Galana's. Third big year.

[Galana]

New Years resolution broken already. Quality not quantity sez I.

Hardly had the green light gone on and I blew it already on a walk into the shops today.

 

001. Hooded Crow. Western race. Ramsey harbour.

 

002. Black-headed Gull. Winter plumage. Ramsey harbour.

 

003. Eurasian Jackdaw. Ramsey Harbour.

 

004. Mute Swan. Ramsey harbour.

 

005. Redshank. Tidal roosting and having a dip.

 

006. Oystercatcher. Note the white throat in winter. Mooragh Lake, Ramsey.

I did snap Ruddy Turnstones too but my other resolution was to reduce the EBCs if possible.

[michael-ibk]

Why would you reduce the ebcs? They are far too much fun! ;-)

[PeterHG]

Working in two Big Year threads at the same time.....!  Your energy is amazing 

[Galana]

3 hours ago, PeterHG said:

Working in two Big Year threads at the same time..

Yes. I will just have to be careful to keep them separate.  If I report a Fish Eagle in Ramsey you will know I got it wrong

[Zim Girl]

I love that you can get these birds on a 'walk to the shops' 

[Galana]

3 hours ago, Zim Girl said:

I love that you can get these birds on a 'walk to the shops'

Grand innit?

Google Earth for Ramsey (4 22' 57"West.about 54.19'.38"  N) and you will see this:-

Galana Towers is on the vacant plot at the top where the green Dot is. My shopping route follows the red dotted line to the Swing Bridge over the harbour. "The shops" a.k.as Parliament Street are where you see TH.

The walk is maybe half a mile (that's a kilometre to our metric friends and English children) and can take ten minutes or, if I remember my camera and the tide is right, quite some time!

The lake at the top is not tidal. Check the view on http://www.ramseycam.com/webcam_003.htm The Mooragh park camera is about six feet from this terminal. check the sponsor.

Shopping is never a chore here.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Galana
Text amendments.

[Galana]

Shopping done so we let the sunny morning tempt us out to the far north. (all of 8 miles).

And it was quite productive and got some of "the usual suspects" on the list to free time later.

007. Eurasian Magpie.

 

008. "Winter" Wren in the winter sun.

 

009. Pied Wagtail. Bathing at 45F.

 

010. Carrion Crow.

 

011. Meadow Pipit.

 

012. Dunnock, Hedge Sparrow or Hedge Accentor.

 

013. Rook.

 

014. Starling.

 

015. Blackbirds. M and F.

 

016. Robin. Always very confiding here.

 

017. European Stonechat.

 

018. Eurasian Curlew. A flock of maybe 100.

 

019. Song Thrush.

and finally for today 9th January 2019:-

 

020. Herring Gull.

Two a day keeps @xelas at bay.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Galana

[TonyQ]

That is a great selection so early. I can see you are very serious this year

[mvecht]

@Galana

great pictures.

I just learned something about naming of birds. Your Herring Gull did not look at all like "Sildemaage" which is the direct danish translation of Herring Gull, so I had to look it up and I then realised that the danish namesake is actually the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)

[PeterHG]

That is quite a collection for one trip! Love the colour of your Purplebird 

[Galana]

59 minutes ago, PeterHG said:

Love the colour of your Purplebird 

Yes quite the dandy is he not? Probably jealous of all the starlings etc., I saw in Uganda.

@mvecht Herring Gull and Lesser Black Back are not the same species. Herring Gull is Larus argentatus which in German is Silbermowe.

Just to confuse us all The Lesser Black-backed Gull (fuscus) is Heringsmowe in German.

On the topic of fuscus there is now a tendency to 'split' this species into some races. For instance fuscus fuscus in Eastern Scandinavia is known in Europe as Baltic Gull. The 'British' version is fuscus graellsii. f intermedius is sort of half way in the middle.

[mvecht]

@Galana   I guess that my last post could be misunderstood.  What I was trying to say was that for me, your bird did not look like a Herring Gull  and I had to look it up, until I realised that it was due to me doing a direct translation of the name. I was expecting a black backed Gull and then when I looked it up,I learned that Argentatus  in English is Herring Gull  and in Danish  is Black backed Gull.

When it comes to naming of birds in Danish, we often are closer to the German naming than English. As you mention the German name for Herring Gull is Silbermowe which would be translated as Silver Gull. In Danish it is called Sølvmaage which also means "Silver Gull".

For the fuscus both the Germans and Danes call it "Herring Gull" in our respective languages. In Denmark you can actually find all 3 subspecies.

It could actually be argued here that the English name for Herring Gull is the one that is incorrect  . Silver in Latin is Argentum

Edited January 10, 2019 by mvecht

[Zim Girl]

A flock of 100 curlew must have been pretty impressive.

[Galana]

6 hours ago, mvecht said:

It could actually be argued here that the English name for Herring Gull is the one that is incorrect 

Of course. but then @xelas wold only get more confused than he is already with čajka striebristá, 

 

2 hours ago, Zim Girl said:

A flock of 100 curlew must have been pretty impressive.

Very true. It was hard to single out a few for their portrait. There was obviously something in that field that appealed as they weer there for well over three hours..

[Kitsafari]

a very successful shopping trip for you and for us too. 

is this in London itself? asks an ignorant foreigner. 

[Dave Williams]

Well that's it , the Isle of Man has now been covered and poor Fred will soon get dizzy going round and round in 8 mile circles seeking out a migrant arrival.When is your next escape planned????!!!!

[Galana]

17 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

is this in London itself?

Oooh! That like saying Singapore is in Malaysia. But you are forgiven. Even the eedjits in Whitehall don't know where the country with the oldest continuous Parliament in the world is situated.

 

On 1/9/2019 at 4:42 PM, Galana said:

Google Earth for Ramsey (4 22' 57"West.about 54.19'.38"  N) and you will see this:-

 

@Dave Williams Maybe a tortoise would say that but I have another 30 miles or so I can drive before the water goes over the hub caps. There are quite a few yet to have their portraits taken before I am out of local subjects.

My next 'escape' is to Spain where I have never birded. Thanks to @PeterHGfor the inspiration to go.

And give me a chance to finish the postings for last year first!!

Edited January 11, 2019 by Galana
Additonal text.

[Galana]

On 1/10/2019 at 6:09 PM, Dave Williams said:

poor Fred will soon get dizzy going round and round in 8 mile circles seeking out a migrant arrival.

Well one need not travel far in this compact and varied isle.

I stayed within my 8 mile radius and look what I found:-

Her Pas seul needs working on. I blame the Owl!

21. Whooper Swans. Ballamoar. 5.6 miles as the Swan flies, 6.2 for me to drive.

 

22. Wood Pigeon - Ring Dove or plain Cushat. Much closer to home.

 

23. Moorhen Waterhen or Woggie. Just out of town. If Picasa does not watch it I could make one a Lesser Gallinule.

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Williams]

I guess the advantage of being on a reasonably small island ( and I don't wish to be insulting our three legged friends) is that it's harder to hide. I spent a couple of hours looking for Whooper Swans the other day but to no avail.

Spain next for me too, a week of hide photography!

[Galana]

3 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Spain next for me too,

When and where?

Finding our Whoopers can be just as taxing. Whilst more or less in the north of the Island most of the winter they do like to have a quick away day now and then. Even when 'local' they can be hard to locate. A huge bright white bird can be as tricky as a wren sometimes.

[Dave Williams]

@Galana Inland from Valencia, end of next week for a week's hide photography. The weather looks good later in the week so a trip to the Isle of Anglesey beckons.

[Galana]

5 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Inland from Valencia,

OK. I have to wait until early March to sample what Sipan has to offer.

In the meantime I will just have to keep running round in circles over here.

So, despite a somewhat drab outlook, this is what I did.

24. Eiders off shore. Point of Ayre.

 

25. European Wigeon. Glascoe Dubh.  Fairly reliable in winter and just up the road....

 

26. Mallard. Might as well chuck them in the pot too.

 

27. Some flying rats while I am at it. Neighbour's roof from my window. He feeds them and they then transfer their assets over here.

 

 

[Galana]

Sticking to my theoretical 8 mile circle on a dreich afternoon did not prevent a couple of additions to the list:-

28. Eurasian Coot. Cranstal. IOM.   I only counted the one image.

 

29. Mistle Thrush. Ballakesh. IOM. Living up to its country name of Stormcock.

 

 

[Galana]

The sun came out and so did I. The cold kept many birds hyperactive but I nailed a couple, perhaps three? of more sedate types. Still within my 8 mile radius which I must break out of soon.

 

30. Greylag Goose. Cranstal fields.IOM.

But wait ! Who is the tall dark stranger? Or in this case pure white vagrant?

Sadly I could not get to see the primaries which should be black but the size and Jizz is good for a Snow Goose.

 

Anyway....

31. Eurasian Pheasant. This one is known as "Chinese Ringneck". Torquatus.

whilst his neighbour

is Roman. Colchicus. with no ring and a brown rump.

Breeds not S.Sp so only counted once.

[Zim Girl]

Interesting there are 'named' colour differences between pheasants @Galana, I will have to look out for them.  There are loads round our way and they can come out of hiding in couple of days time!!