Pied Wagtail, it was flying near us in the WSU
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[Misc] The Official NSC Bird Spotting Thread.
- Thread starter 1066familyman
- Start date
Oooh - good shout you're right!
I see them regularly on dog walks.
- Oct 20, 2022
- 7,730
Who says I have you on ignore?
Yes, a few Swallows are wintering over in the UK due to Climate Change - seen, but not by the BTO - rather reported by birders and people putting records into Birdtrack. It would be the last bird I would suggest though if someone was saying they saw something this time of year tbh
In 2022, there were 12 individuals put into Birdtrack for the whole of the UK and N.Ireland ‘mostly in South and SW of England’ so would still be a very unusual sighting in Sussex.
When I get back to work next week, I will try and find out what the latest records for this year are if you are interested..
You did.
chip
Well-known member
I had this puzzle watching what looked like a swallow catching insects just before sunset the other day, I wasn't sure either as I didn't have glasses on.
- Oct 20, 2022
- 7,730
May have done a few months back - my ignore list is in a constant state of flux - I often put someone on ignore if I don’t like the way they are engaging with me then remove it again later.
Anyway, this is a lovely, uncomplicated and friendly thread without the arguments and binfests you see on some of the political and football threads and we all get along because we enjoy watching birds so let’s keep it that way
I know what you mean, I struggled a bit yesterday as everytime I look up, I was a bit dazzled by the floodlights, so tried without my glasses and then couldn't see a thing
..
- Oct 20, 2022
- 7,730
Nice.
Saw one over the Garden yesterday morning (high) - they have populated Norfolk very widely in the past 5 years or so. I think we have a pair nesting on the reserve at work.
Good news.
The pair I saw were flying high unlike the Buzzards I regularly see close up.
- Jul 10, 2003
- 28,223
Obviously not going to let of bit of frozen ground get in the way of a meal this morning
mikeyjh
Well-known member
It's difficult isn't it - I volunteer at Ynys-hir (see me 'featured' in the latest RSPB magazine!!) and I'm while I am interested in conservation, wildlife and birds, I am comfortably the worst for IDs either visually or audibly so when a visitor who certainly seemed to know is stuff was calmly telling me seen an Osprey a few weeks back I took him at face value (they are around in the summer). It was roundly dismissed by the wardens so who knows!
I'm a massive advocate technology and we deploy listening devices to pick up either specific or all species, I think in time there'll be more species out than we knew about. Probably.
- Oct 20, 2022
- 7,730
Not personally heard of any Osprey over-wintering in UK tbh and there aren’t any records on Bird Guides
They can stay quite late into the autumn (the parents and non-breeders tend to migrate earlier so youngsters can linger) - I’ve seen Osprey at the end of October - they can also arrive back very early (end of Feb/early March). However, they are dependent on catching fresh water fish near the surface so given water generally freezes in the winter months or is very cold and fish hunker down in deeper water., there’s not really any food around for Osprey in UK winters.
Possible confusions from a distance could be a male Marsh Harrier or even a very pale looking Common Buzzard like this:
ML626124273 - Common Buzzard - Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML626124273; © Tom Ensom; East Sussex, England, United Kingdom
macaulaylibrary.org