Pedro´s Rookie Year

[pedro maia]

Now some photos of birds I already had on my counting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Wow, you are really getting into this!

Some excellent additions. I will give some thoughts on your identifications, but I am not the most experienced birder

1 yes 2 yes 3 yes

4 I have never seen a Water Pipit so would guess meadow

5 yes

6 probably 

7 looks like a common sandpiper 

8 I think is a Greenfinch. Have a look at the shape of the beak and compare it to a picture of the chiffchaff. I think the beak of your bird is much thicker

 

I think you are going to get a lot of birds this year!

[Galana]

Totally agree with @TonyQ re the correct and incorrect sets. All OK bar 7 & 8 Sandpiper and Greenfinch. (The yellow wing bars tell me it is a greenfinch).

As Tony also says a big guide to filtering out birds is to look at the beak/bill.

Insect eaters have a thin bill and seed eaters have a blunt beak for crushing seeds. Blunt beaks say "Finch" or "Sparrow". Thin beaks say Warblers, Chats etc., Look at your Stonechat and Wagtail in the last set and then look at your Linnets and Greenfinch in earlier ones. It all helps to home in on the species if you look at beaks.

 

A very productive day.  Did you ever count the Kestrel in an earlier post? Another type of beak. Hooked for killing so a raptor.

[pedro maia]

@Galana Now I´m going to count the previous batch of pictures with those I could ID and with the corrections of TonyQ (conformed by you, thanks) and then I have a couple more to try to ID before moving to the Krestel, which I didn´t count yet, we saw quite a few birds of prey but in the end most of them, if not all, are krestels, although I have a few doubts regarding a couple of them who may be too distant to ID.

 

And i´m trying to look at beaks and other details but as a total ignorant rookie sometimes I don´t even now how to start looking.

[pedro maia]

@TonyQ Thanks a lot for the corrections and confirmations, about numbers it´s still too early, right now it´s easy because I´m starting from zero.

[pedro maia]

Counting (and a bit of editing):

 

#22, Northern Lapwing, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#23, Carrion Crow, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#24, White Stork, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#25, Meadow Pipit, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

A different Individual but I think I´m not mistaken

 

#26, Cattle Egret, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#27, Corn Bunting, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#28, Common Sandpiper, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#29, Greenfich, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

[pedro maia]

A couple of birds I I already have in my count, if my ID is correct:

 

Corn Bunting

 

And this one seems to me like a Stonechat

[Game Warden]

@pedro maia Okay okay, you've persuaded me: time to arrange a birding trip with you somewhere round Lisbon. I'll bring the wine and picnic. You take the photos  

[pedro maia]

And now the birds of prey, we saw quite a few but I think almost all were Eurasian Krestel (I´m pretty sure I saw one Black-winged Kite but didn´t get to take a picture):

 

#30, Eurasian Krestel, 9-2 Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This must be another one, it was fascinating to see it hover repeatedly and then coming down to try and catch something, pity it wasn´t closer to us:

 

[pedro maia]

And to finish, I think this is a different one, Those were the "best" pictures I could take and it´s difficult to ID but my guess is it´s an Eurasian Marsh-harrier; I hope someone can confirm or correct:

 

 

 

 

 

[pedro maia]

10 minutes ago, Game Warden said:

@pedro maia Okay okay, you've persuaded me: time to arrange a birding trip with you somewhere round Lisbon. I'll bring the wine and picnic. You take the photos  

 

We can arrange that, I bet you never went to the Lezíria.

[mvecht]

@pedro maia  Looks like an European Marsh Harrier to me. The wings are held very high and also the very long tail are strong indications but hard to make a 100% id from the pictures.

[pedro maia]

14 minutes ago, mvecht said:

@pedro maia  Looks like an European Marsh Harrier to me. The wings are held very high and also the very long tail are strong indications but hard to make a 100% id from the pictures.

 

I know my pictures aren´t very good for ID but from other pictures I saw, like this one from ebird

 

 

the white parts in the wings and in the top of the head and bellow the beak, and the shape of the wings and tail seem pretty similar.

[Dave Williams]

You are getting your eye in on the ID front too, well done. Told you you would soon be a "proper" birder once you joined this thread! 

[Galana]

Confirmed March Harrier.  3& 4  clearly show the light coloured 'shoulders'. The final sitting shot clinches it.

As @Dave Williams says. This forum is bringing out the birder in you.

[pedro maia]

Counting update:

 

1 White Wagtail

#2 Grey Wagtail 

#3 Common Blackbird 

#4 Mallard 

#5 Common Moorhen

#6 Egyptian Goose

#7 Lesser Black-backed Gull

#8 Common Kingfisher

#9, Great Cormoran

#10, Rock Dove

#11, Black-winged Stilt 

#12, Pied Avocet 

#13, Little Egret

#14, Black-tailed Godwit

#15, Black Redstart

#16, Great Egret

#17, Grey Heron

#18, Stonechat

#19, Linnet

#20, Yellow Legged Gull

#21, Ruddy Turnstone

#22, Northern Lapwing

#23, Carrion Crow

#24, White Stork

#25, Meadow Pipit

#26, Cattle Egret

#27, Corn Bunting

#28, Common Sandpiper

#29, Greenfich

#30, Eurasian Krestel

#31, Eurasian Marsh-harrier

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2019 by pedro maia

[xelas]

A warm welcome to this highly addictive group, @pedro maia. Soon enough you will be tempted to buy your first bird book, and after that, there is no way out of this fun (and time consuming) hobby 

Edited February 14, 2019 by xelas

[pedro maia]

@xelas For the momment I´m not thinking about buying books, although as you say this is highly addictive.

 

I hope you´re enjoying Kwazulu-Natal, a really beautiful part of South Africa.

Edited February 14, 2019 by pedro maia

[xelas]

Indeed a lovely place, and very much different to what we have seen before.

[Kitsafari]

A belated but still warm welcome  to the BY addicts! You've come along very nicely - and making such good progress in ID-ing birds that I almost doubt your claim that you are not a birder. Don't worry about ID mistakes - I make it all the time, and repeat them too. (hanging my head in shame). 

[pedro maia]

@Kitsafari Thanks for the welcome, I´m trying to progress, I know I´m in a league on my own but I´m enjoying myself and hopefully will improve with time and I don´t mind making mistakes, no problem with that.

[pedro maia]

#32, 15-2, Hoopoe, Lagoa Pequena

 

#33, 15-2, Eurasian Coot, Lagoa Pequena

 

#34, 15-2, Common Pochard, Lagoa Pequena

 

#35, 15-2, Northern Shoveler, Lagoa Pequena

 

#36, 15-2, Gadwall, Lagoa Pequena

 

#37, 15-2, Great Tit, Lagoa Pequena

 

 

(I hope the Great Tit is correct, I put here the 2 pictures I took of it in order to help in confirmation, which would be appreciated)

 

Edited February 18, 2019 by pedro maia

[Galana]

Great Tit is correct. Well done.

[pedro maia]

A few additions from last Saturday morning:

 

#38, 16-2, Black-headed Gull, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#39, 16-2, House Sparrow, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#40, 16-2, Common Starling, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

#41, 16-2, Sardinian Warbler, Lezíria Vila Franca de Xira

 

 

[pedro maia]

And now a few doubts.

 

Can this be a Richard´s Pipit, or is it a Meadow Pipit, which I already have (photo taken by my wife with her Lumix):

 

Are these both  female Stonechats?

 

 

I guess this is a House Sparrow, right?