Passerine? Falcon? Bath, England (1 Viewer)

[Charlie Spencer]

May 27, 2023. Northeast of Bath between the River Avon and the Kennet & Avon canal. Clear, warm day with light wind.

Other than passerine or falcon, I don't have much of a guess. I fired off a shot at the distant perched bird. Someone in the group probably identified it but I was overwhelmed with new birds and can't match the photo to my checklist. I'm pretty sure it IS on my list, and that there's on lifer on the line here.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Bewick]

kind of gives me spotted flycatcher vibes.

May you tell us what you believe it might be. It’s certainly too small for a falcon.

 

[THE_FERN]

Perhaps robin

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Charlie,

any more pictures?

Until then, I agree with Bewick: it might well be a Spotted Flycatcher

Only judging from colouration, the other contender is a Lesser Whitethroat (and yes, just within variation for a Robin, although the majority even worn/faded now are browner). Tail/Wing ratio and appearant long pp is better for Spotted Flycatcher and wrong for Lesser Whitethroat if real.

At first I gort the feeling of a large bird here too (that would make this a Sparrowhawk imo, but tail seems to short and not full enough), but the quiz birds made me realize once more, that I am often wrong here. And: thanks Butty again!

 

[THE_FERN]

Near impossible to be sure of the colours here...

 

[Richard Dale]

Spot fly or possibly mistle thrush would potentially fit - both have the requisite long primary projection and the bird shows a hint of a white outer tail feather. Very different sized birds, but hard to judge this without at least knowing what species of tree it's sitting in - alder possibly?

 

[KenM]

Spotfly is a reasonable call here, beyond which I can’t see any other potential candidates.
Mistle Thrush would imo show contrasting paler edges to median and outer coverts which this bird does not exhibit.

Cheers

 

[Barred Wobbler]

The exposure was all over the place on the original, so I've adjusted the light and colour balance to try to improve it.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

Hello Charlie,

any more pictures?

Sorry, that's it. Later today I'll add the uncropped original. Maybe seeing the full size of the tree will help.

At least two people on another site also think Spotted Flycatcher. Passerine? Falcon? Bath, England

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

 

[Andy Adcock]

Linnet?

 

[Charlie Spencer]

Later today I'll add the uncropped original. Maybe seeing the full size of the tree will help.

 

[Bewick]

Still looks spotted fly to me, sadly don’t think there will be a definite answer to this one.

 

[Richard Dale]

Pleased to see I got the tree species right though...

 

[Charlie Spencer]

I'm going to tag the photo as 'Spotted Flycatcher (Tentative)" and not included it on that day's checklist.

Thanks, everyone!