Steve Suttill wrote:

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Hi Martyn looks like a male Linnet to me.

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Well it looked like a Linnet yesterday on my laptop Confucius he say "better to remain silent and look foolish than to open mouth and remove all possible doubt" Steve

Well, it's Lesser Redpoll (Carduelis cabaret) in my opinion but they are indeed a confusing bunch!

You sure can see a lot more in those crappy pixels than I can Ian! I think what confused me is the number of sub-species. It looks more like Carduelis flammea than Carduelis cabaret to me. But to confuse it with Carduelis cannabina is not surprising either for a newbie like me. It seems others here may be equally uncertain too. Thanks for your help.

Fairly warm buffish around the face and flanks the latter of which are streaked darker. The bill is dark tipped but pale yellowish for 2/3's of it's length and the lores (in between bill and eye) are noticeably dark, blackish as is the feathering just around the base of the bill. Importantly, notice the bright deep reddish isololated patch on the forehead (or 'poll' as it's known) plus the similarly coloured breast. Note also the fairly heavy (isolated) steaks on it's undertail coverts.

Any clearer?

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 27th of March 2011 11:35:46 PM

I have the book, but I'm still undecided due to the poor quality of my photos. Any more pointers to help me decide please?

Actually Dave it sounds brilliant though with respect, not my cup of tea. Hope it goes really well

Now, the more I learn the less I know. Why does that basically perfectly sum up
gulling in one sentence

Flowers! Don't get me started, you think you have it bad with Barnacle Geese 'not being wild' me and Henry Cook have probably pulled our hair out trying to work out countable species for our GM Plant list with what constitutes a wild flower - still get a headache thinking about it now . Guess I won't be able to tempt you on the tour i will be leading to Romania next year in search of wild Bear, Wolf and Lynx as well as going for a fungi hunt in ancient Transylvanian woodland....filled with delicious edible mushrooms All the best mate Dave

What until I start posting on your wildlife forum, then you'll see how poor my skills are in that arena. Fungus to me is either risotto de fungi or a nice big field mushroom pan fried in a bit of butter . Flowers etc are worse still and if it's not a daffodil then forget it. I'm one dimensional and proud of it

Yes master Yoda A wise naturalist once told me 'The more i learn the less i know' - Don't think there is a quote that sums up learning about the natural world better than this one. Always good to go over 'basics' to make sure - i'm looking at the two species now to make sure! Dave

Ah, but the difference is that I've not actually said what the bird is as such Dave as I think it should be left to the observer to decide why it is what it is. With a little help or prompting along the way of course, otherwise how are we to learn and improve

I'm going to say Redpoll

EDIT: think i was writing as you put it on Ian

Dave

-- Edited by David Winnard on Sunday 27th of March 2011 10:38:34 PM

Martyn, get your favourite field guide (I'd always advise the latest Collins Bird Guide if you haven't already got it) and compare your mystery bird to Lesser Redpoll. See what you think and why it is or isn't that species or Linnet.

Hi Martyn looks like a male Linnet to me. Can you start an alternative Mystery Bird Competition? Thought I was doing OK this year (four out of four!) with Ian's until this month... Steve

Hi Martyn, There are a few simple things to help with getting 'sharp images', like are you using a good tripod or hand holding? Are you shooting continuous focus on moving subjects? What type of focus points are you using? The list could be endless though. How much are you cropping the images? Sorry can't be more precise. From experience of hearing people say they have 'faulty' gear and they can't get sharp images, most turn out to be user error (though sometimes they are right). All the best Dave

One of the great things about this forum is having access to so many knowledgeable and experienced birders. I've met a few of you locally on my birding trips to Penny, Rindle Road and Clifton Marina and everyone has been very friendly and helpful. And so once again I am asking for ID help on a bird I photographed (rather poorly) today. It's at the bottom of my most recent post about Rindle Road on my blog (web address below this message) and I think it's either a Redpoll or a Linnet, but it could be something else. If anyone could take the time to have a look for me I'd be very grateful - you could write your reply (and hopefully indicate what clinches the ID) in the comments underneath the picture on my blog or as a reply to this message on this forum. As an aside, I also recently posted on by blog about still being dissatisfied with the quality of the photos I'm currently taking. The photos here are not of great quality, but I'm hoping the bird in question will be recognisable to those with experience. I'm not so concerned about the quality of these photos, but the ones of the Buzzard in the same post should have been much better. If anyone has any suggestions about improving the quality of shots like this I'd also like to hear from you. Looking forward to some replies. Cheers, Martyn

Many thanks to Riggers and Nick Isherwood who've both confirmed my ID's from the photos on my blog.

Can anyone help me to positively identify three birds I saw at Penny this weekend please. I think they are: 1) stock dove - or is it just a pigeon? 2) Meadow pipits - are they all mpits or is the one in the grass different ? 3) Siskin - very poor picture Pictures of all of them (along with some others I do know) are here: http://gt-birding-scrapbook.blogspot.com/2011/01/pennington-flash.html You'll need to scroll down until the birds in question come in to view. I know these are common birds to most of you, but I'd just like confirmation if that's OK. You can put any replies in the comments underneath all the pictures at the bottom of the post or you could PM me here - either will be fine. Thanks in advance, Martyn