Some photos of the 2cy Yellow-legged gull from this afternoon. Not the cleanest bird with no visible moult in greater coverts and a prominent pale inner primary window
Hi John, nothing new for Crows, youll see them outwit dogs on any local park, seen them simply take to the air a few feet in a vertical column and drop down in the same spot as if to hop over them.
Have been keeping a watch on the gulls over the last couple of weeks, looking for signs of HPAI. Good numbers, all looking healthy, included peaks of 790 Black-headed, and 24 Herring Gulls, the latter more than I usually see here. Also during last week or so, all on school field, up to 56 Redwing, 2 Fieldfare, 8 Mistle Thrush, and 152 Starling.
One day, I was looking at a single Carrion Crow feeding on a football field when a dog ran at it. Instead of just flying off to somewhere more peaceful, if waited until the dog was very close, then took off and flew low over the grass, keeping just in front of the chasing dog. The crow obviously was putting effort into its flight, and just keeping about one to two yards in front of, and on the same level as the dog's jaws. After about 100 yards of this, the crow suddenly gained height and kept position about eight feet above the dog, the latter leaping up frantically, trying to catch the crow. Five to ten seconds of this ended when the crow set off again, low over the grass, again chased by the dog. Another 50 yards passed, then the crow rose and perched on a goal crossbar, the dog again leaping up towards it. The crow set off low again, but this time the dog was diverted either by another dog, or by its owner's call, and it ran off. The crow then resumed a more normal flight, soon perching in a nearby tree, and looked at me.
Pink-footed Goose skein of 60 flying east at 08.25 Ring-necked Parakeet 49. Birds arriving from the east in small groups early on, most moving on west, a few settling. Buzzard 1 Sparrowhawk 1 Mistle Thrush 1
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Kingfisher 1 flew low across the playing field adjacent to the cemetery towards Stretford Ees. My 2nd here (10 Jun 2019), still bizarre considering there is no water.
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Lesser Whitethroat 1 adult in the school hedgerow Common Whitethroat 2 juvenile in the school hedgerow Chiffchaff 6 (1 singing) Mistle Thrush flock of 20 juveniles Swift 1
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Pied Flycatcher 1 at the west side flanking the cemetery Whitethroat 1 Chiffchaff 15 Mistle Thrush 24 juvenile together Reed Bunting 1 Sparrowhawk 1 Ring-necked Parakeet 18
Willow Warbler 1 (first fresh migrant juvenile of the autumn) Chiffchaff 1 Blackcap 1 Sparrowhawk 1 juvenile over Stretford Cemetery (where a pair were displaying earlier in the year) Swift 9 Sand Martin 1 Swallow 17 House Martin 11 House Sparrow 35
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Mediterranean Gull 2 adult. The first flew in from the west at 07.30, the 2nd just appeared 10 minutes later Black-headed Gull 81 Herring Gull 4 Lesser Black-backed Gull 33
Mediterranean Gull 3 adults. All un-ringed. A typical date on par with the previous two years. Black-headed Gull 55 Lesser Black-backed Gull 80 Herring Gull 4
Black-headed Gull c850. Darvics - white on right leg 8TA, green on left leg JCYO, also a blue one (North West - not read) Common Gull 196 Herring Gull 8 Lesser Black-backed Gull 11 Mallard 14 Heron 1 Pied Wagtail 13 Sparrowhawk 1 Mistle Thrush 2
Ring-necked Parakeet 152 (minimum 132, maximum 172) left the pre roost NE by 16.10. A group of 20+ chased off the long staying escapee Harris Hawk which flew towards Longford Park.
Tree Pipit 3 (including 2 together in the SE corner) Spotted Flycatcher 1 (school hedge) Lesser Whitethroat 2 (school hedge) Common Whitethroat 2 (school hedge) Blackcap 2 Willow Warbler 5 Chiffchaff 8 Swift 8 House Martin 10 Swallow 1 Black-headed Gull 48
Redstart 1 male. Initially in SE corner hedgerows, later relocated in the school hedgerow (or two bird theory possibly) Willow Tit 1 singing and moving west along Hawthorn Lane Willow Warbler 5 Chiffchaff 3 Blackcap 8 Meadow Pipit 1
Green JCY0 was at S.W.P. on 7th January this year, along with another Norwegian bird. I tried submitting them via the Norwegian website, but just got error messages, so I tried an email, but got no reply, so I gave up.
JS.
The email on cr-ringing doesn't work. There is a link to the Norwegian site Ringmerking where you need to open an account. It's a bit of a rigmarole but the data comes through instantly once submitted.
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Updated birding videos on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/c/PeteHinesbirding
Green JCY0 was at S.W.P. on 7th January this year, along with another Norwegian bird. I tried submitting them via the Norwegian website, but just got error messages, so I tried an email, but got no reply, so I gave up.