ghastly (or is that ghostly?) leucistic Brent, an abomination of a Canada/Greylag hybrid and a decidedly ropey Barnacle. I did not spend much time gandering at the gooseys.
However, in my attempts to obtain reasonable shots of the White-front, I saw the fore-mentioned Goose goosed by a goose (a Brent). Remarkable: that’s why I’ve written it. I do not advise clicking on the head shot.
Next stop, Wells. An admirably battered butterfly decided first to make a beeline for my car (if that’s not an attempt at familial cross-breeding) and then, without my permission, make the back of my fleece its transient resting place. (I did not take the RH photo.)
Unfortunately, there was nothing here worthy of mention in the avian line.
The (Hunstanton) Swift that has apparently changed from Common into Pallid illustrates the extreme difficulty of IDing these in poor light. When one of our leading bird observatories seemingly has doubts AFTER RINGING ONE, what hope do we poor, merely watching mortals have ? Four hours after dusk and there is still no report on their website.
I expressed the opinion yesterday that I could occasionally see a silvery line on the underwing (comparable with Sooty Shearwater) and an overall sandy colour- both of these only at certain angles, but not most of the time- and an intermittently languid flight action. Two of Norfolk’s leading birders (one of international repute) were of the firm opinion that the bird was Common. How has this bird become Pallid ?
A matter of some gentle amusement to me: over 50 people have now clicked on my shot from yesterday of featureless grey sky. With a photo of a German river and road- that would not pass a GCSE Photography exam- going for over £2.7 million (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-15689652), I hereby invite offers.
