Fetch Birdwatchers
165 watchers
May 2023
9:22pm, 15 May 2023
3,893 posts
|
jacdaw
I think that is a good spot for a HH, and a good description. They are quite delicate, a bit owl like, very distinctive hunting style; really slow and low, almost stalling. So yeah, I'd go for male HH. Please don't tell anybody the exact location! |
May 2023
9:23pm, 15 May 2023
59,550 posts
|
Derby Tup
Sounds like male hen harrier. Ghostly looking things on a dull day; amazing, precious, rare and endangered any and every day
|
May 2023
9:25pm, 15 May 2023
2,723 posts
|
paulcook
You have reminded me of the smaller, fairly striking bird, over the moors that I saw myself on Sunday, but I'm at a bigger loss to ID. I'd almost say it looked very similar to a bullfinch with a distinctive white throat. Best I can come up with is stonechat, whinchat or whitethroat (!) but not convinced by any of them. I thought it would be obvious given how striking it was. Unless it was just a bullfinch.
|
May 2023
9:26pm, 15 May 2023
2,296 posts
|
Heinzster
Awesome! It was a beautiful evening, but there was something nearly ethereal about it, and it was gliding very slowly. Looks like it's confirmed! Thank you
|
|
May 2023
9:37pm, 15 May 2023
59,551 posts
|
Derby Tup
As jacdaw says please do not disclose where you saw it. Nice spot. Really great
|
|
May 2023
9:48pm, 15 May 2023
2,724 posts
|
paulcook
Never even considered that. Despite the fact one of our lads at training last week was pretty much on about the reasons why you both say it.
|
|
May 2023
9:58pm, 15 May 2023
59,553 posts
|
Derby Tup
Sorry, your bird sounds like stonechat to me paulcook I alway describe them as 'perching birds'. They are bulbous things, almost like bees, often seen on the edge of the higher moorland standing on plants, stems etc above the ground. Listen out for where they get their name 
|
May 2023
10:12pm, 15 May 2023
4,337 posts
|
phal
RSPB ask for Hen Harrier sightings to be reported to them - we’ve emailed them in the past - it allows them to track all possible sightings. rspb.org.uk |
|
May 2023
10:38pm, 15 May 2023
2,725 posts
|
paulcook
Sorry, your bird sounds like stonechat to me paulcook I alway describe them as 'perching birds'. They are bulbous things, almost like bees, often seen on the edge of the higher moorland standing on plants, stems etc above the ground. Listen out for where they get their name Thank you Derby Tup. That's certainly the one of those that I'd have picked first. It took me 24+ hours to remember to look and then only fleetingly until Heinzster's post, but I was more surprised that yesterday's memory was of something I thought would be really obvious. I may be misremembering the white cheeks/necks for a white throat. But the rest of your description matches the scenario pretty well. (Not that I can actually remember the very point I saw it now. oops!) |
|
May 2023
7:46pm, 16 May 2023
2,733 posts
|
paulcook
First positive ID of the summer of a lone swift tonight.
|
Related Threads
-
Bird song watch
Jul 2024
-
Bird Attacks
Jul 2020
-
How do fetchies survive seagull breeding season?
Jun 2019
-
Swallows - Who's got swallows?
Apr 2016
-
Nesting Seagulls!
Jul 2013
-
Hedgehog watch and other nocturnal garden visitors
Dec 2024
-
Morning Light: The Fetchland Gardening Wire
Nov 2024
-
Beekeeping Fetchies
Jul 2023
-
Sunlight, Warmth, Happiness… and triffids
Jul 2020
-
Daft Dills - have you got springtime?
Dec 2024