Not Lepidoptera (Birds) - 3

[Shirley Roulston]

Nice one Eccles, Siskins at last and a pair as well!
Shirley

[cjs]

Hi Eccles, On your trip to New Fancy View did you get to see any Goshawk ?
I agree with Nick that at first glance Gruditch's Kestrel has a lot of rufous underneath !
Nick what's the story with the Waxwing(s) ringed at Aberdeen.

[Shirley Roulston]

I think we could name this one Emu!

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[nick patel]

Hi CJS,

it was just one of the Birds which i found had a ringed leg, and somebody who monitors Waxwings in the UK, says it was ringed in Aberdeen in Nov 08. So this Bird (with its group) presumably coming from Scandinavia has come from there been to Aberdeen, down to the Preston area and is now on the way back.

Cheers.

[sahikmet]

Today a snipe at local nature reserve. Sezar

[Shirley Roulston]

No butterflies here yet but my new camera a Sony A100, a Siskin was very patience whilst I took this photo on a tripod.

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this morning enjoying the see a Pheasant taken with the Panasonic

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Shirley

[sahikmet]

Today another snipe, also bittern but could not get any pictures of the bittern. Sezar

[Shirley Roulston]

Nice photos of the Snipe, those birds are very timid its not easy to get close.
Shirley

[Deano]

Hello everyone
I attach some shots I took at a reserve near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk yesterday.
Kind regards
Deano

[Denise]

Not that interesting, but a shot of my female Robin taken with my Sigma 150m macro!

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[Deano]

Nice Robin shot Denise!
I managed to get to within 3 feet of one last week, before it eventually tired of having me staring at it and flew off! I know they're usually quite tame, but this was the nearest I've ever got.
By the way, what are the plants in the pot that the Robin's sitting on in your photo? I think they look like bird's foot trefoil.
Kind regards
Deano

[Denise]

Hi Deano,

They are Greater Birds-foot Trefoil. They like really damp ground so I potted them to keep them moist.
All the butterflies visited them last year, and I understand that they are the preferred larvael food plant of Silver-Studded Blue as well as Common Blue!

Denise

[cjs]

Hi Denise
Whats the reason you say that your Robin is a female?

[Denise]

Hi cjs,

I have been watching a pair building their nest and just before I took this photo 'he' fed 'her'
I hope that I haven't got it wrong.

Denise

[cjs]

Hi Denise,
I did not want to question your observations, on the contrary mine. If that is the bird that was being fed then I agree with you it’s a female.

[Deano]

They are Greater Birds-foot Trefoil. They like really damp ground so I potted them to keep them moist.
All the butterflies visited them last year, and I understand that they are the preferred larvael food plant of Silver-Studded Blue as well as Common Blue!

Thanks for your info Denise
Regards
Deano

[eccles]

I'm not 100% on this but I think robins can be sexed by the shape of the lower part of the red breast. If there is a significant white notch in the centre where the red meets the white then it is a male. From my own observations, the eyes seem different too with females' being rounder. In winter, both sexes sing to establish and hold territory but during nesting only males sing. Males feed females during the bonding process.
I welcome correction on all points from Denise, or any other robin expert.
Some great bird pics here, and for Denise to get a decent robin pic from a 150mm lens shows some real persistence!

[Pauline]

Hi Shaun

your fabulous photos inspired me to have a go myself but the results were nowhere need as good as yours. I had hoped to see them boxing but perhaps I was a bit late in the year as the females were .... err ... all very compliant.

Pauline

[twitcher]

Hi Pauline,
Great pics, whats the story on your second one was it coming towards you or did you just happen on it ?
Hares box all year just more concentrated feb/march so keep trying.Ive seen them box last week but
to early light wise to photograph (never mind nice to see)
Shaun.

[cjs]

Hi Eccles
Robins cannot be sexed on plumage.
In fact it is possible, but not easy, to separate our Robin, Erithacus rubecula melophilus from the Scandinavian Nominate subspecies E.r.rubecula by plumage, but best by jizz.
However it was after reading a book by T. Birkhead “The Wisdom of Birds” that left me wondering about the Id between sexes of birds that were impossible to tell apart by plumage.
As the breeding season approaches male passerines testes grow. Some small (Bullfinch) some larger (Dunnock). This is referred to as their cloaca and is supposed to be visible. In the pic by Denise of the Robin I thought I could see what was referred to. Totally embarrassed I see now that it is a part of the opposite wing that is showing.
I also thought that the presence of a brood patch might be seen if this was a female.
Although I am just questioning my own observations I am happy to accept that what Denise saw was indeed evidence of a female.