What will almost certainly be a quiet little year - Soukous 2019

[Galana]

On 6/18/2019 at 10:02 AM, Soukous said:

#127 and am now thinking it is a non-breeding Village Indigobird.

I think so too. Or maybe Shaft-tailed Whydah comes close too.

Surely your #143 is Kittlitz and not White-fronted?

[Soukous]

12 hours ago, Galana said:

I think so too. Or maybe Shaft-tailed Whydah comes close too.

Surely your #143 is Kittlitz and not White-fronted?

 

Wow, it is not easy (for me anyway) to tell the difference between the Village Indigobird and the Shaft-tailed Whydah when they are females or non-breeding plumage.

I am favouring Village Indigobird because the photos I have of Shaft-tailed Whydahs have the head plumage looking a little different. 

The field guide is not a lot of help as they concentrate on the obvious plumage of the breeding males. 

 

RE: #143 - Yes. I had it down as Kittlitz's Plover and them had a brain fart and decided I'd got it wrong and changed to favour the White-fronted Plover. Looking back, I cannot explain why I did that. A senior moment perhaps. 

 

[Soukous]

It gets harder now.

After the relative luxury of being driven around by someone who is far quicker at ID-ing the species than I am, I now have to go it alone, and on foot.

 

An early morning stroll down to the tidal marshes at Shingle Street did yield a few new species for my Quiet Little Year; even in the images are not of a quality I am happy with. At least the rain has stopped.

 

[Soukous]

#171 - Reed Bunting - Emberiza schoeniclus

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

 

 

I was quite excited for a brief moment when i thought I had another species of Bunting, but I am pretty sure that this is just the female Reed Bunting

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#172 - Great Black-backed Gull - immature - Larus marinus - not at all certain of this one as gulls are not a strong point, especially immtaure ones

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#173 - Herring Gull - Larus argentatus

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

 

[Soukous]

#174 - Avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#175 - Oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

and a couple more that I was not going to post, but will do so as I am unlikely to see either of them again this year.

 

#176 - Golden Weaver - Ploceus xanthops

Zambezi NP, Zimbabwe. May 2019

 

 

[Soukous]

#177 - Collared Palm Thrush - Cichladusa arquata 

Zambezi NP, Zimbabwe. May 2019

 

[Soukous]

For those that are interested, here is a list of the species we managed to log in Zimbabwe. If I'm honest, it is a shorter list than we had hoped for, especially from the Zambezi NP section, but there are a few good ones in there.

Bird List – Zimbabwe May 2019

01	Babbler, Arrow Marked	02	Babbler, Southern Pied
03	Barbet, Black-collared	04	Barbet, Crested
05	Bateleur	06	Batis, Chinspot
07	Bee-eater, Little	08	Bee-eater, Swallow-tailed
09	Bee-eater, White-fronted	10	Boubou, Tropical
11	Bulbul, Dark-capped	12	Bustard, Kori
13	Camaroptera, Grey-backed	14	Cisticola, Rattling
15	Cisticola, Zitting	16	Coot, Red-knobbed
17	Cormorant, Reed	18	Cormorant, White-breasted
19	Coucal, Senegal	20	Courser, Temminck’s
21	Courser, Three-banded	22	Crane, Grey Crowned
23	Crow, Pied	24	Darter, African
25	Dove, Cape Turtle / Ring-necked	26	Dove, Emerald-spotted Wood
27	Dove, Laughing	28	Dove, Namaqua
29	Dove, Rock	30	Drongo, Fork-tailed
31	Duck, White-faced Whistling	32	Eagle, African Fish
33	Eagle, African Hawk	34	Eagle, Lesser Spotted
35	Eagle, Tawny	36	Egret, Great
37	Egret, Little	38	Egret, Western Cattle
39	Finch, African Quail	40	Finfoot, African
41	Firefinch, Jameson’s	42	Fiscal, Common
43	Go-away Bird, Grey	44	Goose, Egyptian
45	Goose, Spur-winged	46	Duck, Knob-billed (Comb Duck)
47	Grebe, Little	48	Guineafowl, Helmeted
49	Hamerkop	50	Hawk, African Harrier (Gymnogene)
51	Heron, Black-headed	52	Heron, Green-backed
53	Heron, Grey	54	Heron, Squacco
55	Hoopoe, African	56	Hornbill, African Grey
57	Hornbill, Southern Ground	58	Hornbill, Southern Red-billed
59	Hornbill, Southern Yellow-billed	60	Hornbill, Trumpeter
61	Ibis, African Sacred	62	Ibis, Glossy
63	Ibis, Hadeda	64	Jacana, African
65	Jacana, Lesser	66	Kestrel, Greater
67	Kingfisher, Brown-hooded	68	Kingfisher, Giant
69	Kingfisher, Pied	70	Kingfisher, Half-collared
71	Kingfisher, Striped	72	Kite, Black-shouldered
73	Korhaan, Red-crested	74	Lapwing, African Wattled
75	Lapwing, Blacksmith	76	Lapwing, Crowned
77	Lapwing, White-crowned	78	Lark, Dusky
79	Lark, Sabota	80	Moorhen, Common
81	Mousebird, Red-faced	82	Nightjar, Freckled
83	Openbill, African	84	Oriole, African, Golden
85	Osprey, Western	86	Ostrich, Common
87	Owl, Verraux’s Eagle	88	Owl, Western Barn
89	Owlet, Pearl-spotted	90	Oxpecker, Red-billed
91	Oxpecker, Yellow-billed	92	Parrot, Grey-headed
93	Parrot, Meyer’s	94	Pigeon, African Green
95	Pipit, African	96	Pipit, Buffy
97	Plover, Common Ringed	98	Plover, Kittlitz’s
99	Plover, Three-banded	100	Prinia, Tawny-flanked
101	Quelea, red-billed	102	Robin, White-browed Scrub
103	Roller, Lilac-breasted	104	Roller, Purple
105	Roller, Racket-tailed	106	Sandgrouse, Burchell’s
107	Sandgrouse, Double-banded	108	Sandgrouse, Yellow-throated
109	Sandpiper, Marsh	110	Secretarybird
111	Shikra	112	Shrike, Magpie
113	Shrike, Southern White-crowned	114	Shrike, White-crested Helmet
115	Sparrow, Southern Grey-headed	116	Spoonbill, African
117	Spurfowl, Red-billed	118	Spurfowl, Swainson’s
119	Starling, Cape Glossy	120	Starling, Meve’s
121	Stilt, Black-winged	122	Stork, Abdim’s
123	Stork, Marabou	124	Stork, Saddle-billed
125	Stork, Yellow-billed	126	Swallow, Wire-tailed
127	Swift, African Palm	128	Tchagra, Black-crowned
129	Teal, Hottentot	130	Teal, Red-billed
131	Tern, Whiskered	132	Thick-knee, Spotted
133	Thick-knee, Water	134	Thrush, Collared Palm
135	Tit, Southern Black	136	Vulture, Hooded
137	Vulture, White-backed	138	Vulture, White-headed
139	Wagtail, African Pied	140	Waxbill, Blue
141	Weaver, African Golden	142	Weaver, Red-billed Buffalo
143	Weaver, Spectacled	144	Weaver, White-browed Sparrow
145	Wheatear, Capped	146	White-eye, African Yellow
147	Whydah, Pin-tailed	148	Wood-hoopoe, Green
149	Woodpecker, Bearded	150	Woodpecker, Cardinal
151	Heron, Goliath	152	Indigobird, Village

[Soukous]

With cloudless blue skies and wall to wall sunshine being promised by weather forecasters, I decided that it would be a good time to pay a quick visit to Norfolk.

Birding was not on the agenda; I was heading there to check out a couple of campsites and seek out the best places to do a bit of canoeing and paddle boarding.

 

Each day, as my trip drew nearer I kept looking at the weather forecast with a growing sense of dismay; the arrival of hot sunny weather was being pushed further and further into the future.

It seemed that, despite a record breaking heatwave in Europe and schools being closed in France, Norfolk was returning to winter. Just my luck.

 

I went anyway; alone because no-one else wanted to come along and camp in the cold (15 degrees is a lot less than the 27 we were promised).

 

Despite the best intentions, there was no way I was going paddle-boarding in cold weather; I fall in much to often for that to be enjoyable, so instead I decided to check out some of the birding sites in the vicinity.

 

And actually, the cool weather was ideal for walking around, if a trifle dull for photography. Nevertheless, I did manage to grab a few shots to keep my quiet year ticking over, even if I did find myself shooting with an ISO of 12600 on several occasions.

 

#178 - Mute Swan - Cygnus olor

Hickling Nature Reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#179 - Great Tit (imm) - Parus major

Hickling Nature reserve, Norfolk UK. June 2019

 

 

Back garden, July 2019

 

 

Edited July 17, 2019 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#180 - Goldfinch - Carduelis carduelis

My Garden, Suffolk. UK. June 2019

 

I really like the fact that I can update my images with better ones, if I get the opportunity.

This Goldfinch was very obliging, if a little bit high in the tree. Yes, it is the same Crabapple tree. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2019 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#181 - Blue Tit - Parus caeruleus

Hickling Nature Reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#182 - Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

Hickling Nature reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#183 - Coot - Fulica atra

Hickling Nature Reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

[Soukous]

#184 - Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

 

 

and a female 

 

 

[Soukous]

#185 - Willow Tit - Parus montanus

Strumpshaw fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

I had a long debate with myself as to whether this was a Willow Tit or a Marsh Tit. Opted for Willow Tit. 

 

 

this one is not the same individual, and looks more like a Marsh Tit to me, but I'm not clever enough to tell the difference when the both occur in the same area.

 

Edited June 28, 2019 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#186 - Shoveler - Anas clypeata

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#187 - Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#188 - Greylag Goose - Anser anser

Hickling nature reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#189 - Great Crested Grebe - Podiceps cristatus

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

[Soukous]

#190 - Gadwall - Anas strepera

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

[Soukous]

#191 - Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

 

River Deben, Woodbridge, Suffolk. June 2019