GAME: name that bird!

[Kingfisher Safaris]

Not great photographs and a Raptor.....sorry, not a juvenile though. Might not be too difficult.

 

 

 

[ChrisW]

Western Banded Snake Eagle

[Kingfisher Safaris]

@@ChrisW Too easy!!

[Peter Connan]

Not a raptor

 

01.jpg

 

Kitlitz's Plover @@Soukous?

[Soukous]

Yup, right first time @@Peter Connan

[Peter Connan]

Thanks @@Soukous.

 

So now I don't know who goes next? Me or @@ChrisW

[Soukous]

That should be you @@Peter Connan

As I understand it, the post by @@Kingfisher Safaris was out of turn as they hadn't named the previous bird.

[Peter Connan]

Hope this is not too easy...

[Tom Kellie]

Hope this is not too easy...

_DSC8173.jpg

 

~ @@Peter Connan

 

I've never seen that before.

Is it Turdoides hartlaubii?

Tom K.

[mvecht]

@@Peter Connan

Looks like a Babbler

White-rumped (Hartlaubs) Babbler?

[Peter Connan]

You guys are far too clever for me! Well done @@Tom Kellie and @@mvecht

[mvecht]

@@Tom Keliie

Tom, you beat me on the finish line so please go ahead with the next challenge.

[Soukous]

Educational stuff this.

Sitting here in sunny Suffolk scanning through my African bird guides.

bring it on.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Keliie

Tom, you beat me on the finish line so please go ahead with the next challenge.

 

~ @@mvecht

 

It was by only one minute, so you deserve full credit, too!

Here are three birds which were photographed together on 2 August, 2011.

Tom K.

[Soukous]

They look like Black faced babblers Tom

[Tom Kellie]

They look like Black faced babblers Tom

 

~ @@Soukous

 

Well...

Their closest relatives typically look NOTHING at all like them.

They're part of a family which is very familiar to regular safari-goers.

Tom K.

[mvecht]

@@Tom Kellie

Sorry for mis spelling your name in the last post especially considering your job!

I am not familiar with the birds of East Africa but how about Rufous-Tailed Weaver (histurgops ruficaudus)?

 

PS are you learning any Danish at the sino danish center?

[Soukous]

That would be my second guess @@mvecht - it is so difficult to get an idea of the bird's size from a photo where there is nothing to measure against.

[Tom Kellie]

@@Tom Kellie

Sorry for mis spelling your name in the last post especially considering your job!

I am not familiar with the birds of East Africa but how about Rufous-Tailed Weaver (histurgops ruficaudus)?

 

PS are you learning any Danish at the sino danish center?

 

~ @@mvecht

 

YES!

The Histurgops ruficaudus group were photographed in a dense thicket at the top of Lookout Hill in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.

That was my first-ever game drive. It's also the only time that I've ever observed that species — never afterward.

Your turn.

********************************************************

You mention the Sino-Danish Center (SDC), which is under construction at the Yanqihu Campus of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Only 7 hours ago I was up there teaching across the highway from it. I could easily see the SDC structure just outside my classroom door.

In the end of August I've been asked to offer an intensive 2-week ‘Scientific Thinking, Experimental Design, Research Communication’ course to incoming SDC Chinese students. That course schedule caused me to move an August safari to next week, so as not to have a scheduling conflict.

I'm surprised that anyone has ever heard of the Sino-Danish Center, which isn't yet well-publicized here.

********************************************************

We await your ‘mystery bird’!

Apologies to @@Soukous for not providing an image with a clearer sense of scale. That was from my first safari, so images tended to be hit or miss.

Tom K.

[Soukous]

no worries @@Tom Kellie. We don't want them to be too easy. I should have seen the pale blue eye even though the plumage bears little resemblance to the drawing in my book.

[mvecht]

OK

This one should not be difficult if you know which continent to look for it

 

PS @@Tom Kellie I googled you earlier today to see which part of Beijing and came across mentioning of SDC.

Being Danish it triggered my interest.

[Tom Kellie]

no worries @@Tom Kellie. We don't want them to be too easy. I should have seen the pale blue eye even though the plumage bears little resemblance to the drawing in my book.

 

~ @@Soukous

 

Same here.

The drawing in Plate 253 of ‘Birds of East Africa’ bears almost no resemblance to the actual living, breathing bird.

That had originally threw me into confusion when I tried to identify them a couple of years ago.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

OK

This one should not be difficult if you know which continent to look for it

IMG_3656.JPG

 

PS @@Tom Kellie I googled you earlier today to see which part of Beijing and came across mentioning of SDC.

Being Danish it triggered my interest.

 

~ @@mvecht

 

Is it Motacilla maderaspatensis?

I've never visited India, so I'm uncertain.

Tom K.

[Peter Connan]

 

OK

This one should not be difficult if you know which continent to look for it

IMG_3656.JPG

 

PS @@Tom Kellie I googled you earlier today to see which part of Beijing and came across mentioning of SDC.

Being Danish it triggered my interest.

 

~ @@mvecht

 

Is it Motacilla maderaspatensis?

I've never visited India, so I'm uncertain.

Tom K.

 

 

I reckon that's a good call Tom!

[wilddog]

Ok for those of us who are not experts and wish to learn is it possible to include the English name as well as the scientific Latin name.

 

Thanks