help identifying birds (1 Viewer)

[laird of Dunstan]

Hi Guys
i saw a small flock of about 20 of these birds today in Northampton ,what kind are they,sorry about the fuzzy photos i shot them with the phone

 

[klaatu]

Waxwings

 

[laird of Dunstan]

Thank you ,they are very pretty little birds ,cant say that ive noticed them before

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[DavidG58]

a lovely sight, often seen around retail parks where there are lots of rowan trees

 

[JeanLuc]

I think they are Waxwings although the picture is rather fuzzy as you say. A lot have visited this winter. I'm still waiting to see one (or more likely a flock as they are gregarious).
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/w/waxwing/index.aspx

 

[DavidG58]

Thank you ,they are very pretty little birds ,cant say that ive noticed them before

still pretty rare sight, although this year has been good for them here, but more further north

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[laird of Dunstan]

a lovely sight, often seen around retail parks where there are lots of rowan trees

spot on with a location david ,i saw them this afternoon at Grange park in Northampton ,they were after the berrys on a bush/tree and a couple of magpies chased them off

 

[aldhp21]

Waxwings

Agree, Waxwings.

 

[Nirvanauk]

I remember as a yoof seeing a flock of these in Grimsby and ended up on the front page of the Grimsby Evening Telegraph for reporting my sighting. Must have been a slow news day eh?

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[movan]

@laird of Dunstan @klaatu I was driving through Lancashire today when a magnificent bird came soaring down into the field next to me and landed on a post .. it was HUGE and had a bright yellow hooked beak. I looked at photos on google and it looks like a yellow beaked eagle.

Never seen anything like this around these parts .. could it have escaped from local safari parks or have I just been very priviledged?

 

[old-mo]

Hi Guys
i saw a small flock of about 20 of these birds today in Northampton ,what kind are they,sorry about the fuzzy photos i shot them with the phone

Common a garden.. "Sparrer"....

 

[Khizzie]

Waxwings. Winter visitors to my area ..

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[MikeD]

They have been as far south as Hemel Hempstead and are in Garston, near watford at the moment.

And NO I have not seen them - I missed the blinking things.

 

[DavidG58]

@laird of Dunstan @klaatu I was driving through Lancashire today when a magnificent bird came soaring down into the field next to me and landed on a post .. it was HUGE and had a bright yellow hooked beak. I looked at photos on google and it looks like a yellow beaked eagle.

Never seen anything like this around these parts .. could it have escaped from local safari parks or have I just been very priviledged?

you have almost certainly seen a Buzzard, full name Common Buzzard, but yours was a special common buzzard Joy

 

[movan]

you have almost certainly seen a Buzzard, full name Common Buzzard, but yours was a special common buzzard Joy

Shucks!

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[Puddleduck]

you have almost certainly seen a Buzzard, full name Common Buzzard, but yours was a special common buzzard Joy

We have loads of them round here. Known as "Tourist's Eagle". And that was NOT a dig at you Joy. My Brother-in-Law was really excited when he saw one when he visited and insisted we came to look at his eagle. I just looked and said, "Oh there are a lot of them around. They have a perch on that tree." Handed him the binoculars and left him to it.

They are huge though.

 

[laird of Dunstan]

i need to buy a decent book on birds ,ive started to take more of an interest recently ,i have a grey wagtail that comes into the garden and steals my fish food

 

[CWH]

i shot them with the phone

Unmistakably waxwings. Lucky you - I've never seen any "in the flesh"

it was HUGE and had a bright yellow hooked beak

Sorry but I have to agree with the ident of a common buzzard

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[boroboy]

I think waxwings come to Britain from the continent when the weather is bad over there and it's easier to find food here

 

[DavidG58]

i need to buy a decent book on birds ,ive started to take more of an interest recently ,i have a grey wagtail that comes into the garden and steals my fish food

yes you do need a book Matt, although you may well have a grey wagtail, you more likely have a pied wagtail

in my earlier birding days, went on a RSPB walk and proudly announced my sighting of yellow wagtail to be told they have never been seen here, but you probably saw a grey wagtail, but it was nearly yellow, who on earth named these damned things

grey wagtail

yellow wagtail

pied wagtail

then there is a white wagtail that looks exactly (to me anyway) the same as the pied

get a book you can easily carry and try to get one with photos rather than drawings, much easier to identify

this is a good one IMO


Amazon product ASIN 1409344304

 

[laird of Dunstan]

@DavidG58 i had a look at the wagtail, its not a pied wagtail,i got the binos out and it had yellow markings at the chest and rear,i looked at the pictures online and it looked closest to the grey wagtail ,i really must buy a telephoto lenz

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[laird of Dunstan]

When I was at my son's down in Orpington I looked up at the tree in his back garden and was astonished to see a flock of parrakeets living wild

 

[movan]

When I was at my son's down in Orpington I looked up at the tree in his back garden and was astonished to see a flock of parrakeets living wild

Arn't they lovely to see. Apparently some years ago they escaped from a zoo in London and took to breeding or so I was told, when I lived in Lancashire. We phoned up to say there were 'parrots' in our garden which must have escaped from someone's house .. and they told us the info. They were delighted we had phoned as at that time, this was the furthest North they had been seen and the bird people were keeping a track on them.

The birds came back to us for a few years but then disappeared ..... someone said that magpies had been attacking them and killed their young..

 

[Kevan]

Arn't they lovely to see. Apparently some years ago they escaped from a zoo in London and took to breeding or so I was told, when I lived in Lancashire. We phoned up to say there were 'parrots' in our garden which must have escaped from someone's house .. and they told us the info. They were delighted we had phoned as at that time, this was the furthest North they had been seen and the bird people were keeping a track on them.

The birds came back to us for a few years but then disappeared ..... someone said that magpies had been attacking them and killed their young..

Noisy bloody things, green parakeets there every where in Thanet Kent, I can't imagine any bird attacking them, their beaks are very strong, they seem to take over the best sites. Media coverage occasionally suggests that a cull of ring-necked parakeets may be necessary, due to their rapidly expanding numbers and concerns about their potential impact on native bird species such as woodpeckers, starlings and nuthatches, through competition for nest holes.

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[DBK]

i need to buy a decent book on birds ,ive started to take more of an interest recently ,i have a grey wagtail that comes into the garden and steals my fish food

The RSPB do a couple of decent books, there is a pocket book which doesn't list all British birds but it covers all the common ones, and there is a handbook of British birds, which is more comprehensive. They also do one which includes European birds but for UK use I suggest just stick with a book of British birds. I had the Collins Bird Guide given to me as a Christmas present (OK, I said if someone wants to buy me a book can you get...) which is a very comprehensive guide to all European birds but it can be a bit intimidating. I've just looked up nuthatches as we haven't seen ours for a while and I was wondering if they migrate - they don't - and it lists no less than six different nuthatches in Europe, but you will probably only ever see one of them in the UK.

 

[CWH]

I like the RSPB books too @laird of Dunstan , the pocket one really DOES fit in your pocket! Also we have both English & Spanish versions of the handbook, they have the same pages in but not necessarily in the same order..... And having both helps with language learning too.

 

[Speve]

You can get the Collins guide to British an European birds in an app for iPad it's great as is the book IMHO the best available.

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[movan]

I like the RSPB books too @laird of Dunstan , the pocket one really DOES fit in your pocket! Also we have both English & Spanish versions of the handbook, they have the same pages in but not necessarily in the same order..... And having both helps with language learning too.
View attachment 143583

That's MY eagle on the front cover ......

 

[Popeye]

We had a ring necked Pheasant in our garden on Boxing day........... what happened woz...
the dog caught it just as it was going to take off and wouldn't let it go whilst it was flapping around.

Then when the dog let it go it was unable to fly, shortly after that I named it a ring-necked pheasant.

We only eat the breasts, too fiddly for anything else.

 

[CWH]

That's MY eagle on the front cover ......

Well then, I'm happy to tell you that your eagle is a Red Kite
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/r/redkite/

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