That time of year again when we're woken up by the sound of hieroglyphics being carved into the sky above #salopobs 😍 #skylark
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Ha, I almost commented that both might be Taigas as they seem a similar size in the pic of both. But the solo photo of the other looked a bit more Tundra proportioned. Hadn't realised how big it was. Completely agree that they shouldn't be one of each, and should be Taigas in Greylag pasture!
The first pic is a Taiga to my eye. That long neck, peaked rear crown, lack of forehead, pale breast, full swaggery vent and broad white tail tip are all Taiga features
Thought I'd use the courtesy car to do a @btobirds.bsky.social heronry survey, and accidentally found a drake Lesser Scaup! Shropshire's third, but second at this site this year! South end of The Mere, #Ellesmere currently 🤩 #shropshirebirding #ukbirding
Just another BOU inconsistency. Some species need rings, some species definitely don't! #justiceforfuscus
Yes! Feb 97. And the Hull Bufflehead. And returning Redhead, couple of Black Ducks, Blue-winged Teals, Lesser Scaup, Surfers, few American Wigeons, Pied-billed Grebe... amazing winter
That Marbled Duck was perfect. And the Hardley Flood WHD. Spot on. Also pleased I saw the Hebs Hood Merg... Of course Wissington was also a very exciting day! Gotta love the ducks 🦆
Sunday night was a busy one for #nocmig at #salopobs with the expected territorial Little Grebe, Coots and Moorhens, Barn and Tawny Owls, then a Bittern at 2300 and finally this yappy Mandarin at 0539
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It doesn't look quite as white as mine... bsky.app/profile/salo...
Crikey, shows the problem with just one pic. Would love to see the others if you didn't mind
Suspect it's got some Barnacle in its ancestry - there's a ghosting of the darker breast, and the base of the neck sock is a bit blurred. Odd shape too. Not a Todd's by any means
That's surely a leucistic Herring Gull - size, face, odd primaries
A quick scout around a friend's mothtrap as I was leaving after dinner produced seven species including this cracking Oak Beauty 😍 #teammoth #mothsmatter
The eighth #CaspianGull of the year was in the Battlefield gull field this morning, a large and advanced 3cy shining through the gloom. Who knows how many individuals daily rather than weekly visits would have produced #shropshirebirding #ukbirding
Wow, top work! Especially these days. Mega
My copy arrived today, a fantastic regional avifauna - which marginally intersects with my patch. Favourite page so far details an amazing one-off seabird displacement; illustrated with a potentially unique UK agonistic encounter... #UKBirding
That's awesome! A day like that would be so exciting now, as we watched reports real time
Another home from work diversion allowed me to catch another of #shropshirebirding recent purple patch with the 3 Cranes on the Weald Moors north of Telford until they got up at 1400 and headed SE until lost to view. @belvidebirding.bsky.social next? #ukbirding
Good views of the sun today thanks to natural filters of fog this morning and Saharan dust this evening. Great to see the details of sunspot regions 4378, 4381 and 4384 😎🛬 #atmosphericoptics
Look at any flock of birds and you'll notice oddities, and this pair are very odd. When asleep, I assumed they'd be Russian Whitefronts, based on pale tones and broad fringes, but those heads and bills are very much Greenlands. Even odder to be a pair (or siblings?) 🤔 #goosing #birdingscotland
Following the recent disastrous news about Greenland Whitefront numbers, yesterday's count of 2,423 on Kintyre, including some decent age ratio counts (~12%), was encouraging. Such smart geese 👌 #goosing #birdingscotland
Just the same as if in a flock of Pinks, no interaction aside from the odd chase
Came across 6 Russian Whitefronts amongst a pleasing total of 2,423 Greenlands on Kintyre today: one at Laggan and 5 at Rhunahaorine. Chalk and cheese #goosing #birdingscotland
Second time lucky for the dinky little Richardson's Cackling Goose with Canadas and 2 Barnacles north of Lochgilphead at Dunadd Fort, to continue small goose day #goosing #birdingscotland
Nice to catch up with the ad Ross's Goose with Greylags on Kintyre at Laggan early afternoon. Single ad Russian Whitefront with 2,013 Greenlanders 😍 #goosing #birdingscotland
Thanks. Yes, the scope definitely creates it a bit, but the green on the sunset waxes and wanes as you watch it - the same phenomenon as causes the infamous green flash
Nice wobbly, sunspotty, green-rimmed #sunset over the Atlantic this evening before that big #moon rose
Had to call in to see the Taiga Bean octet in Ayrshire this morning to add to the haul in this winter of geese. And then onwards to Kintyre and a Russian Whitefront amongst 256 Greenlands at Rhunahaorine #goosing #scottishbirding
Who knows! But based on trajectory, maybe Aberystwyth?!
#salopobs garden tick 💥151💥 came in the form of an adult Iceland Gull this morning, WSW over Condover at 0838. Amazing, especially in this era of dwindling wingers. I take it all back @danbranch94.bsky.social! #ukbirding
