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Mfuwe's second year.


Galana

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I think you had Curlew as No.50 as well as No.61. A good strategyB)

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@TonyQ

Gosh yes. One would think that with so few it would be easy to remember. Just shows what lack of use can do to one's brain.

Abject apologies.

@Dave Williams  I watched The Thomas Crown Affair but never saw any Whimbrels. Just footprints in the sand.

 

Must try harder!  I am I AM!

 

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Right so lets get the numbers correct.

This is 64.

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64. Pink-footed Geese. Thurot. IOM. Worryingly they were flying south not north west for Iceland.

Do they know something we don't?

 

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65. Blackbird. Ballakesh.  I will get a better one no doubt but I need to get some in the Bank to add weight to the Hares and Tortoises.

 

But at least today the birds had started to sing having passed St. Valentines Day.

 

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55. Dunnock. Ballghennie. Just to cheer us up.

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Another day another sortie if this snail is to catch the tortoise let alone the hare although I did say at the beginning that this year would not/could not be so productive.

A shame really as I did so want to do justice to the nice new Nikkon that I won for BY2017. Thanks Matt!

 

To commence with a special for @elefromoz as these are simply irresistible and at times even downright insistent. A lovely springtime singer.

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43 Mark 3.

And an improvement on last time's Blackbird. We can always get a better one. They are like buses.

You can wait for ages for the first one to come along.

 

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65. Eurasian Blackbird. Ballakesh Plantation. Isle of Man.

 

Time to get on with the scorers:-

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66.Blue Tit. Ballakesh Plantation. Isle of Man. Feeding on new buds.

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Not done all of today yet.

I got called away.

 

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67. Great Tit. Ballakesh Plantation.

 

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68. Chaffinch. A nice male in the Pink, pink! Ballakesh Plantation. Indeed the more observant of you will note it is in the same tree as the Tits and Blackbird .Even our Plantations are small over here.

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And now for something completely different.

A BIF.

Actually the first Common Kestrel I have seen for ages and I never even got one for BY2017 at all.

 

So I am making the most of this one that flew over.

 

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69. Common Kestrel. Over Ballakesh Plantation. Just look at that blue sky. No Photoshop here. WYSIWYG!

 

Now we enter EBC territory although I am fairly comfortable that I well get these birds later in the year.

But......oft said so I will score the more improbable one.

 

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70. Can you see what it is yet? Point of Ayre.

 

And finally with no score just a suffix.

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70B. Common Guillimots. Good to see them coming inshore again. Point of Ayre.

 

.

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Lovely additions - especially the three from the plantation. The Blue Tit is beautiful.

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Dave Williams

Nice find, a GND ! I became obsessed with them in breeding plumage when I went to Iceland, a stunning bird.

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Here we go again.

A real mixed bag and you should see the ones I threw away.:unsure:

 

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71. Skylark. Smeale Ayres. The first of the year.

 

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72. Wood Pigeon (Ring Dove or Cushat.) Ballacorey. IOM.

I never know why some birds are Doves and the other Pigeons.

 

Now for a good reason for an anti glare filter.

 

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73. Goldeneye. Somewhat of a rarity here. I was actually looking for some late Widgeon and this guy popped up briefly. Rubbish shot but probably my only chance this year. Glascoe Dubh. IOM.

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Now you see him now you don't.

 

 

Even the Widgeon shots were up sun.

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74. Widgeon. Glascoe Dubh. Dog Mills, IOM.

 

Perhaps I will do better tomorrow?

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Or the naming on IOM is different or even the best can make a mistake:

 

74. Eurasian Wigeon - Anas penelopa

 

Goldeneye is darn difficult to get the proper exposure on it!

Edited by xelas
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3 hours ago, xelas said:

74. Eurasian Wigeon - Anas penelopa

Widgeon-Pidgeon, let's call the whole thing off!:(

I blame my Pidjin english. Parker says her ladyship is called Penelope!

I will try harder with that Goldeneye.

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Even I could not let that Goldeneye stand alone.

 

So I went back this morning and after a short wait he came out and preened nicely so no disappearing below as the shutter clicked.

A word about the site. "Glascoe Dubh" . Glascoe is a farm and Dubh is Manx for what the English call a "Carr". A small water filled hollow in scrubland. Literally "Dubh" translates as 'Black.'.

Anyway the thing is surrounded by reeds and thickets and this makes it darn awkward to get clear shots. If the foreground does not block the focus the limited light won't help and as for the sun.....!

But we suffer for our hobby and today the bird was more helpful but not ideal.

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73. Goldeneye. Bucephala clangula. Glascoe Dubh. North of Dog Mills,. IOM.

 

And on the way back for lunch I managed a half decent shot of :-

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75. Magpie. Miss Guyler's Meadow. Sulby, Isle of Man

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Gosh it is cold but I have worked out that if I get two a day that will make 730 in a year.

But having got the poor little beggars out singing in the sunshine we now have temps of 35 at midday. No idea what that is in Centigrade but I bet its not a lot in the new fangled Celsius either.

Have we given up plastic, CFC fridges, burning fossil fuels for a false promise of Global Warming? I want my money back!

Even my two efforts of today look frozen stiff.

 

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76. Goldfinch. Ballakesh Plantation.

 

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77. Song Thrush. Ballakesh Plantation. Isle of Man.

 

Those following this glacial effort will realise that I am spending some time up there. It is a small patch of Conifer, Gorse and briar only 100 metres square about 8 miles from my home.

My species list for it is 57 so I am not done there yet.

 

What I could do with is a nice lake with a couple of hides but they are unknown here.

 

Oh heck. Here is another resident and irresistible Robin.

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43. Mark 5.

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On 2/16/2018 at 2:21 PM, Galana said:

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64. Pink-footed Geese. Thurot. IOM. Worryingly they were flying south not north west for Iceland.

Do they know something we don't?

Written only 12 days ago and given the current British weather It seems that they certainly did.

Clever birds!

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The sun came out and so did the birds. Many of our old friends of course but two new ones for the list.

I was actually very pleased to see both as neither are particularly common here.

 

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78. Greenfinch. Ballakesh. IOM.( I must clean that windscreen!)

 

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79. Curlew Sandpiper.  Point of Ayre.

 

 

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Clambered over cliffs today. No Auks on shore yet but it cannot be long!

But the true sign of Spring in the shape of Northern Fulmars paired up gains me a point.

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Even a BIF of sorts.

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80. Northern Fulmar. Maughold Broughs, Isle of Man.

 

 

 

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Before we get into EBC territory I felt obliged to give a couple of refreshers for earlier poorer quality stuff.

 

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053. Fieldfare. Ballaghennie. IOM.

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055. Dunnock. Ballakesh. IOM.

 

And now not to EBC but too close for comfort.

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081. Raven. Ballakesh. IOM.

and not EBC unless E is for 'extreme' but as I cannot rely on another photo this year, I did not get one at all last year....

I give you Britain's most persecuted bird! Another GPS tagged male 'disappeared' only last week over a Grouse Moor! http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2018/03/01/another-hen-harrier-marc-goes-missing/#more-23869

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082. Hen Harrier. Ballaghennie. IOM.

I am not into BIF but needs must. As I was talking to the Reserve Warden this bird drifted by at about 500 yards, or metres if you prefer. Snatched up camera and too late to wait for full zoom I snapped off a couple relying on pre set focus at infinity and hoping greater depth of field would help.

Not brilliant but better than nowt!

Female by the Ringtail.

 

 

 

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A glorious springlike day ahead of the next storm but duty calls.

 

Two more BIF I am afraid .

First up is a fairly common sighting around here but rarely able to grab a shot.

This one was hunting waders off the beach.

 

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83. Peregrine Falcon. Off Smeale, Isle of Man.

 

Indulge me with this one please. I know @Dave Williams will.

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84. Red-throated Diver. Off Smeale Beach. Almost in Scottish Waters.

 

As shown here.

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First arrow shows Mull of Galloway Lighthouse. Second is the target bird!

So now you see my home waters!

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Today's poor effort.

Normally the excuse is "You should get out more!" but I am I am.

Birds are now more visible but still hard to nail down.

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85. Greylag Goose. Ballaugh Curraghs, IOM.  A few now breed here but I wanted to get them before the majority move on north.

 

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86. Coal Tit. Close Sartfield, IOM. For once posing but still shy.

I am trying to mop up the locals as and when I can.

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Spring is springing.

A morning outing to Sunset City revealed what I had been hoping to see for days. Seabirds coming to land to breed.

But first another mammal. We had the Common Seal a while ago. Here is the much commoner, in these waters, Atlantic or Grey Seal.

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And then a flashback to #47 with a somewhat better shot.

 

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47. Common Redshank. Peel Harbour. IOM. Technically on a man made object of dressed stone on the harbour slipway.:o

The day's star goes to:-

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87. Black Guillimot. Peel Harbour. ( Purt ny Hinshey ) One of my favourites.

 

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88. Shag. Peel Harbour. They don't often come into harbours but this young one obviously felt sorry for me.

 

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89. Another sign of spring. Black-legged Kittiwake. Peel. Young ones with the head smudge. Harbour wall again.

 

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90. Eiders. Female first and splendid male below. Off Peel.

Three other 'spring' species seen but all evaded the camera.

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Peter Connan

The red under the first Guilemot: is that it's foot, or something else?

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@Galana

12 hours ago, Galana said:

Spring is springing.

Glad to hear it! The Black Guillemot is nice, maybe thats one I'll see in Scotland next Spring/Summer? and a few others I hope...

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6 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

is that it's foot, or something else?

It's is the bird's foot. viz.1-DSCN2298.JPG.bade8b79f1058c4f78d4ade581cc822a.JPG

Close up they are full of contrasts. Mainly black with White Oval wing patch. Bright red legs and red gape.

 

5 hours ago, elefromoz said:

maybe thats one I'll see in Scotland next Spring/Summer? and a few others I hope...

No reason to doubt that. 30,000 pairs. They frequent the small harbours around the west coast and can often be seen from Ferries. Called "Tystie" in Scotland.

I am sure you will see lots of other birds too. If you need help just ask. I hope you will try the Hebrides too. I shall be 'up' there in May again.

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Some really nice additions, especially the Black Guillemot and the Kittiwake. Getting close to the hundred!

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3 hours ago, TonyQ said:

Getting close to the hundred!

Thanks. I had hoped to get my first century before leaving for an off island foray but it is looking unlikely now. Hard to think I have yet to 'score' a bloomin House Sparrow.

 

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