Winter birds

[johnalison]

I can't offer much that is boaty at the moment but there was a good selection of birds at the back of Titchmarsh a couple of days ago, of which these two photos cover a small section. I took them only by pointing my camera through a telescope, hence the poor quality. How many of the eight species shown do you know? Not included here were golden plover, grey plover, curlew, widgeon, turnstone, shelduck, knots. brent geese and some grebes that I was unsure about, possibly black-necked.

 

[seivadnehpets]

Oystercatcher? Mallard? Egyptian Goose? Herring Gull?
What’s the one dipping it’s pointy beak next to the goose’s arse?

 

[seivadnehpets]

Pics seem pretty good to me!

 

[johnalison]

Pics seem pretty good to me!

Well, you got one right!

 

[seivadnehpets]

Well, you got one right

Oystercatcher?

 

[Irish Rover]

Well, you got one right!

I've noticed before how knowledgeable you are in relation to all things to do with nature. I'm embarrassed to say I'm a numpty by comparison. I probably had a good enough knowledge of the birds around us where I grew up in a rural part of the west of Ireland where, as they used to say, even the snipe wore wellingtons. I see many birds every day when I'm on my boat here in the Aegean but I struggle to identify many. With a view to correcting that I just bought this book which I'll keep on the boat when I get back after Christmas. It's a magnificent volume over 430 pages a bit bigger than A4 size and it's bilingual which is an added bonus. Many of the Turkish names are more colourful and descriptive than the English

 

[Bouba]

Our flamingos are still here...I don’t know if that’s climate change or they are just lazy

 

[PaulRainbow]

Pass the orange sauce please.

 

[johnalison]

I've noticed before how knowledgeable you are in relation to all things to do with nature. I'm embarrassed to say I'm a numpty by comparison. I probably had a good enough knowledge of the birds around us where I grew up in a rural part of the west of Ireland where, as they used to say, even the snipe wore wellingtons. I see many birds every day when I'm on my boat here in the Aegean but I struggle to identify many. With a view to correcting that I just bought this book which I'll keep on the boat when I get back after Christmas. It's a magnificent volume over 430 pages a bit bigger than A4 size and it's bilingual which is an added bonus. Many of the Turkish names are more colourful and descriptive than the English
View attachment 203612

The Collins Field Guide to European Birds should cover your area and is my go-to reference.

 

[wonkywinch]

I thought this was going to be about a night out in Newcastle.

 

[johnalison]

I thought this was going to be about a night out in Newcastle.

I went to Newcastle once, in my car loaded up with boat stuff to catch a ferry to Gothenberg. We visited the marina where a chap came up to us and said “You’re going to Gothenberg I presume”. To our puzzled look he said “You’ve got a sailing club badge on your car and it’s loaded up with boat stuff and the ferry leaves in a hour or two”. It turned out that they took delivery of their HR in Ellos on the same day a month later, only theirs was a 46. We heard later that they had a big falling out with their crew who were asked/told not to smoke in the boat but managed to do so in their cabin. I’m not sure what this has to do with birds.

 

[johnalison]

A guide for anyone who still doesn't know what these common birds are.

 

[Bouba]

A guide for anyone who still doesn't know what these common birds are.
View attachment 203644View attachment 203645

Is it a joke ?....all the birds are exactly the same

 

[PaulRainbow]

Is it a joke ?....all the birds are exactly the same

 

[Puffin10032]

You've got a few Pintail in there as well (second image upper right).

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Rather further East, but the ferry I was on was followed by a flock of egrets. I still find it amazing that a bird we see in the UK is so common in Hong Kong!

 

[johnalison]

You've got a few Pintail in there as well (second image upper right).

Captioned in both pictures ackshally. It is one of the birds that I look forward to seeing each autumn, with sometimes as many as 150 in the one creek. This week it was that many teal.

 

[Puffin10032]

Captioned in both pictures ackshally. It is one of the birds that I look forward to seeing each autumn, with sometimes as many as 150 in the one creek. This week it was that many teal.

I was just looking at the initial un-captioned images. Mea culpa. Now if you could just have a word with some of those Pintail and tell that there are some excellent gravel pits in the Midlands which would be well worth them visiting...

 

[johnalison]

I was just looking at the initial un-captioned images. Mea culpa. Now if you could just have a word with some of those Pintail and tell that there are some excellent gravel pits in the Midlands which would be well worth them visiting...

No fear. I'm keeping them. Here's a couple of your friends from near Sark a few years ago.

If anyone is unsure about shore birds and doesn't mind half an hour of extreme boredom, I would be happy to meet them at Titchmarsh somewhere near low tide in the next few weeks and bring my telescope.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

No fear. I'm keeping them. Here's a couple of your friends from near Sark a few years ago.

If anyone is unsure about shore birds and doesn't mind half an hour of extreme boredom, I would be happy to meet them at Titchmarsh somewhere near low tide in the next few weeks and bring my telescope.View attachment 203684

Even ardent birders can find some kinds uninteresting. One I knew, while ecstatic over things like snow buntings (in Svalbard) classed a lot of birds as "boring brown birds"!