What’s this little chap?
1 Like
Turnstone(s)
…and a feral pigeon 
1 Like
Great to see the feral pigeons fighting back against the Turnstone who are just taking over
There were 2 or 3 Turnstones, 1 feral pigeon but the bosses down on Padstow harbour are still chip thieving gulls.
1 Like
Turnstones are only Winter visitors in the UK - they breed way North of here - predominantly in the high Arctic. But a summer/breeding plumage plumage bird is something to see.
Occasionally an early returning bird will retain its breeding plumage, but they’re far from common (I’ve only seen a few)
3 Likes
Today is the anniversary of the birth of The Birdman of India. A particularly poignant date for me. I have visited the Salim Ali Sanctuary in Goa and the reverance in which he’s held is more than justified.
Sálim Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) a top birder and all round naturalist, he did so much to promote the appreciation of birds on the Sub-Continent. He also wrote many birding books. His magnum opus (with SD Ripley) - Handbook of the Birds of India & Pakistan published nearly 50 years ago, is still THE birders reference book for that part of the World.
8 Likes
Is climate change causing regional birding books to go out of date simply because some of them relocate, either into or out of the country named on the front of the book ?
VB
Only to a very small extent. Certainly changes in climate and habitat destruction/creation have had consequences, notably range extension/contraction and species extinction. However, descriptions of plumage, calls, song, preferred habitat, behaviour etc. are all still 99.9% valid.
Clearly, the discovery of new species to science cannot be ignored, but the cases of those are vanishingly small in that part of the World - I believe only 4 new species have been discovered in India since 1947 - so it hardly renders the publication obsolete.
I have all 10 volumes and IME it is possibly the most comprehensive identification handbook I’ve seen that covers a wide geographical area
Something I never knew existed in the UK. Apparently used to catch rats and mice. What sick fucks. Glue traps.
https://www.facebook.com/RSPCA/photos/a.76251508046/10160412032923047/?cft[0]=AZXbZ6QexnXOVBDI5YjvV4MoSqQJjRZPsS4CpknqNKnXDyI0p3QRsCX5MXxBIeypKWqK52V05_84ZtGpXLaOJecBTaj63a6J5TM4B2BgtJQSChkwr9bIQjxk8pw9DXpLUyC7K-F90PWq18Oz3kpYousiu2jQroiEjxwUJy6yYFNUTBK4gmoQCdI5aFhaFytImU3pRe2P2nsN1AU3XGTsw7Ws&tn=EH-y-R
Way too common, unfortunately.
Lots of cunts out there, they need locking in a phone box with an angry eagle owl.
4 Likes
I decided it was long overdue for me to try my hand at digiscoping. I’ve got a Leica 'scope and the Leica camera adaptor so all I needed was a T2 mount to suit my camera of choice. I have two suitable digital camera bodies – Fuji X-pro1 and Panasonic Lumix G3 – so I ordered T2 mounts for each of them.
This morning the Fuji mount was the first one to arrive and so I had a bit of a trial run.
Leica APO Televid 77/Leica adaptor/Fuji X-pro1
Ok, it’s not going to win any awards, but bearing in mind the very poor light today and that it was shot through a not very clean window, I’m reasonably satisfied with the result.
19 Likes
Superb.
I didn’t realise the bird type , which would be nice if there’s more
It’s a starling, albeit of the Shetland race - sturnus vulgaris zetlandicus
I thought there would be more to it , but seriously just real stuff to show the kids while you’re having fun
Cracking pic. Better than I could do, in any conditions.
How far away Paul, roughly?
Oh, it was pretty close, maybe 15m away.
1 Like
Wow
Shetland Starlings go full disco!
1 Like
VERY underrated birds. Amazing plumage variations.