TonyQ Big Year 2018 (The Third)

[TonyQ]

215.UK.34. Muscovy Duck  Cairina moschata           

Lapworth, Warwickshire          30.01.2018

 

Taken with very old "point and shoot"

[TonyQ]

216.UK.35. Black-headed Gull  Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Sandwell Valley           02.02.2018

Swanshurst Park, Birmingham            01.01.2018

Not yet developed the breeding season dark head.

Edited March 6, 2018 by TonyQ

[TonyQ]

217.UK.36. Lesser Redpoll  Carduelis cabaret          

Earlswood, nr Birmingham      15.02.2018

Earlswood, nr Birmingham      16.02.2018

Tricky to photograph, high in trees, jumping about between twigs!

[TonyQ]

218.UK.37. Canada Goose   Branta canadensis       

Trittiford Pool, Birmingham     28.01.2018

[TonyQ]

219.UK.38. Greylag Goose  Anser anser      

Sandwell Valley           02.02.2018

Sandwell Valley           02.02.2018

[TonyQ]

 -  UK.39. House Sparrow   Passer domesticus         

Already posted from The Gambia, so only adding to UK total

Earlswood, nr Birmingham      24.02.2018

[TonyQ]

-   UK.40. Ring-necked Parakeet  Psittacula krameri 

Already posted from The Gambia, so only adding to UK total

(F) Sandwell Valley           07.01.2018

Male showing "ring", Sandwell Valley           02.02.2018

Although I have seen them a number of times, there is still something surprising seeing them so close to Birmingham.

[TonyQ]

220.UK.41. Marsh Tit  Poecile palustris         

Earlswood, nr Birmingham      16.02.2018

A delicate looking, subtly beautiful little bird.

[Galana]

5 hours ago, TonyQ said:

What features make you think it is a Wahlberg?

Just something abut the jizz.

Large heavy bill not a weak one like a Kite/Buzzard. Broader darker wings and a business like head.

Longish tail carried closed, even with a hint of a fork a la Kite but not. Heavy flight.

I would be interested to read what others may think.

 

Some great new additions today too. Well done. Love the waterfowl. Great Goldeneye. Superb male Goosander.

Muscovies on the Stratford Canal too!

Edited March 6, 2018 by Galana
Additonal text.

[Dave Williams]

Well done on blasting past the 200 mark Tony.

[TonyQ]

@Galana thank you, that is helpful.

@Dave Williams thank you. I imagine you are accumulating quite a few in Goa

[Soukous]

@TonyQ  Whilst I really enjoy your 'foreign' birds, I am blown away by the quantity of UK birds you are posting, and by the quality of the images. As for reaching 200 already, great achievement, I didn't manage that in the whole of 2017. 

 

Seeing your photos I'm tempted to come up to Birmingham and try my luck, but I've been watching Peaky Blinders and Birmingham looks a bit backward. 

Edited March 7, 2018 by Soukous

[xelas]

On 07/03/2018 at 8:48 AM, Dave Williams said:

Well done on blasting past the 200 mark Tony.

Not only past the 200 mark but also past The Tortoise and The Hare . Well done, @TonyQ

[TonyQ]

@Soukous Thank you, especially for the comment on the UK birds.

In BIrmingham we thought Peaky Blinders was set in the future as it looks so advanced 

@xelas thank you. The Tortoise and The Hare will both be well ahead of me by the end of the year!

[TonyQ]

221.G183. Wahlberg's Eagle  Hieraaetus wahlbergi 

Abuko Forest   14.01.2018

 

Following the expert advice of @Galana, I decided to add an extra bird to the Gambia list.

[TonyQ]

Back to the UK

222.UK.42. Moorhen  Gallinula chloropus     

Showing amazing legs, Swanshurst Park, Birmingham            11.03.2018

Swanshurst Park, Birmingham            11.03.2018

[TonyQ]

223.UK.43. Mallard  Anas platyrhynchos       

(M) Earlswood, nr Birmingham      16.02.2018

(F) Trittiford Pool, Birmingham     11.03.2018

[TonyQ]

224.UK.44. Whooper Swan  Cygnus cygnus 

Upton Warren, Worcestershire           28.01.2018

We don't see many of these, but this one stayed at Upton Warren for a number of weeks.

[TonyQ]

            .UK.45. Snipe  Gallinago gallinago 

(Already posted in The Gambia, so only counting in UK list)  

Sandwell Valley           02.02.2018

Sandwell Valley           02.02.2018

These were a bit distant, so hope to get better later in the year. However I wanted to post them as it is the largest number of Snipe we have seen in our brief birding career. There were at least 12 of them.

Edited March 17, 2018 by TonyQ

[TonyQ]

225.UK.46. Goldcrest  Regulus regulus         

Sandwell Valley           07.01.2018

Sandwell Valley           07.01.2018

I had these first 2 ready to post, then this morning

Our Garden, Birmingham        17.03.2018

Our Garden, Birmingham        17.03.2018

I had just starting snowing, and this is the first time we have seen a Goldcrest in our garden. We were amazed to see it eating from the Suet Feeder. A real delight!

[Galana]

@TonyQ

You certainly do well with waterfowl down your way. Some lovely photos too as it is easy to overlook the 'humble' Mallard as it is so common.

Oooh! I cannot even get the post finished before you go and post the Goldcrest. Great sequence for a garden bird..

[xelas]

Goldcrest in your garden?! That is how lucky some people are !

[TonyQ]

@Galana @xelas Thank you. We were surprised and delighted to see the Goldcrest in the garden. ANother garden bonus is coming up!

[TonyQ]

            UK.47  Little Grebe     Tachybaptus ruficollis

Already seen in The Gambia so only in UK list

Upton Warren, Worcestershire           25.03.2018

Edited April 9, 2018 by TonyQ

[TonyQ]

            UK.48  Tawny Owl      Strix aluco      

Our Garden, Birmingham        20.03.2018

I am only counting this in my UK list, not the full list as the bird is not identifiable from the photo. You can see a blob in the middle of the photo with white spots on the wings. We heard the owl calling and @Thursday's Child saw it in a tree. It was pretty dark by this time, so this was Taken at iso6400 and then boosted by +3.5 stops in processing. Black and white made it slightly more bearable.

 

I have put it in as we were so excited to see it from our garden.

Edited April 9, 2018 by TonyQ