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


Soukous

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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?

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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. :(

 

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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.

 

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#171 - Reed Bunting - Emberiza schoeniclus

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

Reed Bunting (m)

 

Reed Bunting (m)

 

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

 

Reed Bunting (f)

 

 

Reed Bunting (f)

 

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#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

 

Great Black-backed Gull

 

 

 

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#173 - Herring Gull - Larus argentatus

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

Herring Gull

 

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#174 - Avocet - Recurvirostra avosetta

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

Pied Avocet

 

Pied Avocet

 

Pied Avocet

 

 

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#175 - Oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus

Shingle Street, Suffolk. June 2019

 

Oystercatcher

 

Oystercatcher

 

Oystercatcher

 

 

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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

 

Golden Weaver

 

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#177 - Collared Palm Thrush - Cichladusa arquata 

Zambezi NP, Zimbabwe. May 2019

 

collared-palm-thrush.jpg.5abd0a39811cfdc9afe25207ba24724c.jpg

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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

 

 

 

 

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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

 

Mute Swan

 

 

Edited by Soukous
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#179 - Great Tit (imm) - Parus major

Hickling Nature reserve, Norfolk UK. June 2019

 

Great Tit (imm)

 

Back garden, July 2019

Great Tit

 

 

Edited by Soukous
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#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. 

Goldfinch

 

Goldfinch

 

Goldfinch

 

 

 

 

Edited by Soukous
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#181 - Blue Tit - Parus caeruleus

Hickling Nature Reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Blue Tit

 

Blue Tit

 

Blue Tit

 

Blue Tit

 

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#182 - Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes

Hickling Nature reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Wren

 

Wren

 

Wren

 

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#183 - Coot - Fulica atra

Hickling Nature Reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Coot

 

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#184 - Chaffinch - Fringilla coelebs

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Chaffinch m

 

Chaffinch m

 

Chaffinch m

 

and a female 

Chaffinch f

 

Chaffinch f

 

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#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. 

Willow Tit

 

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.

Willow Tit

 

Edited by Soukous
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#186 - Shoveler - Anas clypeata

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Shoveler

 

Shoveler

 

Shoveler

 

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#187 - Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Mallard m

 

Mallard f

 

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#188 - Greylag Goose - Anser anser

Hickling nature reserve, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Greylag Goose

 

Greylag Goose

 

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#189 - Great Crested Grebe - Podiceps cristatus

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Great Crested Grebe

 

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#190 - Gadwall - Anas strepera

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Gadwall

 

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#191 - Black-headed Gull - Chroicocephalus ridibundus

Strumpshaw Fen, Norfolk, UK. June 2019

 

Black-headed Gull

 

River Deben, Woodbridge, Suffolk. June 2019

Black-headed Gull

 

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