[SA Chris]

Russet brown back and black wingtips - kestrel?

Spotted it a few times on the seacliffs, but first time I've manged to see any clear markings.

[andy_e]

Aye, our kes indeed.

Went to RSPB Titchwell the other day and saw, amongst other things, some spoonbills, egrets and a pectoral sandpiper.

[SA Chris]

Cheers. Saw it again last night, and a buzzard, twice (assuming it was the same one in two different places), 2 herons plus the usual assorted gulls and LBJs.

[SamT]

Great Crested Grebes with chicks and probably a cormorant (rather than a shag - I find it hard to tell the difference) at Linacre Res the other week.

(nice place to take the kids for a walk or cycle but watch out for dog sh*t mines    )

[Johnny Brown]

You don't get Shags inland, only Cormorants.

[SamT]

Shag
Shags are birds of the coast. Occasionally, they turn up inland along rivers and lakes, but usually alone (cormorants are often seen in groups inland)

  .... http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/shag/identification.aspx

checked before I posted before - this one was alone, but I still think cormorant as its bill/face seemed lighter as per the pic in the above link IIRC .

[Johnny Brown]

Well I've never seen one inland. The rule of probabilities is generally useful, as with 'I think I saw an Eagle, but it may have been a Buzzard...' It was a Buzzard, and no I don't need the details...

[SamT]

The rule of probabilities is generally useful

Totally agree, exactly the way I operate and why I said I'd seen a cormorant at Linacre

My dad was once going to write a bird spotting book that went along the lines of..

Every bird you see that is black is a blackbird.
If a bit bigger, perhaps in a group in a tree, its a rook.
If the rook has a grey head, its a jackdaw.
If its a bit bigger than a rook and on its own, its a Crow.
If the crow is being acrobatic, in the mountains, and has a diamond shaped tail, and honks its a Raven.

Every brown bird you see in your garden is a sparrow..
If the sparrow has a red breast - its a robin
etc
etc

[Johnny Brown]

Bill Oddie's 'Little black bird book' has a guide along similar lines,

I've seen this funny bird in my garden.

It was a Jay.

Shall I describe it?

No. It was a Jay.

But it was pink and blue. etc...

with the denouement being:

Hold on, it was in a vicar's a garden? It was a Hoopoe...

[slackline]

Some Peruvian wildlife from the Huayhuash Trek...


Heron by slack---line, on Flickr


Two Little Birds by slack---line, on Flickr


And then there was one... by slack---line, on Flickr


Camouflaged by slack---line, on Flickr

[SamT]

Surprised to see a greater spotted woodpecker on our seed feeder the other day.  Not bad for Sharrow.  Guess it has plenty of habitat round here (the cemetery for instance).

[richieb]

I came home from work tonight to find a kestrel tearing a pigeon apart in the front garden. I looked in through the living room window to see if the missus had seen it, she wasn't there but the TV was on and Bill Oddie was being interviewed!

[robertostallioni]

are you trying to call the grit?

[Johnny Brown]

Sounds more like a sparrowhawk than a kestrel to me. In other news, I've had reports of a crow-headed quail at Curbar.

[richieb]

Just had a look at some pictures and yep you are probably right. I wasn't sure if a kestrel could take a pigeon to be honest. Now I think about it you don't see kestrels up here much anyway. 
It was definately Bill Oddie on the TV though!

[SamT]

which reminds me - female sparrowhawk floating through the sharrow cemetery.

[slackline]

Fox in the Ishinca Valley, Peru...


The Eyes by slack---line, on Flickr

[SA Chris]

Not spotted by me, but some cool new spottings.

http://news.discovery.com/animals/new-species-discovered-in-new-guinea-110627.html

[SamT]

garden spider by sam_townsend, on Flickr

Massive beastie in the corner of our patio window, about an inch long in total,  Garden Spider I think.

[andy_e]

I'm after a pair of robust, small, cheap binoculars for when I'm out bouldering and also for when I'm sat on my sofa so I can get a better look at the birds feeding on my feeders. Anybody got any recommendations?

[Johnny Brown]

I would suggest a pair of 8x25s, (forget what the design type is called) at whichever price point suits. Along these lines. I would avoid the more compact ones that look like two tubes (typically 8x20). Unfortunately you won't get anything robust cheaply. I went through four pairs in about six years before ponying up for something a bit bigger and a lot better quality (Minox 8x33HG).

[richieb]

Untitled by richiebetts, on Flickr

Sea Eagle from the crag at Gruinard today. Seen them there before but not had chance to take a pic. Last time I spotted one it turned out to be a heron.

[duncan]

Loch Ness Monster quality shot of a pod of 5-6 dolphins from The Cuttings this Saturday.  I've seen a similar group from Boulder Ruckle but never on Portland nor this close to the shore. 

[fatneck]

Hit the Orme on Saturday and were treated to a Peregrine getting hassled by seagulls and then a massive pod of Dolphins that hung around opposite Pill Box for a good hour. Added to this was loads of rainbows including at least 2 double rainbows! Good times...

Shit dolphin photo...



Shit double Rainbow photo...

[DaveC]

Wandered into the front garden to find out what was keeping our two cats rather fascinated under a small lavender bush. Saw a reptilian tail sticking out just before noticing that the front end of a modest-sized Tiger Snake was actually only a few inches from my seriously unprotected foot!!  Didn't think I could jump that far from a standing start at my age!!
The snake-catcher (yes, we have professional snake-catchers here!) turned up half-an-hour later but there was no sign of the little sod so now the cats are going to be shut in for a couple of days and it's heavy boots & jeans for any work in the garden for a while.
I have not told the mrs quite how close my foot was as she is shaken up enough as it is (her first encounter with one of our little legless nasties.) That's another life used up now anyway.